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[Hunty2022]

Is there any 60 MPH parts of 2 lane roads in Virginia, or is the limit 55?

[1995hoo]

Is there any 60 MPH parts of 2 lane roads in Virginia, or is the limit 55?

There are no 60-mph limits in Virginia on anything that is not at least a four-lane divided highway. The 60-mph zones on non-freeways (though we don’t generally use that word here) are specified by statute, so not just any four-lane divided highway is eligible.

I read somewhere that Florida is, or at least at one point was, the only state east of the Mississippi that posts anything higher than 55 on two-lane roads. I don’t know whether that’s still true. For some reason, my mind keeps telling me that in 1997 I drove on a two-lane road in Alabama, somewhere northeast of Montgomery and southwest of Martin Lake, that had a 65-mph speed limit, but it’s probably my mind playing tricks on me.

[Max Rockatansky]

Speaking of 55 MPH two lane roads, there are plenty in the Central Valley of California that could easily be sign posted as 60-65 MPH.  One that comes to mind is Nees Avenue between CA 33 in Firebaugh to I-5.  I usually go 65 MPH on Nees but almost everyone else hits 70 MPH or higher.  CHP was even out there yesterday pulling people over and giving them warnings for speeding.  The week prior they doing the same thing on Avenue 7 west of CA 145.

[dlsterner]

I read somewhere that Florida is, or at least at one point was, the only state east of the Mississippi that posts anything higher than 55 on two-lane roads. I don’t know whether that’s still true.

I was in Florida last December and can verify that there are still two-lane roads posted at 60 mph.  Don't know about any other states east of the Mississippi off the top of my head.

It certainly helps that these roads are usually flat^* and straight with good sight lines and shoulders.

^*As we know, Florida is quite flat.  Even flatter than Illinois.

(Edited to fix typing/autocorrect error:  nightlines -> sight lines)

[SEWIGuy]

55 is fine for Wisconsin. It’s not a plains state - the terrain is more rolly and curvy, and therefore the roads are as well. In addition, due to higher population density, two lane roads are busier on average here than they are in states where the limit is above 55 on two lane roads.

I second this. Maybe certain segments could be 60 or 65, but once you get into rural enough regions to justify it, you're more likely to hit a deer.

Well and you guys have all those trees, which makes it hard to see anything. The further west you go, the fewer trees (on average) are next to the road, which allows for earlier wildlife spotting.

As mentioned earlier, WY has 70-mph two lane roads (which is nice), but sometimes it doesn't line up nicely at state lines. Old US 14 at the SD/WY border jumps from 55 (the SD maximum for county roads) to 70 with no real difference in roadway design (except WY kept the wide shoulders from the US 14 days, would have liked Lawrence County to do that too instead of narrowing the shoulder when they repaved it back in the early 2000s but that's a personal pet peeve). I have not personally seen anyone really slow down at the border heading back from Beulah on my runs/bike rides.

Trees aren't much of a problem on some of these roads.  They sit on pretty large right of ways.

[1995hoo]

I read somewhere that Florida is, or at least at one point was, the only state east of the Mississippi that posts anything higher than 55 on two-lane roads. I don’t know whether that’s still true.

I was in Florida last December and can verify that there are still two-lane roads posted at 60 mph.  Don't know about any other states east of the Mississippi off the top of my head.

It certainly helps that these roads are usually flat^* and straight with good nightlines and shoulders.

^*As we know, Florida is quite flat.  Even flatter than Illinois.

Oh, I definitely know Florida has 60-mph speed limits on some two-lane roads (I’ve driven on some of them). I simply meant I don’t know whether any other state east of the Mississippi might have posted any at some point.

[dlsterner]

I read somewhere that Florida is, or at least at one point was, the only state east of the Mississippi that posts anything higher than 55 on two-lane roads. I don’t know whether that’s still true.

I was in Florida last December and can verify that there are still two-lane roads posted at 60 mph.  Don't know about any other states east of the Mississippi off the top of my head.

It certainly helps that these roads are usually flat^* and straight with good sight ines and shoulders.

^*As we know, Florida is quite flat.  Even flatter than Illinois.

Oh, I definitely know Florida has 60-mph speed limits on some two-lane roads (I’ve driven on some of them). I simply meant I don’t know whether any other state east of the Mississippi might have posted any at some point.

Gotcha.  I just misunderstood your comment.  My bad.

[GaryV]

I read somewhere that Florida is, or at least at one point was, the only state east of the Mississippi that posts anything higher than 55 on two-lane roads. I don’t know whether that’s still true.

I was in Florida last December and can verify that there are still two-lane roads posted at 60 mph.  Don't know about any other states east of the Mississippi off the top of my head.

It certainly helps that these roads are usually flat^* and straight with good nightlines and shoulders.

^*As we know, Florida is quite flat.  Even flatter than Illinois.

Oh, I definitely know Florida has 60-mph speed limits on some two-lane roads (I’ve driven on some of them). I simply meant I don’t know whether any other state east of the Mississippi might have posted any at some point.

Michigan does, since 2017

[kphoger]

Some Texas 2 lane highways have wide shoulders, and Texas drivers are well-known for pulling over and letting you by if you wanted to go faster than them. If everybody would drive that way and all 2 lane roads had wide shoulders, this would be an acceptable alternative to 4 lane highways in certain situations, but it probably wouldn't save a whole lot of money in the long run.

It isn't just that drivers are known for it, either.  According to Texas state law, letting a faster vehicle pass you is an explicitly permissible reason to drive on the right shoulder.

§ 545.058 – DRIVING ON IMPROVED SHOULDER.

(a) An operator may drive on an improved shoulder to the right of the main traveled portion of a roadway if that operation is necessary and may be done safely, but only:

  (1) to stop, stand, or park;

  (2) to accelerate before entering the main traveled lane of traffic;

  (3) to decelerate before making a right turn;

  (4) to pass another vehicle that is slowing or stopped on the main traveled portion of the highway, disabled, or preparing to make a left turn;

  (5) to allow another vehicle traveling faster to pass;

  (6) as permitted or required by an official traffic-control device; or

  (7) to avoid a collision.

[bwana39]

You're obviously talking about Texas.  Did you mean to post this in General Highway Talk?

To be fair, Texas is so huge that maybe the OP isn't aware that 75 mph on two-lane undivided roads is unique to Texas. And aren't there other states that have 70 mph, or am I misremembering...?

That said, I don't think it should be unique to Texas. 70 mph would be perfectly fine here, for example, where 55 mph feels like crawling.

Yes, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, and Oregon all have rural undivided speed limits of 70 mph.  75 mph is unique to Texas.

Yes, Texas has 70 and 75 on some 2-laned roads. They are cutting them back slowly but surely. This being so, there are still many that will never go down. Having grown up here, I don't get the big deal. And don't let the truckers act like they don't understand or maybe that we don't understand them . The fastest vehicles were the rock and sand haulers for Red River Sand & Gravel driving 80+ mpg on US-271 between Paris and Talco.

[bugo]

Why do some 2-lane undivided roads has speed limit 70 (and even 75)?
I don't think anyone, unless looking for trouble, may go more than 60 at night on these roads.

There are tons of 2 lane roads where 75 and even faster is perfectly safe. 75 is a rational speed limit on many straight, flat roads with wide shoulders and good geometry and low traffic volumes. 60 at night would be unreasonably slow for a lot of 2 lane roads.

[bugo]

This is a rare example of a road that has a higher posted speed limit that I'm comfortable with. This is Ward County Road 13 northwest of Minot, North Dakota. CR 13 is a decent dirt road, but not a road that I would drive at 55 MPH. Here is a similar image from Street View where you can see how much dirt cars kick up on this road. Curves, hills, poor visibility. I have done 70 MPH on dirt roads in Nebraska, but they were level, straight and wide. I might do 55 at certain points along CR 13, but I wouldn't set the cruise at 55 on this road.

[Max Rockatansky]

The dirt parts of Soda Lake Road are signed by the Bureau of Land Management at 55 MPH in Carrizo Plain National Monument.  The for most part 50-55 MPH is actually a reasonable pace in dry weather.  They even threw in advisory speeds for the sharper curves:

https://flic.kr/p/2j9qH64

[capt.ron]

Arkansas is still at 55 mph for 2 lane roads, whether they have wide shoulders or not. Exceptions are "super 2" highways like AR 530 (and formerly 549 around the Bella Vista area) which have 65 mph limits. Their "5 lane freeways" are 60 mph in rural sections. A lot of 2 lane highways east and south of the hilly areas of the state (Ouachita and Ozark mountains) could use either 60 or 65 mph on 2 lane roads... and "5 lane freeways" could be increased to 65 or 70 mph, depending on sight lines, curves or lack of, and so on.

[kphoger]

This is a rare example of a road that has a higher posted speed limit that I'm comfortable with. This is Ward County Road 13 northwest of Minot, North Dakota. CR 13 is a decent dirt road, but not a road that I would drive at 55 MPH.

Plenty of states don't differentiate between paved and unpaved roads in the statutes that deal with speed limits.  This means that, if the basic speed limit for rural non-Interstate roads is 55 mph, then any unposted gravel or dirt road in the state has a 55 mph speed limit by statute.

For example, this is true in Kansas–a state with approximately 100,000 miles of unpaved roads within its borders.  Most of those roads have no speed limit signs, meaning the speed limit on them is 55 mph.

[bugo]

Arkansas is still at 55 mph for 2 lane roads, whether they have wide shoulders or not. Exceptions are "super 2" highways like AR 530 (and formerly 549 around the Bella Vista area) which have 65 mph limits. Their "5 lane freeways" are 60 mph in rural sections. A lot of 2 lane highways east and south of the hilly areas of the state (Ouachita and Ozark mountains) could use either 60 or 65 mph on 2 lane roads... and "5 lane freeways" could be increased to 65 or 70 mph, depending on sight lines, curves or lack of, and so on.

Some highways even in the northwestern half of the state could easily handle 60 or 65. There was some talk a few years ago about raising the speed limits on certain 2 lane highways, but I haven't heard anything about it for a long time. I remember that US 71 was one of the highways that was included.

[sprjus4]

They are cutting them back slowly but surely..

Interestingly enough, a segment of SH-136 / SH-2678 south of Refugio was just recently increased from 70 mph to 75 mph within the past few years. I’m not sure they’re all going down…

[bugo]

This is a rare example of a road that has a higher posted speed limit that I'm comfortable with. This is Ward County Road 13 northwest of Minot, North Dakota. CR 13 is a decent dirt road, but not a road that I would drive at 55 MPH.

Plenty of states don't differentiate between paved and unpaved roads in the statutes that deal with speed limits.  This means that, if the basic speed limit for rural non-Interstate roads is 55 mph, then any unposted gravel or dirt road in the state has a 55 mph speed limit by statute.
For example, this is true in Kansas–a state with approximately 100,000 miles of unpaved roads within its borders.  Most of those roads have no speed limit signs, meaning the speed limit on them is 55 mph.

That's what made me make a double take, the sign itself. I had never seen a 55 MPH speed limit sign on a gravel road.

[WestDakota]

You're obviously talking about Texas.  Did you mean to post this in General Highway Talk?

To be fair, Texas is so huge that maybe the OP isn't aware that 75 mph on two-lane undivided roads is unique to Texas. And aren't there other states that have 70 mph, or am I misremembering...?

That said, I don't think it should be unique to Texas. 70 mph would be perfectly fine here, for example, where 55 mph feels like crawling.

Yes, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, and Oregon all have rural undivided speed limits of 70 mph.  75 mph is unique to Texas.

North Dakota is actually 65 for undivided highways.  70 is only the 4 lane divided highways like US 83 and US 2.  The main table on the wikipedia page for US speed limits says 70 for undivided, but that is not even supported by the footnote references, so I don't know why that is there.   https://www.dot.nd.gov/imgs/speedzonemap-lrg.png

[Ellie]

This is a rare example of a road that has a higher posted speed limit that I'm comfortable with. This is Ward County Road 13 northwest of Minot, North Dakota. CR 13 is a decent dirt road, but not a road that I would drive at 55 MPH. Here is a similar image from Street View where you can see how much dirt cars kick up on this road. Curves, hills, poor visibility. I have done 70 MPH on dirt roads in Nebraska, but they were level, straight and wide. I might do 55 at certain points along CR 13, but I wouldn't set the cruise at 55 on this road.

The only surprising thing to me is that they'd post this limit. Speed limit on roads like this isn't a recommendation, it's just a "you won't get a ticket unless you're going faster" (assuming you're driving safely otherwise) and for dirt roads, 55 is a reasonable thing to put that at. But I can't recall ever seeing a rural posted speed limit on a dirt road in Michigan (where it's 55) or Texas (where it's 60).

[bugo]

The only surprising thing to me is that they'd post this limit. Speed limit on roads like this isn't a recommendation, it's just a "you won't get a ticket unless you're going faster" (assuming you're driving safely otherwise) and for dirt roads, 55 is a reasonable thing to put that at. But I can't recall ever seeing a rural posted speed limit on a dirt road in Michigan (where it's 55) or Texas (where it's 60).

55 would be suicidal on the dirt roads that I grew up around in western Arkansas. It wouldn't be smart even on a lot of paved county roads in that part of the country.

I was surprised when driving down some paved county roads in Ward County that were signed with a 65 MPH speed limit. These were wide concrete roads with shoulders, but the high speed limit caught my attention.

[Rothman]

The only surprising thing to me is that they'd post this limit. Speed limit on roads like this isn't a recommendation, it's just a "you won't get a ticket unless you're going faster" (assuming you're driving safely otherwise) and for dirt roads, 55 is a reasonable thing to put that at. But I can't recall ever seeing a rural posted speed limit on a dirt road in Michigan (where it's 55) or Texas (where it's 60).

55 would be suicidal on the dirt roads that I grew up around in western Arkansas. It wouldn't be smart even on a lot of paved county roads in that part of the country.

I was surprised when driving down some paved county roads in Ward County that were signed with a 65 MPH speed limit. These were wide concrete roads with shoulders, but the high speed limit caught my attention.

Speed limits are a maximum, not a minimum.

[Ellie]

The only surprising thing to me is that they'd post this limit. Speed limit on roads like this isn't a recommendation, it's just a "you won't get a ticket unless you're going faster" (assuming you're driving safely otherwise) and for dirt roads, 55 is a reasonable thing to put that at. But I can't recall ever seeing a rural posted speed limit on a dirt road in Michigan (where it's 55) or Texas (where it's 60).

55 would be suicidal on the dirt roads that I grew up around in western Arkansas. It wouldn't be smart even on a lot of paved county roads in that part of the country.

I was surprised when driving down some paved county roads in Ward County that were signed with a 65 MPH speed limit. These were wide concrete roads with shoulders, but the high speed limit caught my attention.

Speed limits are a maximum, not a minimum.

Yeah. I'd never drive 55 on most of the dirt roads in Michigan... on the other hand, many pickup truck drivers would beg to differ. Kinda crazy getting overtaken on the bumpiest road imaginable, in the rain, when you're going ~35. Guess their suspensions take it alright.

[geek11111]

The only surprising thing to me is that they'd post this limit. Speed limit on roads like this isn't a recommendation, it's just a "you won't get a ticket unless you're going faster" (assuming you're driving safely otherwise) and for dirt roads, 55 is a reasonable thing to put that at. But I can't recall ever seeing a rural posted speed limit on a dirt road in Michigan (where it's 55) or Texas (where it's 60).

55 would be suicidal on the dirt roads that I grew up around in western Arkansas. It wouldn't be smart even on a lot of paved county roads in that part of the country.

I was surprised when driving down some paved county roads in Ward County that were signed with a 65 MPH speed limit. These were wide concrete roads with shoulders, but the high speed limit caught my attention.

Speed limits are a maximum, not a minimum.

But many aggressive drivers treat it as minimum.
And they'll tailgate you. After few minutes, if you don't accelerate to (Limit + 10) they will coal rolling you.