States with speed limits of 70 mph or more in urban areas

Started by Pink Jazz, July 02, 2024, 05:53:39 PM

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roadman65

#25
I remember that US 75 in Dallas is posted at 70 mph. I caught the sign on my YouTube video of going from the Margret Hunt Hill Bridge to the Central Expressway.

Look at 3:51
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Sheryl Crowe


roadfro

Quote from: cl94 on July 06, 2024, 12:36:21 AMNevada, despite being an 80/70 state, will not post above 65 in the urban areas of Reno, Las Vegas, Carson City, or Elko. The only incorporated city in Nevada with a limit of 80 MPH is West Wendover. Lovelock, Winnemucca, Battle Mountain, Carlin, Wells, and Mesquite have 75 MPH within city limits and near the downtown areas, Fernley has 70. Boulder City has 75 within its limits, but this is a technicality as its city limits extend halfway to Searchlight along US 95.
I was going to post something to this effect, but then started thinking that it comes down to how you define "urban".

NDOT, in their state-maintained highways log, makes the distinction if a route is located in an "urban" or "small urban" area, with the 'urban' areas being the areas with population over 50k (Las Vegas Valley, Reno/Sparks, Carson City) and 'small urban' generally being the smaller incorporated cities. No Nevada freeway with 'urban' mileage is posted higher than 65, but a good chunk of the 'small urban' freeway mileage is posted higher if adjacent stretches are also posted higher.
Roadfro - AARoads Pacific Southwest moderator since 2010, Nevada roadgeek since 1983.

cockroachking

Quote from: epzik8 on July 06, 2024, 04:15:16 PM
Quote from: cl94 on July 06, 2024, 12:36:21 AMHeck, I have seen 75-80 MPH work zone limits with "work zone" plaques in Utah.

This is how some people here in Maryland read our 65 MPH work zone signs.
Or the 45mph Work Zone Speed Limits on the NJ Turnpike...

michravera

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on July 05, 2024, 10:33:43 PMCA 99 hits 70 MPH north of Shaw Avenue in Fresno.

I-580 has 70 MPH posted inside Alameda County. I believe that CASR-14 and I-15 both post 70 MPH inside LA county. I-5 also is posted 70 MPH in two different places (north and south) inside Sacramento County and Just inside (like the north 1 km) of Stockton city limits.

ibthebigd


JayhawkCO

Since no one has really answered it, are we just saying 70 mph in an MSA?

cl94

Quote from: JayhawkCO on July 07, 2024, 01:03:34 PMSince no one has really answered it, are we just saying 70 mph in an MSA?

Nah, that falls apart in the west. Saying 70 MPH in Gerlach, NV or Mountain Pass, CA counts as "urban" is really stretching the definition of "urban", even though both are technically in an MSA.
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JayhawkCO

Quote from: cl94 on July 07, 2024, 03:01:07 PM
Quote from: JayhawkCO on July 07, 2024, 01:03:34 PMSince no one has really answered it, are we just saying 70 mph in an MSA?

Nah, that falls apart in the west. Saying 70 MPH in Gerlach, NV or Mountain Pass, CA counts as "urban" is really stretching the definition of "urban", even though both are technically in an MSA.

Agreed, so where are these 70 mph speed limits in actual urban areas? OP mentioned Colorado in the first post, but there's certainly nothing urban about any areas surrounding a 70 mph highway. Similar with Kansas and North Dakota.

ElishaGOtis

While Texas has already been mentioned, I am still in shock over the 75mph express lanes in Dallas/Ft Worth, even in the downtown areas!
I can drive 55 ONLY when it makes sense.

NOTE: Opinions expressed here on AARoads are solely my own and do not represent or reflect the statements, opinions, or decisions of any agency. Any official information I share will be quoted from another source.

1995hoo

Quote from: sprjus4 on July 06, 2024, 02:55:58 AM
Quote from: 1995hoo on July 02, 2024, 06:10:50 PMVirginia has one segment that might qualify—the I-66 HO/T lanes outside the Beltway have a 70-mph speed limit for their entire length. But that's the only place in Virginia, and it doesn't apply to the entire road (the general-purpose lanes are posted at 55, 60, and 65 mph for various parts of the same stretch of highway). So I wouldn't count Virginia for the list.

Although it feels like a rural interstate, the northern portion of I-295 between either end of I-64 passes through miles of Richmond suburbs. That highway is posted at 70 mph throughout with the exception of a few miles around I-95.

...

I tend to view that part of the Richmond area as having less urban of a feel than the portion of the DC suburbs served by I-66, which is why I didn't mention it before.
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ClassicHasClass

Quote from: michravera on July 07, 2024, 12:31:25 AM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on July 05, 2024, 10:33:43 PMCA 99 hits 70 MPH north of Shaw Avenue in Fresno.

I-580 has 70 MPH posted inside Alameda County. I believe that CASR-14 and I-15 both post 70 MPH inside LA county. I-5 also is posted 70 MPH in two different places (north and south) inside Sacramento County and Just inside (like the north 1 km) of Stockton city limits.

I-15 in Temecula almost all the way to CA 91 is 70mph. (The section starts in San Diego county, but Deer Springs is fairly rural even though it's not far from Escondido.)

Roadgeekteen

Massachusetts doesn't sign 70. For 65 in urban areas, they aren't common but not unheard of. Part of I-93 south of Route 128 remains 65 until Medford. I-90 also doesn't drop at all near Springfield. That might be it. Tons of suburban areas have 65 but that doesn't really count.
My username has been outdated since August 2023 but I'm too lazy to change it

roadman65

Texas is funny. Some roads are 70 close to the city centers and some aren't. In 1997 San Antonio was posted 70 on I-35 very close to Downtown.  I don't know about now, as TexDOT has been lowering maximum limits like on I-10 east of Houston as it was 75 in 2012 and now it's either 65 or 70.
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

ElishaGOtis

Quote from: roadman65 on November 19, 2024, 04:24:43 PMTexas is funny. Some roads are 70 close to the city centers and some aren't. In 1997 San Antonio was posted 70 on I-35 very close to Downtown.  I don't know about now, as TexDOT has been lowering maximum limits like on I-10 east of Houston as it was 75 in 2012 and now it's either 65 or 70.

All of the corridor between Houston and Beaumont is 65 now for some reason, and a longer section through downtown Beaumont was recently lowered to... 55...  :-/ Sammy Hagar intensifies
It then incrementally increases east of there back to 75. This obviously does not include the extensive work zone speed limits, such as the long 55 zone through the widening.

Part of these are a remnant of the old environmental speed limits Texas had, but many portions were recently decreased in 2022-2023 for "safety reasons."  :eyebrow:
I can drive 55 ONLY when it makes sense.

NOTE: Opinions expressed here on AARoads are solely my own and do not represent or reflect the statements, opinions, or decisions of any agency. Any official information I share will be quoted from another source.

pderocco

Quote from: ElishaGOtis on November 19, 2024, 08:23:14 PMAll of the corridor between Houston and Beaumont is 65 now for some reason, and a longer section through downtown Beaumont was recently lowered to... 55...  :-/ Sammy Hagar intensifies
It then incrementally increases east of there back to 75. This obviously does not include the extensive work zone speed limits, such as the long 55 zone through the widening.
Funny to encounter a discussion of Beaumont speed limits. I got a speeding ticket on I-10 there, on a cross country trip back in the 1990s. Two days later, I got another on I-10 in Beaumont, CA. Expensive trip.
BTW, you have a good name for a Texas sheriff in a movie.

Bitmapped

It depends on how "urban" you want to define things, but Maryland has I-70 at 70mph through Hagerstown.

US 89

Quote from: Rothman on July 06, 2024, 09:43:22 AM
Quote from: epzik8 on July 05, 2024, 05:20:10 PMI-15 on at least the south side of the Wasatch Front, including in Provo and even approaching downtown SLC, is 70.

From what I remember, the high speed limit coming down from the north was further into urbanized area than one would think, too.

Either way, I-15's a good one.

Late response to this, but there are no sub-70 limits on I-15 in the entire state. The Wasatch Front on 15 is 70 mph from Spanish Fork to just north of Ogden. The 80 limits start when you get past Brigham City going north or past Santaquin going south.

Quote from: cl94 on July 06, 2024, 12:36:21 AMVery, very little Interstate mileage in Utah is posted at less than 70 MPH. This includes urban mileage. Sub-70 Interstates are basically limited to I-70 over the San Rafael Swell and I-80 between I-15 and Echo. Heck, I have seen 75-80 MPH work zone limits with "work zone" plaques in Utah. Conversely, Utah won't post a non-Interstate higher than 65, so your best rural US Route will never be posted at a higher speed limit than what currently exists in downtown Salt Lake.

To elaborate, the only sub-70 interstate speed limits in Utah are:
- I-80, near Redwood eastbound to I-15 in SLC
- I-80, I-215 east interchange in SLC to Wanship
- I-215, near I-80 east interchange
- I-84, US 89 near Ogden to Mountain Green
- I-70, Clear Creek Summit
- I-70, Emigrant Pass/Salina Summit
- I-70, east side of San Rafael Swell (only 60 mph interstate limit in Utah)

michiganguy123

US-131 in Grand Rapids, MI never goes below 70mph straight through downtown, even with a 50mph curve it's still posted 70mph.

Ned Weasel

Quote from: JayhawkCO on July 07, 2024, 03:04:44 PMAgreed, so where are these 70 mph speed limits in actual urban areas? OP mentioned Colorado in the first post, but there's certainly nothing urban about any areas surrounding a 70 mph highway. Similar with Kansas and North Dakota.

The only Kansas freeways in areas that I would consider urban (downtown Topeka, central Wichita, and the eastern edge of KCK) have speed limits of 55 or 60 MPH. Any freeways with 65 or 70 speed limits are in suburban, exurban, or rural areas. Keep in mind that I am using a typological definition of urban versus suburban, not the concept of central city versus neighboring city, since many central cities have large areas within their boundaries that are typologically suburban.
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formulanone

#44
Quote from: freebrickproductions on July 05, 2024, 05:05:35 PMI-565 gets pretty deep into Huntsville, AL, before the speed limit drops from 70 down to 65 where the viaduct through downtown begins.

Still weird to me that people do 75-85 in the 70 zone, 75 in the 55 (current construction) zone, but 50-55 in the 65 zone, and somewhere between 40-60 up Chapman Mountain (posted at 65).

No consistency.

vdeane

Quote from: formulanone on December 06, 2024, 09:37:38 AM
Quote from: freebrickproductions on July 05, 2024, 05:05:35 PMI-565 gets pretty deep into Huntsville, AL, before the speed limit drops from 70 down to 65 where the viaduct through downtown begins.

Still weird to me that people do 75-85 in the 70 zone, 75 in the 55 (current construction) zone, but 50-55 in the 65 zone, and somewhere between 40-60 up Chapman Mountain (posted at 65).

No consistency.
Ugh, that would drive me crazy!  I'm the opposite, I like to be consistent to a fault, always aiming to go the same speed in all roads of a given speed limit unless roadway geometry, weather, or the cars in front of me demand otherwise.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

cl94

Depending on your definition of "urban", I-5 in California is 70 right up to the Redding city limits on the south side of town, including through the suburbs. Most of California drops to 65 at the hint of people nearby, but District 2 is quite liberal with its application of 70 (and 60-65 on surface roads, for that matter).
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US 89

I-85 is 70 mph through much of Gwinnett County northeast of Atlanta, which is decidedly suburban and high-traffic in character especially south of the junction with 316.



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