A few of us on here drive in the Detroit area just about every day. For one experience on a freeway that isn't the normal and that is driving the speed limit. Detroiters don't care what the speed limit is we drive fast and furious and the freeway's are like a race track.
This is common in many places - there's some where you're lucky to achieve the speed limit in rush hours and others where it flows freely. And others were you're lucky to even have that third lane.
Again, I believe there's a confirmation bias and perception that because you* and your lane of traffic wants to go fast; ergo, everyone is doing it.
* this includes me, except when I'm on vacation or half-awake
Why hasn’t Michigan increased the speed limit there up to 70 mph? There’s clearly precedent, and it’s not like they’re shy with high urban limits.
Where east of the Mississippi is a high urban speed limit? Nowhere, all major cities drop the limits to 55 or lower. Indy, Milwaukee and Columbus are all examples of this.
You’ve never driven in Michigan, and it shows. Virtually all the urban freeways in that state are posted at 70 mph in every major city.
A lot of the eastern states, including Kentucky, South Carolina, Virginia, Ohio, and West Virginia post at least 60 mph on urban freeways. Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, Florida, and Michigan all have urban freeway speed limits of 65 mph, and some up to 70 mph. Try again.
70mph speed limits on an
urban freeway is usually pretty rare, unless it's Texas.
It's definitely not posted at 70 in Atlanta, Birmingham, Montgomery, Mobile, Nashville, Jackson, Charlotte, Miami (nor most of South Florida, save the Turnpike), Orlando, Jacksonville, Memphis, Hattiesburg, Meridian, and Knoxville. Once you're into the suburbs or rural areas outside of those city cores, then the speed limits jumps back up (with a few exceptions).