Speed limit anomalies? (Fastest work zone, weird speeds, etc)

[colinstu]

I-94 near Milwaukee has been under construction for quite awhile, and I can't help to not think about the 55mph work zone speed limits that I encounter at times. Back when 94 was being reconstructed in Illinois, they had some terribly low (but more normal for a work zone) limits of 40-45mph. Has anyone seen faster limits through a work/construction zone? I've driven on I-94 in Michigan and I-80/90 in Ohio a couple times and I'm *pretty* sure I've seen even faster work zone speeds, but can't remember what they were off hand.

I'm not advocating these speed limits should be lower or anything, I just find it kind of interesting.

Also, has anyone ever seen a speed limit sign that isn't a multiple of 5? I've never seen one, but there are millions of speed limit signs throughout the US... there's gotta be a weird one somewhere. (Example: Speed Limit 67... or something).

There are a couple signs in the www.plan94.org construction area that read simply "Speed 55" too (they look similar to a "Trucks __" sign... not like the "Speed __" signs that can be found in Oregon). I'm pretty sure they're just temporary, but still kinda neat/weird.

Share anything you want that relates to speed limit signs

[deathtopumpkins]

Also, has anyone ever seen a speed limit sign that isn't a multiple of 5? I've never seen one, but there are millions of speed limit signs throughout the US... there's gotta be a weird one somewhere. (Example: Speed Limit 67... or something).

Not an "official" speed limit, in that it's not on a "public" road, but the entrance road to Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Virginia has a posted speed limit of 18, with full MUTCD-compliant signs. And I know plenty of campgrounds, trailer parks, apartment complexes, etc. will post something like "Speed limit 15 1/2" just to try and catch drivers' attention.

Also, thread moved to traffic control, since speed limits (work zone or no) are a form of traffic control.

[1995hoo]

When I was in law school, the speed limit on James Street in Durham, NC, was 27 mph (standard signs; the city council had mandated that speed limit). It was changed to 25 mph a few years after I graduated in 1998.

[vdeane]

NYSDOT region 9 (Binghamton) often doesn't post work zone speed limits at all in rural areas.  There are a few work zones with de facto 65 mph limits because of this.

[Brandon]

I-94 near Milwaukee has been under construction for quite awhile, and I can't help to not think about the 55mph work zone speed limits that I encounter at times. Back when 94 was being reconstructed in Illinois, they had some terribly low (but more normal for a work zone) limits of 40-45mph. Has anyone seen faster limits through a work/construction zone? I've driven on I-94 in Michigan and I-80/90 in Ohio a couple times and I'm *pretty* sure I've seen even faster work zone speeds, but can't remember what they were off hand.

Michigan has 60 mph in work zones unless workers are present (45 mph).  Then, for workers to present, they must be separated from traffic by cones or barrels.  If there is a concrete barrier, then the limit is 60, not 45.

To me, that's just common sense.

[wxfree]

There have been work zone speed limits of 70 on I-10 and I-20 in Texas where the regular speed limit is 80.  I've seen a work zone speed limit of 65 on a farm-to-market road with a regular limit of 75.  Those are the highest I'm aware of.  As for strange numbers, I've never seen one on a speed limit sign, but I remember an advisory speed sign on the old West Freeway (Lancaster elevated) in Fort Worth that had a couple of trucks on a sign showing a left curve.  It said "32 MPH" or "32 M.P.H."  It was unique.  It was a big sign, not a little square that goes under a diamond.  It was all on a single a rectangle.  As I recall, it was mounted on a bridge abutment and was only on the westbound side.  That portion of freeway was replaced and demolished.

[MASTERNC]

Maryland has had a few work zones with no reduction in speed on I-95, where the speed limit is 65.  This has been done even with lane closures.  Of course, both work zones had speed cameras.

[The High Plains Traveler]

Mountain Road NW in Albuquerque has a posted speed limit of 18 MPH. I think the odd (OK, 18 is even but it's not evenly divisible by 5) speed limit is due to the bike lane on a narrow two-lane street and resulting desire to limit traffic speed along this route near Old Town Albuquerque.

[Scott5114]

There is a self-storage place down the street that has a 9½ MPH speed limit posted on a standard sign.

[agentsteel53]

as of 2006, the town of Trenton, TN had speed limit 31 on its major roads.

[agentsteel53]

I remember an advisory speed sign on the old West Freeway (Lancaster elevated) in Fort Worth that had a couple of trucks on a sign showing a left curve.  It said "32 MPH" or "32 M.P.H."  It was unique.  It was a big sign, not a little square that goes under a diamond. 

in Torrance, CA there is an underpass to I-405 which zigzags and has an advisory speed of 27.  It used to be a two-sign assembly - a curve diamond, and underneath it a square with "27 MPH" - with the 27 in an old-style block font.  It has been recently updated to a California-standard single diamond sign with the number underneath the arrow.  the number remains 27.

[Duke87]

Page, AZ:

[agentsteel53]

Page, AZ:

doesn't count if it's in Arialveticverstesk.

[1995hoo]

There is a self-storage place down the street that has a 9½ MPH speed limit posted on a standard sign.

I worked at a retirement home that had a standard sign with speed limit 9. I asked why and they said it was because it catches your eye.

Private property, of course, is not subject to MUTCD "5 or 0" guidelines.

[xonhulu]

I've heard some psychobabble before that people are more likely to obey a certain numerical limit if it's an unusual number.  The reasoning is the unfamiliar number forces you to think about it more.  I've seen this applied in educational conferences I attend where we're given an 8 minute break instead of 5 or 10 -- they think it makes it more likely you'll return at the desired time.   

That might explain these unusual speed limits, but they could also just be examples of civil creativity.

[roadfro]

^ I've heard and read similar things about speed limits. I think some roads at the Las Vegas Speedway used to have "Speed Limit 23" signs, and a question to the local paper about the unusual number resulted in a similar response.

I've seen first hand the odd number effect in relation to timing. As an RA in the res halls at UNR, I did a game night that I advertised starting at 9:07pm. (I figured it would take me about 7 minutes after getting off of a desk shift at 9pm to get things ready in the lounge.) It turned out that people noticed the awkward time and it stuck in their head, so they remembered to come. That started a trend for a year or so that whenever we played that game at game night, it always started at an X:07 time, regardless of whether it was logistically necessary to do so.

[formulanone]

I've seen first hand the odd number effect in relation to timing.

Heh, I remember when TBS used to offset all their programming to begin at xx:05 or xx:35.

[agentsteel53]

^ I've heard and read similar things about speed limits. I think some roads at the Las Vegas Speedway used to have "Speed Limit 23" signs, and a question to the local paper about the unusual number resulted in a similar response.

I've seen first hand the odd number effect in relation to timing. As an RA in the res halls at UNR, I did a game night that I advertised starting at 9:07pm. (I figured it would take me about 7 minutes after getting off of a desk shift at 9pm to get things ready in the lounge.) It turned out that people noticed the awkward time and it stuck in their head, so they remembered to come. That started a trend for a year or so that whenever we played that game at game night, it always started at an X:07 time, regardless of whether it was logistically necessary to do so.

isn't the Super Bowl kickoff advertised at 6:18pm?  I'm not sure how that ended up being the case, and am surprised they haven't pushed it to 6:30 to push another 12 minutes of advertising down people's throats.

[NE2]

I've seen first hand the odd number effect in relation to timing.

Heh, I remember when TBS used to offset all their programming to begin at xx:05 or xx:35.

Yeah, an offset arms race is a little different.

[roadman]

Redstone Plaza, a strip mall in Stoneham MA, has black on white signs that read "SPEED LIMIT 5-10 MPH".  However, as it's private property, I doubt there's a special speed regulation for it.

Greenwood Avenue in Wakefield MA has some interesting speed signing.  Entering Wakefield from Melrose, there's a regulatory 25 sign at the town line.  About 100 feet beyond, there's a stand-alone advisory 30 plate.  The stand-alone advisory 30 plates are then repeated at periodic intervals until the intersection with Main Street.

[formulanone]

I've seen first hand the odd number effect in relation to timing.

Heh, I remember when TBS used to offset all their programming to begin at xx:05 or xx:35.

Yeah, an offset arms race is a little different.

I suppose TBS lost that battle.

[kphoger]

I seem to recall a non-multiple-of-five speed limit on a truck weigh station in central Illinois, probably either I-64 or I-70 between Saint Louis and I-57 (or perhaps in another state entirely, as my memory of it is rather vague).  Can anyone confirm that an oddball speed limit does exist at a truck weigh station?

[PHLBOS]

Granted, it's located in a private area; but in Lynn, MA inside the GE complex, there were SPEED LIMIT 19 signs (in MUTCD-compliant style) posted everywhere along the internal (property-wise) roadway system circa the 1980s.

[agentsteel53]

I seem to recall a non-multiple-of-five speed limit on a truck weigh station in central Illinois, probably either I-64 or I-70 between Saint Louis and I-57 (or perhaps in another state entirely, as my memory of it is rather vague).  Can anyone confirm that an oddball speed limit does exist at a truck weigh station?

California has standard Speed Limit 3 signs, as well as advisory speeds of 1, 2, and 3.

[roadman]

Thanks for mentioning those GE plant signs.  I'd forgotten about them, even though I grew up in Lynn and worked at the River Works complex (Engine Test Department) for a brief period in the mid-1980s.