Most terrible speed limits.

Started by Roadgeekteen, June 01, 2017, 11:15:31 PM

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UCFKnights

Quote from: bcroadguy on December 21, 2018, 08:00:50 AM
Quote from: UCFKnights on December 20, 2018, 10:06:07 AM
Another new one in Gainesville, FL: The already absurdly slow 35mph 4 and 6 lane divided Archer Rd was now reduced to 20mph. The road has absolutely no curves, no unsignalized intersections, and a seperate off road bike path and sidewalks that they're also moving further away from the road. The road does have heavy pedestrian crossing being across from a major university, but at signalized intersections (a few of which are configured for pedestrian scrambles/all reds, although do not allow diagonal crossing (one doesn't even give the smaller side street a walk symbol during the all red period). The reasoning, of course, is that pedestrians are more likely to survive being hit at 20mph than 35mph. If you try going 20mph in this area, it sure seems the cars will try to run you off the road, swerving all over the place to go usually 45mph in this area. https://www.google.com/maps/@29.6359745,-82.3527667,3a,15.4y,225.08h,87.43t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1scI5mbQ-k087ZYjaQ6oJe7Q!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
That's just insane.
So I just drove through that area again, and they put a speed limit sign every few hundred feet so you're always within sight of one, they added permanent radar signs, and they had VMS warning of the low speed limit, and then they also had new portable radar signs as well that were equipped with a full police light bar on top that seemed to activate whenever anyone is going above 20mph... which was whenever the traffic light in front of it was green. How low does the compliance rate have to be for them to give it up? Anyone who tries to limit themselves to only 10 over gets vehicles dangerously swerving around them.


Mark68

Quote from: webny99 on January 11, 2019, 10:42:36 AM
Let's play another round of "guess the speed limit".

What would you guess (or estimate to be a reasonable limit) for this?
No looking until you make a guess.  :-P

Anything less than 50 would be VERY unreasonable.
"When you come to a fork in the road, take it."~Yogi Berra

someperson

Katy Tollway. Speed limit is 60, same as the regular lanes of the Katy Freeway. I once actually went 60 on this road on a clear day and counted no fewer than 27 vehicles that passed me. I've also often seen 3 or 4 cops camped out on the shoulder looking for people speeding. Most people drive closer to 70, and I feel like the speed limit should reflect that.

NoGoodNamesAvailable

Quote from: someperson on August 03, 2019, 05:11:01 PM
I once actually went 60 on this road on a clear day and counted no fewer than 27 vehicles that passed me.

What's that supposed to mean? Without context this tells you nothing. If 27 vehicles pass you and you pass 27, for example, then you're traveling roughly the 50th percentile speed. If you pass 153, then you're traveling the 85th percentile speed.

jp the roadgeek

And now for round 2 of Guess the Speed Limit.  What is the speed limit on this stretch of state road?
Interstates I've clinched: 97, 290 (MA), 291 (CT), 291 (MA), 293, 295 (DE-NJ-PA), 295 (RI-MA), 384, 391, 395 (CT-MA), 395 (MD), 495 (DE), 610 (LA), 684, 691, 695 (MD), 695 (NY), 795 (MD)

Brandon

Quote from: jp the roadgeek on August 04, 2019, 01:36:27 AM
And now for round 2 of Guess the Speed Limit.  What is the speed limit on this stretch of state road?

Looking at the road, I would've said 45 mph.  Going a bit further down, it's 25 mph.  Doesn't look like a 25 mph road to me from Google SV.
"If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention." - Ramsay Bolton

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sprjus4

Quote from: Brandon on August 04, 2019, 06:29:51 AM
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on August 04, 2019, 01:36:27 AM
And now for round 2 of Guess the Speed Limit.  What is the speed limit on this stretch of state road?

Looking at the road, I would've said 45 mph.  Going a bit further down, it's 25 mph.  Doesn't look like a 25 mph road to me from Google SV.
Maybe not 45 mph, but at least 35 mph or 40 mph.

Roadgeekteen

God-emperor of Alanland, king of all the goats and goat-like creatures

Current Interstate map I am making:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?hl=en&mid=1PEDVyNb1skhnkPkgXi8JMaaudM2zI-Y&ll=29.05778059819179%2C-82.48856825&z=5

someperson

Quote from: NoGoodNamesAvailable on August 04, 2019, 01:09:14 AM
Quote from: someperson on August 03, 2019, 05:11:01 PM
I once actually went 60 on this road on a clear day and counted no fewer than 27 vehicles that passed me.

What's that supposed to mean? Without context this tells you nothing. If 27 vehicles pass you and you pass 27, for example, then you're traveling roughly the 50th percentile speed. If you pass 153, then you're traveling the 85th percentile speed.

To be more clear, 27 vehicles passed me, and I passed 0. A few drivers tailgated me for a bit before finally going around me. I'm pretty sure that puts me in the lowest percentile.

jp the roadgeek

Quote from: sprjus4 on August 04, 2019, 07:25:57 AM
Quote from: Brandon on August 04, 2019, 06:29:51 AM
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on August 04, 2019, 01:36:27 AM
And now for round 2 of Guess the Speed Limit.  What is the speed limit on this stretch of state road?

Looking at the road, I would've said 45 mph.  Going a bit further down, it's 25 mph.  Doesn't look like a 25 mph road to me from Google SV.
Maybe not 45 mph, but at least 35 mph or 40 mph.

CT 364 is a 25 or 30 MPH road its entire length.  Local speed limits in CT are among the most ridiculously low limits in the nation.  They were set over 40 years ago and never adjusted. A 25 here would be 40 in another state, and most can do almost 40 before facing a ticket.
Interstates I've clinched: 97, 290 (MA), 291 (CT), 291 (MA), 293, 295 (DE-NJ-PA), 295 (RI-MA), 384, 391, 395 (CT-MA), 395 (MD), 495 (DE), 610 (LA), 684, 691, 695 (MD), 695 (NY), 795 (MD)

Roadgeekteen

Quote from: jp the roadgeek on August 04, 2019, 11:38:00 AM
Quote from: sprjus4 on August 04, 2019, 07:25:57 AM
Quote from: Brandon on August 04, 2019, 06:29:51 AM
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on August 04, 2019, 01:36:27 AM
And now for round 2 of Guess the Speed Limit.  What is the speed limit on this stretch of state road?

Looking at the road, I would've said 45 mph.  Going a bit further down, it's 25 mph.  Doesn't look like a 25 mph road to me from Google SV.
Maybe not 45 mph, but at least 35 mph or 40 mph.

CT 364 is a 25 or 30 MPH road its entire length.  Local speed limits in CT are among the most ridiculously low limits in the nation.  They were set over 40 years ago and never adjusted. A 25 here would be 40 in another state, and most can do almost 40 before facing a ticket.
What's the highest speed limit on a two lane road in CT?
God-emperor of Alanland, king of all the goats and goat-like creatures

Current Interstate map I am making:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?hl=en&mid=1PEDVyNb1skhnkPkgXi8JMaaudM2zI-Y&ll=29.05778059819179%2C-82.48856825&z=5

jp the roadgeek

Quote from: Roadgeekteen on August 04, 2019, 12:07:31 PM
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on August 04, 2019, 11:38:00 AM
Quote from: sprjus4 on August 04, 2019, 07:25:57 AM
Quote from: Brandon on August 04, 2019, 06:29:51 AM
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on August 04, 2019, 01:36:27 AM
And now for round 2 of Guess the Speed Limit.  What is the speed limit on this stretch of state road?

Looking at the road, I would've said 45 mph.  Going a bit further down, it's 25 mph.  Doesn't look like a 25 mph road to me from Google SV.
Maybe not 45 mph, but at least 35 mph or 40 mph.

CT 364 is a 25 or 30 MPH road its entire length.  Local speed limits in CT are among the most ridiculously low limits in the nation.  They were set over 40 years ago and never adjusted. A 25 here would be 40 in another state, and most can do almost 40 before facing a ticket.
What's the highest speed limit on a two lane road in CT?

Although 55 is allowed, the highest posted speed limit on a 2 land road is 50.  You have to get out in the sticks with no residential areas before you see that.   There's quite a bit in Litchfield County, eastern CT, and a couple of back roads leading to the shore like CT 79 or CT 81, or a couple of stretches of CT 80.  The only 2 lane roads in Hartford County I can think of with a 50 MPH limit are CT 4 west of Unionville and CT 179 south of Collinsville.  Maybe a couple of stretches of CT 20 through Hartland and Granby.   
Interstates I've clinched: 97, 290 (MA), 291 (CT), 291 (MA), 293, 295 (DE-NJ-PA), 295 (RI-MA), 384, 391, 395 (CT-MA), 395 (MD), 495 (DE), 610 (LA), 684, 691, 695 (MD), 695 (NY), 795 (MD)

mb2001

One road that has always had a speed limit that's seemed low to me is MA 128 when it's concurrent with I-95 around Boston.

Roadgeekteen

Quote from: mb2001 on August 14, 2019, 10:29:34 PM
One road that has always had a speed limit that's seemed low to me is MA 128 when it's concurrent with I-95 around Boston.
Yeah. Everyone drives 65-70 anyway.
God-emperor of Alanland, king of all the goats and goat-like creatures

Current Interstate map I am making:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?hl=en&mid=1PEDVyNb1skhnkPkgXi8JMaaudM2zI-Y&ll=29.05778059819179%2C-82.48856825&z=5

Mergingtraffic

Quote from: jp the roadgeek on August 04, 2019, 04:04:28 PM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on August 04, 2019, 12:07:31 PM
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on August 04, 2019, 11:38:00 AM
Quote from: sprjus4 on August 04, 2019, 07:25:57 AM
Quote from: Brandon on August 04, 2019, 06:29:51 AM
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on August 04, 2019, 01:36:27 AM
And now for round 2 of Guess the Speed Limit.  What is the speed limit on this stretch of state road?

Looking at the road, I would've said 45 mph.  Going a bit further down, it's 25 mph.  Doesn't look like a 25 mph road to me from Google SV.
Maybe not 45 mph, but at least 35 mph or 40 mph.

CT 364 is a 25 or 30 MPH road its entire length.  Local speed limits in CT are among the most ridiculously low limits in the nation.  They were set over 40 years ago and never adjusted. A 25 here would be 40 in another state, and most can do almost 40 before facing a ticket.
What's the highest speed limit on a two lane road in CT?

Although 55 is allowed, the highest posted speed limit on a 2 land road is 50.  You have to get out in the sticks with no residential areas before you see that.   There's quite a bit in Litchfield County, eastern CT, and a couple of back roads leading to the shore like CT 79 or CT 81, or a couple of stretches of CT 80.  The only 2 lane roads in Hartford County I can think of with a 50 MPH limit are CT 4 west of Unionville and CT 179 south of Collinsville.  Maybe a couple of stretches of CT 20 through Hartland and Granby.   

CT doesn't sign any side roads higher than 50mph.  They were also the last state to raise speed limits to 65mph in 1998.  Very conservative around here, not to mention they take away free movements at intersections when they can.
I only take pics of good looking signs. Long live non-reflective button copy!
MergingTraffic https://www.flickr.com/photos/98731835@N05/

UCFKnights

Quote from: UCFKnights on December 20, 2018, 10:06:07 AM
Another new one in Gainesville, FL: The already absurdly slow 35mph 4 and 6 lane divided Archer Rd was now reduced to 20mph. The road has absolutely no curves, no unsignalized intersections, and a seperate off road bike path and sidewalks that they're also moving further away from the road. The road does have heavy pedestrian crossing being across from a major university, but at signalized intersections (a few of which are configured for pedestrian scrambles/all reds, although do not allow diagonal crossing (one doesn't even give the smaller side street a walk symbol during the all red period). The reasoning, of course, is that pedestrians are more likely to survive being hit at 20mph than 35mph. If you try going 20mph in this area, it sure seems the cars will try to run you off the road, swerving all over the place to go usually 45mph in this area. https://www.google.com/maps/@29.6359745,-82.3527667,3a,15.4y,225.08h,87.43t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1scI5mbQ-k087ZYjaQ6oJe7Q!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
So finally after a year and a half of failed attempts to get vehicle to slow down to 20mph in this road thats clearly designed to be 45mph, including at one point assigning an officer to just stand out there and write tickets until they started violating the anti speed trap law, and weren't allowed to write tickets anymore, they've finally given in and moved the speed back up to 35mph! Of course, with them installing midblock crosswalks on this very heavily travelled road, and done lots of things to encourage jaywalking as part of their campaign, I'm fairly confident the end result of the Vision Zero concept here will be an increase in pedestrian injuries and deaths.

Mark68

This has probably been mentioned upthread, but every rural highway in Oregon.
"When you come to a fork in the road, take it."~Yogi Berra

US 89

Quote from: US 89 on June 12, 2017, 04:47:47 PM
Legacy Parkway in Davis County, UT is a full freeway, posted at 55 mph as part of a trade off with environmentalists for building the road in the first place. And there are tons of cops who actually enforce it. 55 is way too slow, IMO. I have to set cruise control for 57 or 58, otherwise I would be going 70.

The state law requiring the 55 limit expired on January 1, and on that day the speed limit bumped up to 65 mph. The road is still swarming with cops, but it's way easier to hold 67 on that road than 57.

Rothman

Quote from: US 89 on January 16, 2020, 02:41:49 PM
Quote from: US 89 on June 12, 2017, 04:47:47 PM
Legacy Parkway in Davis County, UT is a full freeway, posted at 55 mph as part of a trade off with environmentalists for building the road in the first place. And there are tons of cops who actually enforce it. 55 is way too slow, IMO. I have to set cruise control for 57 or 58, otherwise I would be going 70.

The state law requiring the 55 limit expired on January 1, and on that day the speed limit bumped up to 65 mph. The road is still swarming with cops, but it's way easier to hold 67 on that road than 57.
I guess I got lucky last time I drove on it at about 10 above the speed limit.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

doorknob60

#219
Quote from: Mark68 on January 16, 2020, 01:41:22 PM
This has probably been mentioned upthread, but every rural highway in Oregon.

Most of the rural highways in Eastern Oregon have been raised to 65 MPH, or 70 in the case of US-95, bringing them in line with rural speed limits in most of the western US. There's a few weird omissions (like US-97 north of 197), and it does nothing for the west side, but it got rid of the worst problem spots like US-20 east of Bend, and US-95. And on the interstate side, I-84 is now 70 east of The Dalles which is a bit slow, but on par with WA and CA. I wouldn't call any of those "terrible". Now, OR-22 east of Salem and US-26 in west of Beaverton still being 55, now that's still terrible.

Also, great news about Legacy Parkway. In my visits to/through SLC, I never checked it out because I-15 was clear and I didn't want to deal with the 55 limit. I may check it out next time I'm there now. It's always refreshing when DOTs raise speed limits instead of lowering them, particularly on freeways and rural highways (on city streets I'm more open to it, within reason).

fwydriver405

Quote from: SectorZ on June 02, 2017, 09:18:42 PM
Quote from: 1 on June 02, 2017, 02:10:07 PM
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on June 02, 2017, 02:08:20 PM
Quote from: SectorZ on June 02, 2017, 01:50:26 PM
US 3 from I-95 to the NH border. That it's still 55 after going from a glorified parkway to a completely interstate quality highway is baffling.

Also baffling why I-93 drops from 65 to 55 crossing from MA into NH.  No change in road congestion.

The electronic sign on I-93 in New Hampshire sometimes says 65, and sometimes it says 55. I haven't figured out the conditions that determine whether it's 55 or 65.

I was wondering if it was construction, but there isn't any until a mile north of exit 3. So, it could at least be 65 to there and then drop where it's down to 2 lanes and an active work site. It appears to be a crap-shoot as to what the limit will be when you enter into the state. The rebuilding 93 page has no info I could find about this, either.

A source from the NHDOT told me during a job shadow in July 2019 that those variable speed limit signs on I-93 between MA and Manchester will be replaced with static signs once they are at the end of their lifetime...

I have always thought that the speed limit on the Spaulding Turnpike from I-95 to exit 9, as well as I-95 from Maine to exit 3 should be 60 mph, not 55, and that I-95 from MA to Exit 3 should be 70. The same could be said about the Everett Turnpike from MA to exit 8... highway is posted 55 but should really be posted at either 60 or 65... 

deathtopumpkins

Quote from: fwydriver405 on January 21, 2020, 03:25:07 PM
The same could be said about the Everett Turnpike from MA to exit 8... highway is posted 55 but should really be posted at either 60 or 65...

Nah, the Everett Turnpike south of exit 8 is good at 55. Average of <1 mile between exits, high traffic volumes, one left exit, lots of weaving due to frequent lane additions and drops. Maybe closer to the MA line it'd be fine, but exits 6 and 7 are pretty substandard. The weave between the northbound exit 6 onramp and exit 7E offramp is only 330 ft long, and then the weave in the exit 7 cloverleaf is barely longer. Even at off-peak hours traffic doesn't average much more than 55.

The MA portion of route 3 is what really needs a speed limit increase (probably 65). Maybe extend that up to NH exit 3, then drop it back to 55 through exit 8.
Disclaimer: All posts represent my personal opinions and not those of my employer.

Clinched Highways | Counties Visited

Ketchup99

Round three. How fast would you guess:

This stretch of US-322 Business?

This highway?

How about this?

And last but not least, this beauty.

sprjus4

Quote from: Ketchup99 on January 21, 2020, 10:24:12 PM
This stretch of US-322 Business?
Guessed 35 mph, and it indeed is 35 mph. Seems reasonable.

Quote from: Ketchup99 on January 21, 2020, 10:24:12 PM
This highway?
Guessed 45 mph, but is actually 50 mph. That's certainly reasonable.

Quote from: Ketchup99 on January 21, 2020, 10:24:12 PM
How about this?
Guessed 30 mph, but is actually 25 mph. Is a residential area, so I wouldn't expect too fast.

Quote from: Ketchup99 on January 21, 2020, 10:24:12 PM
And last but not least, this beauty.
Guessed 45 mph, but is actually 35 mph. I cannot comment much on this situation as I'm not familiar with the area, but could be reasonably 40 mph from the looks of it.

Ketchup99

1. 25 now, it's basically a crawl.
2. Down to 45 since 2017. People routinely do 55 and I've seen 65+.
3. 25 but it shouldn't be - the apartments are all stowed away behind.
4. As you said 35, but ought to be more - nobody drives any of these limits.



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