Highest speed limit on a two lane suburban road with driveways

[02 Park Ave]

What is the highest speed limit you have seen on a two lane suburban road which has driveways?

I've seen it as high as 45 mph.  Can anyone top that?

It is very dangerous for one to slow down enough to make a turn into a driveway with fast moving traffic following.  Making a left turn when exiting the driveway is also risky.

[jeffandnicole]

There should be some 50 mph roads in your area like this.  They are more rural, but there's a few 55 mph 2 lane roads with driveways in NJ as well.

[hobsini2]

My street is 40.

[Zeffy]

Somerset CR 601 has a 50 MPH speed limit with plenty of driveways. Most people do 60 on that road anyway.

[1995hoo]

I seem to remember that when I was a kid, a couple of two-lane roads here in Fairfax County had 50- or 55-mph speed limits, some driveways, passing zones, etc. Any such roads have since been upgraded to four or more lanes as traffic has increased. There may still be a two-lane road with a designated passing zone* somewhere in the county, but I can't think of one.


*"Designated passing zone" intended to indicate roads with a center line, as opposed to roads with no center marking at all. The latter allow passing when it's safe, but roads with no center marking on which people seldom pass are extremely common in residential areas.

[ET21]

I've seen 50 as the highest. Most common is 40-45

[Thing 342]

Depends on how one defines 'suburban', but VA-173 has a 55mph speed limit through Seaford.

[slorydn1]

All of the major 2 lane roads outside of New Bern (well really all over eastern NC) are 55 mph, with lots of driveways.

[1995hoo]

I might quibble with how much of eastern North Carolina is "suburban," as the OP asked. I've driven on plenty of two-lane roads in rural areas (including North Carolina) with driveways and houses right up near the road and 55-mph speed limits. But that sort of road seems a lot less common in suburban areas.

[slorydn1]

I might quibble with how much of eastern North Carolina is "suburban," as the OP asked. I've driven on plenty of two-lane roads in rural areas (including North Carolina) with driveways and houses right up near the road and 55-mph speed limits. But that sort of road seems a lot less common in suburban areas.

I can actually understand your quibble, but let me explain.


SR-1005 (which we refer to as Old US-70) as well as NC-55 west of New Bern, and NC-43 to the northwest are areas that are both inside, and just outside the city limits of New Bern, which is a city (just not very large), and the neighborhoods that are just outside of the city are by definition sub-urban (therefore suburban). Over the next 20 years or so as New Bern annexes more and more land I think you will find that these areas will look more like what you are used to seeing. As it is, New Bern has pretty much doubled in area just in the 25 years I have lived here. We have whole sections where the parcels are 1-2 acres with one or more houses (ok some are double wide trailers too) and there are driveway after driveway along those roads where people have to practically come to a stop to be able to negotiate the turn into their driveways. What we don't have, in those areas just yet, are the stores and parks and all those other things that the people of Schaumburg IL, Levittown NY, or Fairfax VA get to enjoy, yet. Give it time.


We do have some roads that I think would more suit what you (and the OP) are thinking of, like Old Cherry Point Road, and Brices Creek Rd that have all sorts of subdivisions that run off of them and they are only 45 mph (Brices Creek makes the jump to 55 right near the Jones County line but that really is out in the sticks with not very many homes and driveways when you get to that point.

Speaking of Schaumburg, IL that's where I grew up, a village in the NW suburbs of Chicago which had approximately 70K population when I moved away from there in 1991, so I really do get it when dwellers of large metropolitan areas look down their noses at areas like where I live now as being out in the boonies, I really do. Shoot, when I lived in Schaumburg, we referred to anything west of Barrington Rd (for those familiar with the area) as being "way out in BFI", LOL.

Back then much of Schaumburg Rd west of Barrington Rd was still 2 lane and was 50-55 mph, too. (OMG I just looked at Streetview up there, and I don't recognize any of Schaumburg Rd in Streamwood; 4 lanes and 40 mph speed limit now, sheesh).

[1995hoo]

Fair enough. I don't generally like to act like a "thread police" type because (a) it's obnoxious and (b) I don't believe posters have to adhere slavishly to an OP's definition of what constitutes "responsive." In this case, it was your use of the phrase "well really all over eastern NC" that gave me pause, though. It made me think, "Man, that's a REALLY BIG AREA." That is, the exception would swallow the whole. Thanks for clarifying what you meant.

[6a]

Depends on how one defines 'suburban', but VA-173 has a 55mph speed limit through Seaford.

That was my thought. There are more than a handful of roads in the Columbus area that have become suburban in nature over time but are probably technically called rural and carry a 55 MPH limit. A section of Alton & Darby Creek Rd out by me basically connects subdivisions but happens to pass through a farm area and is 55, but functions as a connector road.