Probably the most egregious example of a 55 mph work zone I can think of… US-59 southwest of Houston, TX was recently upgraded into a 6 lane rural interstate highway (from a 4 lane non-limited-access divided highway). The speed limit when it was divided, only 4 lanes and no access control was 65 mph.
The upgrade has been fully complete for around 2 years now, and it is
still marked with a “work zone” 55 mph speed limit. There is zero work occurring. It has a 70 mph design speed and is a rural 6 lane interstate highway (I-69) design.
When I last drove through there, I was set around 70 mph, and was being passed like I was standing still. Clearly - the public has zero respect for artificially low limits and will not follow them.
I tweeted TxDOT last summer and they said a speed study was underway, but who knows when that’ll get done. Isn’t it normal to revert to at least the pre-construction limit (65 mph), then need a study just to go even higher (70-75 mph)? The fact it’s sat at 55 mph for two years is ridiculous.
For context, this is the road in question:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Qx74LyP4VZPCcMqGA?g_st=ic