Maryland

[PHLBOS]

The project, funded entirely through toll revenues, will implement highway-speed AET at the JFK toll plaza on an interim basis until permanent AET conversion can be designed and constructed.

The other element I forgot when making that post is that if 2-way tolling were to return to the JFK, it'd also need to return to the Hatem Bridge (or there'd be an immediate loophole in the tolling setup).

IMHO, once both the Tydings & Hatem Bridges are fully AET; a simultaneous conversion to 2-way tolling will, no doubt, return. 

Similar happened in Boston after the harbor tunnels (Sumner/Callahan & Ted Williams) were converted to AET well after the Tobin Bridge went AET; all of the crossings converted to 2-way tolling only after all were fully AET.

[Roadgeekteen]

Will Maryland ever raise the speed limit to 70 on I-95 and other rural freeways that are still 65? Also, how about 60 or 65 on some of the high-quality expressways out east?

[sprjus4]

Will Maryland ever raise the speed limit to 70 on I-95 and other rural freeways that are still 65? Also, how about 60 or 65 on some of the high-quality expressways out east?

I-95 should've been increased at least north of Baltimore when I-70 and I-68 were, why it wasn't is beyond me. Arguably the same with I-81 and I-83.

What other rural freeways particularly should be raised from 55 mph to 65 mph?

And for the last part, no plans, but would definitely agree plenty should be 65 mph. US-301, US-15, and US-13 for starters, being limited access. Even the ones without access control like US-113 and US-50 should be increased. No reason why not except artificial laws.

[vdeane]

If I remember right, I-68 was raised first, then I-70.  After that, MD got spooked by some crashes on I-70, so it's unlikely anything else will be raised, even though I agree about I-95.

[Roadgeekteen]

If I remember right, I-68 was raised first, then I-70.  After that, MD got spooked by some crashes on I-70, so it's unlikely anything else will be raised, even though I agree about I-95.

Um traffic probably flows at 70 on all those roads anyway.

[sprjus4]

If I remember right, I-68 was raised first, then I-70.  After that, MD got spooked by some crashes on I-70, so it's unlikely anything else will be raised, even though I agree about I-95.

Um traffic probably flows at 70 on all those roads anyway.

Well above 70 mph...

Traffic was moving at 70+ mph on US-301 on the Eastern Shore when I drove it a couple years ago... and the limit there is 55 mph.

But except when you pass through the occasional minor intersection, it's high quality design and limited access feels and looks like you're driving on a 70 mph rural interstate highway.

[1995hoo]

If I remember right, I-68 was raised first, then I-70.  After that, MD got spooked by some crashes on I-70, so it's unlikely anything else will be raised, even though I agree about I-95.

Which is kind of absurd, because the segment of I-70 near South Mountain has seen lots of accidents for years and it has nothing to do with the speed limit.

Traffic on I-95 routinely moved at 80+ mph even in the late 1980s when Maryland was still stuck on the old 55-mph speed limit (they didn't allow 65 anywhere until 1995 due to Gov. Schaefer vetoing any efforts to allow it). I recall my grandfather, who died in 1991, complaining about traffic going 80+ in Maryland when he drove down to Virginia to visit us. It's actually somewhat harder to go that fast now simply because there's so much more traffic, but I've often found that on I-95 in Maryland you can go fastest if you stick to the far right lane because Maryland residents think they're on a British motorway where you keep left except to pass.

[plain]

US 301 between US 50 and Delaware could definitely be raised to at least 60 mph, but I don't see MD doing that. Hell it's still 55 mph on its duplex with US 50, which is a freeway.

[jmacswimmer]

I dug up MDOT SHA's press release from when I-70 got the bump, because I vaguely remembered it almost sounding as if no other roads would be considered for a bump after that.  vdeane is correct that I-68 was raised first as the pilot in October 2015, then I-70 followed in April 2016.

Links to both press releases:  I-68  I-70

[Roadgeekteen]

The Northeast remains cautious as always with speed limits.

[sprjus4]

US 301 between US 50 and Delaware could definitely be raised to at least 60 mph, but I don't see MD doing that. Hell it's still 55 mph on its duplex with US 50, which is a freeway.

65 mph minimum, ideally 70 mph.

But you know... intersections.

Delaware is now a relief as the speed limit increases to 65 mph on the toll road. It's not like I was already coming onto it though at over 70 mph anyways.

[NJRoadfan]

I've since switched to US-50/301/DE-1 over I-95 because it adds no time and is generally a less stressful drive. Having lower tolls also helps too. The only exception would be during the summer if the Bay Bridge is congested, but I rarely travel that route during those times anyway.

[Ketchup99]

Maryland could probably up the limit on US-50 all the way from the bridge to Ocean City from 55 to 60-65. The flow is already 65-70, with a decent number of cars topping 70.

[1995hoo]

I'd be very surprised if they were to raise the limit between the bridge and the US-50/301 split, especially with the sharp RIRO exit ramps, at least one of which leads directly onto a roundabout. They write a lot of speeding tickets along that stretch.

[RoadPelican]

Believe it or not, I remember sometime back in the 2000's MDOT tried to raise the speed limit from 55 to 65 from the US 50/301 split to the Bay Bridge but the Queen Anne's County Board of Commissioners voted to oppose that.  There are some sharp RIRO ramps but the main highway corridor is very straight, wide and the accel lanes are long.

I am surprised that Gov. Hogan did not try to at least make the case for 60-65 MPH on the rural divided highways, especially the recently widened Route 404 west of Denton.

[sprjus4]

Apparently back before the NMSL was repealed, Maryland attempted to get the speed limit increased to 65 mph on the entire segment between I-495 and the US-50/US-301 split on the Eastern Shore, probably excluding the Chesapeake Bay Bridge of course.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1995/06/22/md-denied-higher-speed-for-rte-50/47d0a291-cf88-4e84-b211-54a740e771e7/

Probably would've been nice to have, I could reasonably see the speed limit go up to 65 mph through Annapolis, sure it drops to 55 mph coming in from the west, but traffic still moves 70+ mph regardless, same with the Eastern Shore segment in question.

They also apparently tried US-29 in Howard County, not sure why they never went back to that later on.

[mcmc]

They also apparently tried US-29 in Howard County, not sure why they never went back to that later on.

When was this? The Washington Post article you linked to didn't mention U.S. 29. Is there any documentation or media coverage to examine?

[sprjus4]

They also apparently tried US-29 in Howard County, not sure why they never went back to that later on.

When was this? The Washington Post article you linked to didn't mention U.S. 29. Is there any documentation or media coverage to examine?

Rereading the article, it looks like I misread it. They tried for I-70 between the Beltway and "US-29 in Howard County" . That stretch has indeed been increased to 65 mph.

I did find it weird how that segment particularly would've been considered and not the rest of the suburban freeways. But turns out this is Maryland, none of them were actually considered for anything above 55 mph to this day!

[roadman65]

Is this still going on?
https://www.wbaltv.com/article/b-w-parkway-speed-limit-lowered/26590720?fbclid=IwAR0JtOy1lbppJcihbz9EulTTAqBN3ZajQnDtm8NDmYKfwJFTDnEj56bbKWU#

I noticed its from 2 years ago.  Has the National Park Service regraded the roadway to eliminate those potholes that caused the speed limit drop?  Or are they lagging?

[sprjus4]

Is this still going on?
https://www.wbaltv.com/article/b-w-parkway-speed-limit-lowered/26590720?fbclid=IwAR0JtOy1lbppJcihbz9EulTTAqBN3ZajQnDtm8NDmYKfwJFTDnEj56bbKWU#

I noticed its from 2 years ago.  Has the National Park Service regraded the roadway to eliminate those potholes that caused the speed limit drop?  Or are they lagging?

August 2018 Street View shows rough pavement with a number of visible potholes and patch jobs. The article was published in March 2019. July 2019 Street View in the area shows newly paved smooth blacktop with a posted 55 mph speed limit (a newly placed sign at that), so I imagine they got to work fairly quickly.

[cpzilliacus]

Is this still going on?
https://www.wbaltv.com/article/b-w-parkway-speed-limit-lowered/26590720?fbclid=IwAR0JtOy1lbppJcihbz9EulTTAqBN3ZajQnDtm8NDmYKfwJFTDnEj56bbKWU#

I noticed its from 2 years ago.  Has the National Park Service regraded the roadway to eliminate those potholes that caused the speed limit drop?  Or are they lagging?

Some of the worst sections have had pavement repaired, or the wearing course milled-down and replaced with new blacktop.  I do not drive the parkway all that often, but I think it safe to say that it is in better shape now than it was when that story came out.

[BrianP]

The US 219 project out near Grantsville opened earlier this month.  And now it's starting to show up in Google maps.  But it's not yet hooked up to show traffic or route you onto the new highway.  Maybe someday there will be new aerial imagery too.  I would replace the the signal at the now Bus US 219 / ALT US 40 intersection with a roundabout.  I'd be curious to see the Bus US 219 signage.  I'd assume it would be like Business US 1.

[1995hoo]

BrianP, the link you posted doesn't work.

[BrianP]

Darn web sites.  This one should should be better since it's a maryland.gov address instead of a damn AWS address.  The previous one was from the project page.

[davewiecking]

Darn web sites.  This one should should be better since it's a maryland.gov address instead of a damn AWS address.  The previous one was from the project page.

Thank you in advance for editing your earlier post!