Sequential Speed Limit Signs

[CoreySamson]

So earlier today, I was driving around in Bay City, Texas when I noticed something interesting. From downtown east on TX-35 north, the speed limit rises from 30 to 35 to 40 to 45 to 50 to 55 consecutively, without skipping numbers. As you probably noticed, at each speed limit change, it rises the minimum the speed limit can legally rise (i.e. 5 mph) six times in a row. Are there any other instances of relatively large chains of sequential speed limits like this across the nation? Moreover, are there any of these chains with 7 numbers or larger?

[1995hoo]

While it's in 10-mph increments, not 5 mph, the one that immediately came to mind when I read this was US-550 outside Cuba, New Mexico. The speed limit through town is 35 mph (and I was glad I obeyed it–the guy who was behind us as we approached the town didn't slow down much, flew past us, and got stopped for speeding just before the speed limit went back up to 45). As you leave town, it goes up to 45, then 55, then 65, then 70, all in a short distance. The Street View link below shows them going in the other direction so a 35-mph sign will be visible, though on the other hand that means the 70-mph sign doesn't show up. If you click just past the 65 sign and pan around, you'll see the 70-mph sign. (I know there are a couple of forum members who seem to be reluctant to believe a road of this sort with a two-way left-turn lane and at-grade intersections would be posted at 70 mph, so I wanted to be sure to note how to view the proof.)

https://goo.gl/maps/6woEfuu29bAq25yj7

[Rothman]

Not a long chain, but University Drive in Amherst, MA used to have 5 mph sequential speed limits over the relatively short distance between Massachusetts Ave and Route 9.  The speed limit would increase from 30 to 35 to 40 and then decrease back down.

[Occidental Tourist]

US 60 in Arizona from its western terminus at I-10 through Wickenburg has numerous little towns where the speed limit drops from 65 mph as you go through them, sometimes in steps.  For example, US 60 through Wenden goes from 65 to 55 to 45 as you approach.  Wickenburg itself sees US 60 go from 65 on the outskirts all the way down to 25, sometimes in 10 mph increments and sometimes in 5 mph increments.

[riiga]

This kind of change was the standard here until 10 km/h increments were introduced in 2007. Before that, the only speed limits here were 30, 50, 70, 90 and 110 km/h and changes were almost always (30->)50->70->90(->110) or vice versa as changes of more than 20 km/h at a time required announcing the change in advance (apart from on- and off-ramps on motorways) so it made more sense to sign 90->70->50 than 90->50 (in 200 m)->50. Now speed limits go from 30 to 120 km/h with 10 km/h increments and while this practice is still common (but more recently with 40->60->80) sequential speed limits are disappearing here as it makes little sense to use such small increments on most roads. As such, I can't really think of a good candidate in my vicinity.

[formulanone]

Waldo, Florida at FL 24, since it's an infamous speedtrap.

[gonealookin]

Nevada has a lot of small towns where the speed limit drops from 65 to 25 in 10 mph increments as the highway enters town.  In cases where the highway speed limit is 70, the first drop goes directly to 55.

Southbound US 395 enters Minden as a four-lane expressway with the four incremental drops from 65 to 25.  Further along into town there's a school zone that's posted for 15 mph "when flashing", but that's far enough beyond the drop to 25 that I wouldn't call it part of the sequence.

[Scott5114]

It's standard operating procedure in Oklahoma to have speed limit changes step down or up in 10 mph increments. Always thought it was really bizarre when visiting other states where they drop from 65 to 35 or whatever with nothing in between (and, before the 2009 MUTCD was in common use, no warning either).

[CoreySamson]

Was pleasantly surprised to find another example for this thread today. US 75 NB entering Bartlesville, OK, drops from 60 to 55 to 50 to 45 to 40 to 35, matching Bay City, TX with having 6 consecutive speed limit numbers.

[Big John]

US 41 Northbound going from expressway to a city street in Marinette WI.  10 MPH increments from 65 to 25.

[Troubleshooter]

The MUTCD does not allow speed limit changes of more than 15 mph.

[jeffandnicole]

The MUTCD does not allow speed limit changes of more than 15 mph.

South of I-76 in NJ, I-295 goes from 65 to 35 mph approaching Exit 26, and 35 mph to 65 mph coming away from Exit 26.

North of I-76, 295 goes from 35 mph to 55 mph.

[kphoger]

The MUTCD does not allow speed limit changes of more than 15 mph.

Would you please provide the MUTCD section reference?  I'm not seeing such a rule at first glance.

[FrCorySticha]

Transitions of more than 15 MPH are common in Montana. Most 2-lane highways have a 70 MPH speed limit, but drop to 45 MPH approaching a town. The speed limit then decrements to 35 and 25 MPH in many cases. Leaving town increments in the same scale: 25 to 35 to 45 to 70.

[formulanone]

The MUTCD does not allow speed limit changes of more than 15 mph.

Would you please provide the MUTCD section reference?  I'm not seeing such a rule at first glance.

Seems to be a state-by-state thing. I can't think of them all, but I'll go with the two I'm most familiar with...

Alabama follows the suggestion; all speed limits descend by increments of 10 mph or less just about everywhere I've driven.

Florida has no such rule, despite the unusual example in Waldo which I had posted above.

[bzakharin]

In NJ it is very rare for speed limits to change by 5. Usually, it's by 10 or 15. This is reinforced by the fact that there are no speed limits of 60, and 30 is very rare.

That said, US 206 in Princeton and Montgomery goes from 45 to 40 to 35 to 30 to 25 to 30 to 35 to 40 to 45 to 50 https://www.google.com/maps/@40.3300594,-74.6890078,3a,75y,209.31h,90.34t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sdEJGSg223w84jXCS1k-ixQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192 to https://www.google.com/maps/@40.4178362,-74.6534545,3a,75y,341.8h,92.73t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sf26oaCz4Q1gNuWrnA9Tccg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192). Unfortunately, the chain is broken before it goes to 55 in Hillsborough.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Personally I hate the incremental speed increases. That smells like speed trap more than anything to me when the limit has to go through a needless 40-45 zone in open country before returning to rural speeds.

MN has many drops of greater than 15 MPH, especially now that many rural 2-lane roads are posted at 60 MPH.

[kphoger]

Personally I hate the incremental speed increases. That smells like speed trap more than anything to me when the limit has to go through a needless 40-45 zone in open country before returning to rural speeds.

Pertinent phrase highlighted.  I don't mind incremental speed changes if there's a fuzzy boundary between town and country.  But, in a lot of towns in this part of the country, there are basically two lines:  (1) somewhere near the city limit, where built-up development becomes more spread out, and (2) anywhere from a half-mile to a couple of miles past that point, where even spread-out development gives way to open farmland.

So, to me, this is a reasonable speed limit progression, assuming a max speed limit of 65 mph:

[open country]
65 → 45-50
[outskirts of town]
45-50 → 35-40
[residential area]
35-40 → 30
[downtown]
30 → 35-40
[residential area]
35-40 → 45-50
[outskirts]
45-50 → 65
[open country]

That's only three speed limit changes on each side of town.  In many towns, one each could be eliminated as well.  But there's hardly any good reason to add additional ones.

What drives me absolutely bonkers is this:

[open country]
65 → 55
[still open country]
55 → 45
[outskirts]
45 → 35
[residential area]
35 → 30
[downtown]
30 → 35
[residential area]
35 → 45
[outskirts]
45 → 55
[already open country]
55 → 65
[still open country]

[roadfro]

The MUTCD does not allow speed limit changes of more than 15 mph.

Would you please provide the MUTCD section reference?  I'm not seeing such a rule at first glance.

There wasn't a rule that I could find.

However, if a speed limit is being reduced by more than 10 mph, MUTCD guidance (section 2C.38) says a "Reduced Speed Limit Ahead" W3-5 (or W3-5a) warning sign should be installed. So one could infer that reductions of more than 10 mph are discouraged, at least without warning.


In Nevada, at least along US 95 from Las Vegas up to northern Nevada area, the two-lane highway is signed 70 mph, and the first reduction is typically down to 55 (with advance warning sign), then steps down further in increments of 10 or 20 (without warning signs) to the in-town speed limit (which is usually either 35 or 25).

[JoePCool14]

Personally I hate the incremental speed increases. That smells like speed trap more than anything to me when the limit has to go through a needless 40-45 zone in open country before returning to rural speeds.

Pertinent phrase highlighted.  I don't mind incremental speed changes if there's a fuzzy boundary between town and country.  But, in a lot of towns in this part of the country, there are basically two lines:  (1) somewhere near the city limit, where built-up development becomes more spread out, and (2) anywhere from a half-mile to a couple of miles past that point, where even spread-out development gives way to open farmland.

So, to me, this is a reasonable speed limit progression, assuming a max speed limit of 65 mph:

[open country]
65 → 45-50
[outskirts of town]
45-50 → 35-40
[residential area]
35-40 → 30
[downtown]
30 → 35-40
[residential area]
35-40 → 45-50
[outskirts]
45-50 → 65
[open country]

That's only three speed limit changes on each side of town.  In many towns, one each could be eliminated as well.  But there's hardly any good reason to add additional ones.

What drives me absolutely bonkers is this:

[open country]
65 → 55
[still open country]
55 → 45
[outskirts]
45 → 35
[residential area]
35 → 30
[downtown]
30 → 35
[residential area]
35 → 45
[outskirts]
45 → 55
[already open country]
55 → 65
[still open country]

You're forgetting that many downtowns reduce the limit to 25, 20, or in some cases 15.

[kphoger]

You're forgetting that many downtowns reduce the limit to 25, 20, or in some cases 15.

Occasionally.  But hey, I can't cover every possible scenario in one hypothetical.  Also, I've seen 15 in downtowns, but not really on the highway itself.

[wanderer2575]

Closest I know nearest me is Southfield Road/Freeway (part of which is the entirety of M-39).  Going north, the speed limits are 35 --> 40 --> 55 --> 45 --> 35 --> 25.

[Mapmikey]

In South Carolina, 55 to 30 is common.  When i was living there 25+ years ago, these would sometimes be without warning.

Virginia had at least one 55 to 15 in Columbia on SR 659 (old VA 27)...been some years since GMSV or myself have been through there so i don't know if it is still there.  It is warned.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

In South Carolina, 55 to 30 is common.  When i was living there 25+ years ago, these would sometimes be without warning.

Colorado (at least as of the last time I was there) was awful about reduced speed ahead. I remember cruising along in a 65 with a rock cut wall to my right,  the road curved to the right where the wall still obscured my view to the side, and to my unpleasant surprise out of nowhere a SPEED LIMIT 35 emerged.

[GaryV]

However, if a speed limit is being reduced by more than 10 mph, MUTCD guidance (section 2C.38) says a "Reduced Speed Limit Ahead" W3-5 (or W3-5a) warning sign should be installed. So one could infer that reductions of more than 10 mph are discouraged, at least without warning.

It's the "without warning" part. Motorists can't be expected to immediately decrease their speed when they are driving at 55 and hit the city limits of a speed-trap town and suddenly it's 25.

Around my area in SE Mich, I know of several places where arterials change speed limits from 40 to 35, maybe a 10 mph difference, and they aren't signed in advance. But if it goes down more than that there's usually a warning sign.