Replacing those 36 bridges would not be cheap. Althouse puts the cost at an estimated $59 million.
“Our goal is to get ahead of this,” Althouse said in an interview Tuesday before his flight.
Althouse will join city officials from across the nation in the trip to Washington, joining the Coalition Against Bigger Trucks, a nonprofit organization that for decades has lobbied against federal legislation that would let trucks get longer or heavier.
Vandalia leaders and residents have reason to be interested in the issue.
Logistics facilities near Dayton International Airport, near Union and Vandalia, have exploded in recent years. According to the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce, the number of tractor-trailer drivers is projected to grow from 4,656 in 2019 to 4,942 in 2030, representing growth of 6%.
Total area logistics jobs is projected to exceed 40,000 by 2030, and the chamber puts annual job openings in the field of logistics at nearly 5,000 today.
Since 2012, development has skyrocketed in northern Montgomery County, as companies as varied as Amazon, Energizer, Procter & Gamble, FedEx, Chewy and others have set up big warehouses near the confluence of interstates 70 and 75.
That may be seen as a good “problem.” Residents and officials recognize that trucks are vital to a functioning economy. But there’s a price, Althouse said.
“I know Vandalia residents have expressed concerns about the number of semis and trucks that have traveled through Vandalia, predominantly along National Road, and how they feel truck traffic has increased over the eight to 10 years,” he said.
Some of those concerns: Trucks require longer stopping distances. They weigh more, stressing streets that weren’t necessarily built to hold those weights. And they can take wide turns, forcing other vehicles to back up.
In Vandalia, city leaders have crafted laws requiring trucks to stay in the right or the curb lane unless passing a vehicle. And truck turns at National (Ohio 40) and Dixie Drive, and Northwoods Boulevard and Dixie — two tight intersections — have been prohibited.
The city also lowered the speed limit on East National Road to 25 mph, while speed on the airport access road was raised to 65. The idea there: Encourage semi-drivers to use the airport access road.
One proposal — build a “ring road” to pull trucks off smaller, busy streets. The idea is to have deliveries travel north on Dixie to Lightner Road, to Peters Pike and Old Springfield Road north of the airport, keeping trucks out of central residential and commercial areas.
The “ring” would offer three lanes, two lanes in each direction with a center turn lane, with established berms and drainage ditches, accommodating heavy trucks.
Construction on the ring road is scheduled to begin in 2027, Althouse said.
Residents can see the ring design for themselves. At 2:30 p.m. on April 8, designs can be viewed in the Montgomery County administration building, 451 W. Third St., Dayton, on the 10th floor.
On April 15, there will be a public hearing on the subject before Montgomery County commissioners.
On Wednesday, Althouse has a full schedule of meetings with legislators in Washington.
The 119th Congress will be reauthorizing the surface transportation authorization bill, or highway bill. The current bill expires in September 2026, and lawmakers are holding hearings to determine transportation priorities, including whether to allow bigger trucks, the coalition said.
“I’ve been in law enforcement for 33 years,” Althouse said. “Heavier trucks and bigger trucks certainly are safety concerns, just because the heavier a truck is, the more momentum it has going down the highway.”
Althouse, who will retire as Vandalia’s police chief at the end of April, is optimistic that legislation capping truck size and weight can get traction in Congress. (He will step into the city’s city manager role full-time May 1.)
“Our goal is to ... educate our legislators about our concerns,” he said.
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