Any reason why MA 3 has a speed limit of 60 not 65?

[Roadgeekteen]

Anything about the road? The nearby very short US 44 freeway has a speed limit of 65.

[roadman]

Before NMSL, the speed limit on MA 3 from Braintree to Plymouth was 60 mph.  At some point after NMSL was repealed, the limit was raised back to 60.

[jp the roadgeek]

IIRC, it's the only 60 MPH zone in all of New England, NY, NJ, PA, and DE.   I haven't seen another 60 MPH zone northeast of Maryland (I-795, and a stretch of I-83 just north of the Beltway, have a 60 MPH limit). 

[shadyjay]

I have seen photographic evidence of I-95 in the Orange/West Haven area having a "Speed Limit 60" pre-NMSL, but outside of that, MA 3 is the only place I've seen for myself a SL 60 in New England.

[sprjus4]

IIRC, it's the only 60 MPH zone in all of New England, NY, NJ, PA, and DE.   I haven't seen another 60 MPH zone northeast of Maryland (I-795, and a stretch of I-83 just north of the Beltway, have a 60 MPH limit).

The DE-1 freeway through Dover is posted at 60 mph.

Additionally, the northern segment of DE-1 between I-95 and US-13 was recently increased from 55 mph to 60 mph.

[sprjus4]

Anything about the road? The nearby very short US 44 freeway has a speed limit of 65.

I wouldn't call 10 miles "very short", long enough to be able to handle a continued speed like that. Either way, both roads should be reasonably posted at 65 mph, not one or the other.

[ProfBrad]

The other issue is why US 3 from Burlington to the NH border is still posted 55mph. The road, while heavily trafficked can certainly handle 65 or at least 60. I 93 is 65 all the way down to Medford and traffic is as bad, if not worse than US 3.

[hotdogPi]

The other issue is why US 3 from Burlington to the NH border is still posted 55mph. The road, while heavily trafficked can certainly handle 65 or at least 60. I 93 is 65 all the way down to Medford and traffic is as bad, if not worse than US 3.

According to someone at MassDOT that I talked to in person, it is because the police won't allow it.

[deathtopumpkins]

IIRC, it's the only 60 MPH zone in all of New England, NY, NJ, PA, and DE.   I haven't seen another 60 MPH zone northeast of Maryland (I-795, and a stretch of I-83 just north of the Beltway, have a 60 MPH limit). 

When MaineDOT raised speed limits statewide around 2014, a variety of 55 mph zones on freeways went up to 60, including I-195, the Scarborough Connector, I-95 through Portland (though I think it's lower through the current widening project work zone), the Falmouth Spur, US 1 between Brunswick and Bath, and I-395 in Bangor. So that's one more New England state that posts 60.

[SectorZ]

The other issue is why US 3 from Burlington to the NH border is still posted 55mph. The road, while heavily trafficked can certainly handle 65 or at least 60. I 93 is 65 all the way down to Medford and traffic is as bad, if not worse than US 3.

According to someone at MassDOT that I talked to in person, it is because the police won't allow it.

That sounds like a MassDOT cop-out (pun intended) answer. If state troopers have that much pull, we really have a problem in our state.

[deathtopumpkins]

Police have no involvement. Speed zones are approved by MassDOT and the RMV (and the town/city on non-state highways).

Here's the procedure explained: https://www.mass.gov/doc/procedures-for-speed-zoning-on-state-and-municipal-roadways/download [PDF]

The state police could voice their concern, but MassDOT does not need their approval.

[hotdogPi]

This person I talked to was pretty high up, and he personally supports increasing it to 65. I have no reason to believe he's lying.

[Roadgeekteen]

The other issue is why US 3 from Burlington to the NH border is still posted 55mph. The road, while heavily trafficked can certainly handle 65 or at least 60. I 93 is 65 all the way down to Medford and traffic is as bad, if not worse than US 3.

I don't think I-93 is 65 inside 128. I might be wrong though.

[sprjus4]

The other issue is why US 3 from Burlington to the NH border is still posted 55mph. The road, while heavily trafficked can certainly handle 65 or at least 60. I 93 is 65 all the way down to Medford and traffic is as bad, if not worse than US 3.

I don't think I-93 is 65 inside 128. I might be wrong though.

Exit 33 - 37 inside of I-95 / MA-128 is 65 mph. The rest south of there though is 55 mph.

[froggie]

The other issue is why US 3 from Burlington to the NH border is still posted 55mph. The road, while heavily trafficked can certainly handle 65 or at least 60. I 93 is 65 all the way down to Medford and traffic is as bad, if not worse than US 3.

I don't think I-93 is 65 inside 128. I might be wrong though.

Exit 33 - 37 inside of I-95 / MA-128 is 65 mph. The rest south of there though is 55 mph.

Slows further to 45 through the tunnel, tho nobody goes that slow if there isn't traffic.

[vdeane]

IIRC, it's the only 60 MPH zone in all of New England, NY, NJ, PA, and DE.   I haven't seen another 60 MPH zone northeast of Maryland (I-795, and a stretch of I-83 just north of the Beltway, have a 60 MPH limit). 

PA doesn't have any permanent ones that I know of, but whenever a road with a speed limit of 70 gets a work zone, the work zone limit will be 60, since PA is a "just drop the speed limit by 10 mph regardless of conditions" state.

This person I talked to was pretty high up, and he personally supports increasing it to 65. I have no reason to believe he's lying.

Could it be a MassDOT policy (official or otherwise) to not raise the limit if the police don't support it?

[deathtopumpkins]

This person I talked to was pretty high up, and he personally supports increasing it to 65. I have no reason to believe he's lying.

I don't think he's lying so much as making an assumption that probably isn't actually true. The MSP may voice their concerns if they hear about a proposed speed limit change, but at no point in the process are they officially involved.

[SectorZ]

This person I talked to was pretty high up, and he personally supports increasing it to 65. I have no reason to believe he's lying.

I don't think he's lying so much as making an assumption that probably isn't actually true. The MSP may voice their concerns if they hear about a proposed speed limit change, but at no point in the process are they officially involved.

Agreed. US 3 from I-95 to I-495 is arguably safer and designed for higher speeds than many Massachusetts freeways posted at 65 MPH. It's also the only stretch I see them doing radar patrol on so I can conceive that this is worrying about a drop in revenue generation.

[kefkafloyd]

US 3 north of 128 was redesigned for 70 MPH when it was rebuilt in the early aughts (along with having provisions for a future fourth lane on each carriageway). Nobody drives 55 and I'm sure staties are more than happy to tag people with in-and-out of state plates alike. Driving 55 is likely to get you in more accidents, not less, on that road.

When I regularly commuted on US 3 (I don't anymore, I've since moved and can now take back roads) I repeatedly complained to my state reps about it to no avail. The latest amendment to the law that mandates certain roads to be 65MPH was put up in 2017 but was tabled.

I can't find it (Google is failing me), but one of the studies about the cross-median crashes (which got them to install cable barriers) explicitly called out the low speed limit as a factor for problems on the road.

[sprjus4]

Curious what the 85th percentile speed is compared to the speed limit.

If it's 15 mph or greater over the speed limit, that is purely an artificial limit.

US-3 should be posted at 65 mph.

[deathtopumpkins]

I pulled up speed data from the count station just south of Exit 29, and the 85th percentile speed northbound is.... 78! If you look back through the data to pre-COVID days, it varies from 72 to 77. Southbound is 75, going back to pre-COVID days it varies from 69 to 74.

So 85th percentile speeds are roughly 20 mph above the posted limit.

[RobbieL2415]

Some of the on-ramps on MA 3, IMO, have too short of an approach to the gore to have an 85th% speed of 65.

But the design of the rest of the freeway is modern, so maybe they thought 55 was to restrictive and went with 60?

[RobbieL2415]

Some of the on-ramps on MA 3, IMO, have too short of an approach to the gore to have an 85th% speed of 65.

But the design of the rest of the freeway is modern, so maybe they thought 55 was to restrictive and went with 60?

Unlrelated, but I would support a speed limit of 60 on the Mid-Cape Highway from Exit 1A to 12.

[Roadgeekteen]

Some of the on-ramps on MA 3, IMO, have too short of an approach to the gore to have an 85th% speed of 65.

But the design of the rest of the freeway is modern, so maybe they thought 55 was to restrictive and went with 60?

The reply above yours said that the 85th% speed ranges from 70 to 80.

[deathtopumpkins]

The reply above yours said that the 85th% speed ranges from 70 to 80.

MA 3 and US 3 are different roads. The speed data I posted is for US 3. I don't know what the 85th-percentile speed is for MA 3.