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[thenetwork]

Living in Colorado, CDOT does a very good job with speed limits. 

There are many 2-lane highway signed routes which will give 65 MPH zones as much as possible.  But when there may be a steep hill or a stretch of winding road, they will reduce the speed accordingly, but will quickly raise it back up when the lower speed is not needed.

That doesn't mean they are totally smart.  There are a few WTF stretches where there is no reason to have the speed so low.  Case in point, there is a 50 MPH stretch of CO-82 between Basalt and Aspen with a RIGHT lane HOV lane during AM and PM drive -- just try to stay at or
slightly above 50-55 in the left (Non-HOV) lane during those times without getting honked at, high-beamed or flipped off.

[sprjus4]

This should not limit roads to 55 mph. If your principals were applied somewhere like Texas, yikes. Two lanes there are basically 75 mph all across the state, and seem to present little issues.

The thing about Texas that few people understand is that it basically covers the same acreage as the former Northwest Territory (i.e. Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and part of MN), but has 20 millions less people than we have. So whenever you want to do an apples-to-apples comparison of anything in Texas, you have to statistically compare either all states (for area), or just those that give you the same population.

West Texas might as well be Iowa. East Texas is reasonably populated, however.

And East Texas still has 65 mph - 75 mph speed limits on two-lane roads, going through forests, etc.

I understand the comparison is not the same, driving in Texas is certainly a different dynamic, but driving across a large, flat open field in Ohio on a 2 lane road at 65 mph is not dangerous.

[GCrites80s]

A concern for me when dealing with 2-lane roads in an "old" "tight" state like much of Ohio (which has nothing on Pennsylvania in these respects) is the fact that while cars have gotten better in the last 30 years they sure have gotten bigger. I drive on old Ohio 2-lanes daily and am shocked at how many vehicles on the road take up the entire lane. You have a lot more wiggle room when vehicles are 4 feet from each other like back in the days where everyone drove Oldsmobile Cutlass Supremes instead of F-250s which are mere inches from each other. And there are way, way more semis on the 2-lanes than there used to be. Or take the example of trash collection. 40 years ago in these rural areas there was no trash collection. People burned their trash and either piled up or separated out the non-flammable items to be recycled. Now everyone is driving full speed past garbage trucks in a way they simply don't in a suburb or city.

[Bitmapped]

I'm not sure about a blanket increase to 60mph as the Ohio Senate was proposing, but I think flexibility for ODOT to raise speed limits on two-lane roads above 55mph would be useful. There are lots of two-lane road segments in the state that were rebuilt to ODOT's Super-2 standard which has 12-foot lanes, paved shoulders, and controlled-access ROW. These would seem reasonable candidates for an upgrade to 60mph or 65mph.

[triplemultiplex]

Texas is loony for having such high SL's on two lane roads.  I don't care how rural it is, those roads are not designed for that speed.  I mean I understand the desire to get the fuck out of Texas as fast as possible, but going faster than 65 on a two-lane FM road is ridiculous. 

[sprjus4]

^ Not even close 

Traffic moves 70-75 mph on two lane roads there and traffic flow is fine. Everyone mainly abides by the posted speed limit and I’ve never had issues with it.

I’ve driven all over that state and never seen an issue with the posted limits. 75 mph on a wide super two is a perfect speed. If you have an issue with it, drive elsewhere or expect to be tailgated / passed.

[74/171FAN]

I drove 75 mph on US 380 and felt safer there than many two lane roads up here in the northeast.

[Rothman]

Given NYSDOT's approaches to speed limit changes, if TxDOT follows suit, then I have no problem with the high speed limits on two-lane roads.

Whenever I've been out West, I have never felt unsafe on those higher speeds.  I suppose the only concern I have is if the rural roads are maintained as well, since hitting a pothole at that speed would not be fun.

[Buck87]

Yesterday I noticed a signage change for the US 20 bypass approaching Fremont from the west.

This sign assembly which used to have Norwalk as its control city as recently as the GSV capture in October, now has Clyde as the control city. Norwalk made perfect sense to me, being both the next county seat and the end of this 4 particular lane section of US 20...but now it's just the next town (Clyde.)

[carbaugh2]

https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2023/03/17/ohio-speed-limit-could-increase-to-60-mph-on-all-state-routes-county-roads-with-exceptions/

Ohio could see a speed limit increase on two-lane roads from 55 mph to 60 mph on state and county roads as well as gives authority to ODOT to raise the speed on two-lane state routes to 65 following an engineering study.

This proposal has been pulled from the state transportation budget bill.

https://www.cleveland.com/news/2023/03/proposed-speed-limit-hike-for-55-mph-ohio-highways-stalls-in-senate-committee.html

[vtk]

Speed limits should be set by engineers, not politicians.

[sprjus4]

Speed limits should be set by engineers, not politicians.

Agreed 100%

A 65 mph speed limit on a super-2 highway should be fully allowable.

Similar to this, how was Ohio able to post 70 mph on some non-freeway divided highways? (US-30 specifically) I thought it was limited to fully controlled access highways.

[PurdueBill]

Speed limits should be set by engineers, not politicians.

Agreed 100%

A 65 mph speed limit on a super-2 highway should be fully allowable.

Similar to this, how was Ohio able to post 70 mph on some non-freeway divided highways? (US-30 specifically) I thought it was limited to fully controlled access highways.

Early in 2013 the limit on Interstates in Ohio was able to increase to 70.  Later in 2013, further legislation passed that allowed 70 on non-interstates like US 30 between Bucyrus and Mansfield, which was all limited-access.  Soon after, US 30 west of Bucyrus and other similar dual carriageways that were not limited-access were allowed to increase as well.
It would behoove Indiana to think about passing the pending legislation there for similar roads as well so that they can be at least 65 where safe.  US 30 drops from 70 to 60 mph going into Indiana from Ohio, while the road is the same quality and type.  No one goes the 60 anyway along there between the state line and I-469 except when there is a trooper in the median.

[sprjus4]

Speed limits should be set by engineers, not politicians.

Agreed 100%

A 65 mph speed limit on a super-2 highway should be fully allowable.

Similar to this, how was Ohio able to post 70 mph on some non-freeway divided highways? (US-30 specifically) I thought it was limited to fully controlled access highways.

Early in 2013 the limit on Interstates in Ohio was able to increase to 70.  Later in 2013, further legislation passed that allowed 70 on non-interstates like US 30 between Bucyrus and Mansfield, which was all limited-access.  Soon after, US 30 west of Bucyrus and other similar dual carriageways that were not limited-access were allowed to increase as well.
It would behoove Indiana to think about passing the pending legislation there for similar roads as well so that they can be at least 65 where safe.  US 30 drops from 70 to 60 mph going into Indiana from Ohio, while the road is the same quality and type.  No one goes the 60 anyway along there between the state line and I-469 except when there is a trooper in the median.

In regards to Ohio though, while non-interstates were allowed to rise, I thought legislation specifically limited it to fully controlled access. Is there somewhere that permitted non-limited-access divided highways to go to 70 mph?

Also - why is Ohio reluctant to raise highways in the east - such as OH-32 - higher than 60 mph? Or even US-30 east of I-71 for traffic bound to Canton? They are fully able to, but act like Indiana or Virginia with those roads where they are legislatively restricted to 60 mph.

[I-55]

Speed limits should be set by engineers, not politicians.

Agreed 100%

A 65 mph speed limit on a super-2 highway should be fully allowable.

Similar to this, how was Ohio able to post 70 mph on some non-freeway divided highways? (US-30 specifically) I thought it was limited to fully controlled access highways.

Early in 2013 the limit on Interstates in Ohio was able to increase to 70.  Later in 2013, further legislation passed that allowed 70 on non-interstates like US 30 between Bucyrus and Mansfield, which was all limited-access.  Soon after, US 30 west of Bucyrus and other similar dual carriageways that were not limited-access were allowed to increase as well.
It would behoove Indiana to think about passing the pending legislation there for similar roads as well so that they can be at least 65 where safe.  US 30 drops from 70 to 60 mph going into Indiana from Ohio, while the road is the same quality and type.  No one goes the 60 anyway along there between the state line and I-469 except when there is a trooper in the median.

In regards to Ohio though, while non-interstates were allowed to rise, I thought legislation specifically limited it to fully controlled access. Is there somewhere that permitted non-limited-access divided highways to go to 70 mph?

Also - why is Ohio reluctant to raise highways in the east - such as OH-32 - higher than 60 mph? Or even US-30 east of I-71 for traffic bound to Canton? They are fully able to, but act like Indiana or Virginia with those roads where they are legislatively restricted to 60 mph.

It seems like Ohio never wanted to raise the speed limits on the hillier routes past 60 even when the limit on 30 was still 65. OH 32 / US 50 may be a higher design standard than US 23 south of Columbus, but the 4 lane portions of US 35 are still 60, US 23 is 60 (or lower) in many places, US 52 I think is 55 when not a 70 mph freeway. It really just seems to be a hills/plains divide.

[seicer]

It's very inconsistent, and maybe because of the district. US 52 is 70 MPH where there is full access control between OH 823 and Haverhill Furnace, 60 MPH east of there to Coal Grove (had been 55 MPH until fairly recently) as there are some intersections but no traffic lights, and 55 MPH to West Virginia which has more intersections and traffic lights with two interchanges.

OH 32 closer to Batavia is 55 MPH closer to I-275 and 60 MPH elsewhere, even though the majority of the route has sparse traffic and few traffic lights with very good access control.

[TempoNick]

It's very inconsistent, and maybe because of the district. US 52 is 70 MPH where there is full access control between OH 823 and Haverhill Furnace, 60 MPH east of there to Coal Grove (had been 55 MPH until fairly recently) as there are some intersections but no traffic lights, and 55 MPH to West Virginia which has more intersections and traffic lights with two interchanges.

OH 32 closer to Batavia is 55 MPH closer to I-275 and 60 MPH elsewhere, even though the majority of the route has sparse traffic and few traffic lights with very good access control.

Last night I was on US 33 and a little bit annoyed by the guy from West Virginia in the right lane. One of those guys driving an inconsistent speed so that you can't get over in the right lane. (Speed up, slow down, make up your f****** mind.) Anyway, it was in the 60 mile per hour section. I was so distracted by trying to figure out how to get into the right lane without slowing myself down, that I totally missed the change to 70 mph as I got closer to Lancaster.

[seicer]

The 'missing link': Funding approved to continue work on Tri-State bypass

Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens, R-Kitts Hill, is calling a proposal to spend $31.4 million on the Chesapeake Bypass “a huge win for Lawrence County and the entire Tri-State.” The Transportation Review Advisory Committee (TRAC) unanimously approved the annual list of projects to receive funding from the Ohio Department of Transportation’s major new capacity program over the next four years. The list includes $31.4 million for the bypass, also called the Tri-State Outer Belt, to start the earthwork on a two-lane, five-mile road from Ohio 527 at Chesapeake to Ohio 775 in Proctorville. The project is listed for construction in February 2025.

--

Project website with plans: https://publicinput.com/N4602

[GCrites80s]

Not really much of an outerbelt without connecting to I-64 east of town.

[zzcarp]

A

Not really much of an outerbelt without connecting to I-64 east of town.

Apparently they completed a feasibility study in 2020 about an east crossing to connect with WV 193 which would complete the connection to I-64 and at least make it a "bi-state" outerbelt. If ever funded, they anticipated it would about 10 years from studies to bridge construction.

Here's an image I found from a 2019 article that shows the proposed routing.