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Governor Announces Interstate Speed Limit IncreaseBy WYDaily Staff Thursday, October 21, 2010 The Virginia Department of Transportation will change the speed limit to 70 miles per hour on 680 miles of interstates no later than December 31, including part of Interstate 64 near Williamsburg. Governor Bob McDonnell proposed the change during his campaign for governor. “The increase in the speed limit from 65 to 70 mph in rural and less populated areas of the state will help Virginians arrive at their destinations quicker and safer and will speed the delivery of goods and services throughout the commonwealth,” he said regarding Wednesday's announcement of the change.“This is just one step forward in our efforts to significantly improve Virginia’s transportation system.” Changing the speed limit will increase motorist safety by allowing traffic to move at a more consistent speed and reducing the conflict between faster and slower-moving traffic, according to a press release from the governor’s office. The change will also shorten commute times and will help move goods and services more efficiently, the release reads. The change will result in 61 percent of the state’s 1,119 miles of interstates having a 70 mile per hour speed limit, including 36.9 miles of I-64 starting east of I-295 outside Richmond and ending east of Williamsburg at the Route 199 interchange. See the other planned speed increase zones on the VDOT website. VDOT officials told the Commonwealth Transportation Board Wednesday about the plans to change the speed limit, which follows the passage of House Bill 856 and Senate Bill 537 that were signed into law by the governor in March. The bills allow VDOT’s commissioner to increase the maximum highway speed limit after completion of a traffic engineering study. VDOT studied more than 786 miles of interstate highways for potential speed limit changes, according to Wednesday’s press release. Engineers reviewed crash patterns and history, speed data, physical conditions of the roadways and traffic patterns for certain parts of highway and asked for input from Virginia State Police to find areas that could safely be raised to 70 miles per hour. The speed limits on these segments will be increased to 70 mph in phases, with all changes scheduled to be completed by the end of this year. Segments not chosen for the increase include interstates in urban areas, areas with high crash histories, or areas that are designated Virginia Highway Safety Corridors. Additional safety improvements including the installation or upgrade of guardrails, rumble strips and additional signage will be added over the coming months. Police will still enforce the posted speed limit, so to avoid getting a ticket drivers should continue to follow the posted speed limit signs until they change. |
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Comments
My observation is that most drivers are passing me already doing 70 -- I tend to stick to the 65 mph until I pass exit 234, and then get brave and move up to 68 mph. But I am one of the few going that slow as it is now.