Here’s an interesting story from the Associated Press:
By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI
Associated Press
HOUSTON — Transportation officials in Texas are testing a new 41-mile segment of highway to see whether it would be safe to post the state’s first 85-mph speed limit, setting it on a path to have the highest posted speed limit in the U.S.
The Texas Department of Transportation is considering the move on a portion of state Highway 130 that would run north-south between Austin and Seguin, a town just east of San Antonio, spokesman Mark Cross said Thursday.
The agency is looking at the toll road’s topography, checking what speed most drivers are traveling on existing parts of the highway and ensuring the access points and cross-sections would still be safe with an 85-mph speed limit, Cross said.
If Texas decides to go this route, that segment of road would have the highest posted speed limit in the country, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
In 2011, the Texas Legislature upped the maximum speed limit from 80 mph to 85 mph, but only for future highways.
Right now, only sparsely populated areas of West Texas have roads with 80 mph speed limits. Some roads in Utah also have 80 mph speed limits, but most highways in the U.S. top out at 75 mph. There are no longer roads in the United States that have no speed limit, like Germany’s autobahn.
The idea behind increasing the speed limit is to relieve congestion on state roads.
Craig Gaevert
I drove a stretch of Utah’s I-15 at 80 – dazzling. Relieve congestion? are you kidding? In CA if you want to relieve congestion, how about letting the trucks go 65, same as cars? CA (and I think WA and OR) are the only states in the west that have lower speed limits for trucks. Doesn’t make sense. Cars trying to pass slow moving trucks creates congestion. Bring truck speeds up to the same speed as cars and traffic would flow a whole lot better.
June 7th, 2012 11:00 pm
Nora Winslow
I am a former Sonoma County resident living in this area of Texas. This is not about relieving congestion. The toll roads were built to relieve congestion, but remain empty already because people don’t want to pay the $0.75. This is about making the toll roads more desirable so the state of Texas can make more money. Glad to know that is what my safety is worth.
June 8th, 2012 11:08 am
Safedriver
The average Sonoma Co. speed right now on the 101 fwy in the new sections is 70+ 75 mph is a common speed here. If CA changed to 80 mph on freeways at least 4 lanes in one direction, we’d have 85+ averages, too fast for Sonoma Co.
June 10th, 2012 6:14 am