Speed Limits That Are Too High

[CoreySamson]

Yes, this thread sounds like a joke, but I think that there are, in certain places, where the speed limit is set too high, for different reasons (yes, I am in favor of higher speed limits in most cases).

Example 1:
TX-35 through Alvin is posted at 55 mph, however, there is tons of traffic and traffic lights on this road, so the speed rarely gets up to 50. Honestly, 55 is a bit too generous.
Link:
https://www.google.com/maps/@29.4019608,-95.2406322,3a,75y,97.46h,76.76t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sFEueThJbDoFv64O_38IoGQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Example 2:
I-35 just south of the SH-71 interchange is posted at 70 mph, in a work zone. I think 60 or 65 would be more appropriate. As a teen driver, driving in Austin on that stretch of freeway might have been the most challenging drive I've ever had because of those speeds.
Link:
https://www.google.com/maps/@30.204614,-97.7593036,3a,44y,215h,80.63t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sYoNzwRVXvMzJ9rW5sXx9qw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Are there any roads y'all know, for whatever reason, have absurdly high speed limits?

[kphoger]

Sticking with Texas...

I think the northernmost 9 miles of I-35 should be 70 mph, not 75.

[ozarkman417]

Some sections of the Autobahn.. not because the speed limit is too high, but because there is none

[kphoger]

Some sections of the Autobahn.. not because the speed limit is too high, but because there is none

I think those are too low.

[debragga]

Near Douglassville, TX. 2-lane road with curves, no shoulder, and plenty of driveways/county roads intersecting it, signed at 70mph: https://www.google.com/maps/@33.1888097,-94.3429889,3a,75y,123.83h,84.11t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sSyKvUhd4V-LfmWEainR4VA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

[SectorZ]

Not many in Massachusetts, but I encountered one today. MA-122 in Rutland is listed at 50 MPH. Near the Paxton border it doesn't have the sight lines to back a safe 50. Most anything else like that in the state would be 40 or 45.

[Roadgeekteen]

Thread made about this already:

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=20198.0

New York has many two lane roads at 55 which are sketchy and would probably be lower elsewhere.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

MN 210 in Jay Cooke state park has a fairly short 40 zone between the 30 zones at edge of the nearest city and when you reach the park entrances. You won't get up to 40 because it's too curvy. 30-35 would make more sense.

[Roadgeekteen]

Near Douglassville, TX. 2-lane road with curves, no shoulder, and plenty of driveways/county roads intersecting it, signed at 70mph: https://www.google.com/maps/@33.1888097,-94.3429889,3a,75y,123.83h,84.11t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sSyKvUhd4V-LfmWEainR4VA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

70, wow! Transplant that exact road to Massachusetts and it's 50.

[Scott5114]

How is a speed limit too high? Barring something ridiculous like 70mph on a residential street, if you don't feel comfortable doing the speed limit, then just drive slower.

[hotdogPi]

How is a speed limit too high? Barring something ridiculous like 70mph on a residential street, if you don't feel comfortable doing the speed limit, then just drive slower.

Take the example of Stage Rd. in Atkinson, NH (link). It's at 25 MPH, but if it had the same speed limit as NH 121, which it connects to on both ends, it might be too high.

[ibthebigd]

I see a lot of State Roads in Kentucky that are 55 and should be like 45 even 35 will how narrow and curvy they are.

SM-G950U

[webny99]

New York has many two lane roads at 55 which are sketchy and would probably be lower elsewhere.

It's true that some of them would be lower in other states, but that doesn't mean they're sketchy.
I wish there were more 55 mph zones, not less, especially in suburban and exurban areas.

[Scott5114]

How is a speed limit too high? Barring something ridiculous like 70mph on a residential street, if you don't feel comfortable doing the speed limit, then just drive slower.

Take the example of Stage Rd. in Atkinson, NH (link). It's at 25 MPH, but if it had the same speed limit as NH 121, which it connects to on both ends, it might be too high.

Could you not just drive slower than the limit?

[hotdogPi]

How is a speed limit too high? Barring something ridiculous like 70mph on a residential street, if you don't feel comfortable doing the speed limit, then just drive slower.

Take the example of Stage Rd. in Atkinson, NH (link). It's at 25 MPH, but if it had the same speed limit as NH 121, which it connects to on both ends, it might be too high.

Could you not just drive slower than the limit?

The reason it's at 25 MPH is to prevent people from using it as a shortcut. At 35 or 40 (not sure what NH 121's speed limit is), I could see people using it to bypass congestion, although I've never seen congestion on this road.

[ari-s-drives]

How is a speed limit too high? Barring something ridiculous like 70mph on a residential street, if you don't feel comfortable doing the speed limit, then just drive slower.

There are almost always some drivers, no matter the limit, who see the sign as a minimum of how fast they should go. Even if the users here are smart enough to go slower than the limit when it's not safe, those drivers will tailgate and pass dangerously or rear-end us at high speed.

[sprjus4]

This ^

[Roadrunner75]

Near Douglassville, TX. 2-lane road with curves, no shoulder, and plenty of driveways/county roads intersecting it, signed at 70mph: https://www.google.com/maps/@33.1888097,-94.3429889,3a,75y,123.83h,84.11t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sSyKvUhd4V-LfmWEainR4VA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

70, wow! Transplant that exact road to Massachusetts and it's 50.

Agreed.  That road should definitely not be 70.

[Roadgeekteen]

Near Douglassville, TX. 2-lane road with curves, no shoulder, and plenty of driveways/county roads intersecting it, signed at 70mph: https://www.google.com/maps/@33.1888097,-94.3429889,3a,75y,123.83h,84.11t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sSyKvUhd4V-LfmWEainR4VA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

70, wow! Transplant that exact road to Massachusetts and it's 50.

Agreed.  That road should definitely not be 70.

Everything is bigger in Texas, including the speed limits.

[sprjus4]

70 mph is reasonable on those straight stretches, the curves have advisory speeds of 55 mph.

[webny99]

Add this and this to the list of 2-lane roads where 70 mph would be appropriate.

[ErmineNotyours]

On my commute cutting between Kent East Hill and Redmond, I would usually take back roads to avoid traffic.  This curve is signed with a cautionary speed of 25 mph, and it means it.  Any faster and you'll leave your lane.  I'm used to taking cautionary speed limits at least 5 mph higher than posted.

Edit: Fixed GSV link.

[michravera]

Yes, this thread sounds like a joke, but I think that there are, in certain places, where the speed limit is set too high, for different reasons (yes, I am in favor of higher speed limits in most cases).

Example 1:
TX-35 through Alvin is posted at 55 mph, however, there is tons of traffic and traffic lights on this road, so the speed rarely gets up to 50. Honestly, 55 is a bit too generous.
Link:
https://www.google.com/maps/@29.4019608,-95.2406322,3a,75y,97.46h,76.76t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sFEueThJbDoFv64O_38IoGQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Example 2:
I-35 just south of the SH-71 interchange is posted at 70 mph, in a work zone. I think 60 or 65 would be more appropriate. As a teen driver, driving in Austin on that stretch of freeway might have been the most challenging drive I've ever had because of those speeds.
Link:
https://www.google.com/maps/@30.204614,-97.7593036,3a,44y,215h,80.63t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sYoNzwRVXvMzJ9rW5sXx9qw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Are there any roads y'all know, for whatever reason, have absurdly high speed limits?

There are plenty of sections of CASR-1 (especially between Carmel and Morro Bay) that are unposted 2-lane undivided and therefore nominally 55MPH without advisory speeds that are safe at nowhere near 55MPH. There are even a few GATJAs where there is an advisory speed, (say 20 or 25MPH) where, after the turns that are so advised, one would reasonably think that they could go back to 55MPH or something like it only to be hit by a turn advised down to 15MPH. Try it at night in the fog.

"ROAD NOT MAINTAINED AT NIGHT"

[jakeroot]

On my commute cutting between Kent East Hill and Redmond, I would usually take back roads to avoid traffic.  This curve is signed with a cautionary speed of 25 mph, and it means it.  Any faster and you'll leave your lane.  I'm used to taking cautionary speed limits at least 5 mph higher than posted.

You may want to check that link. I'm seeing an image of a toll gantry along the 520.



I can't think of any two lane roads in WA that are overposted. Virtually all are reasonable-minus-5, so everybody is speeding. There are plenty of two-lane roads that could support 70, but WSDOT does not post anything over 65 along two-lane roads.

As for freeways, there's nothing posted above 70, so it would be hard to justify anything as "too high" when most modern freeways can and/or should be able to support 70mph traffic. The only situation I can think of, where the limit might be too high relative to the speed of traffic, would be the 705 through downtown Tacoma. It's an interstate, so it automatically gets 60mph, but there's very few stretches where you aren't dealing with lane changes, merging, or exits. Average speeds seem to have increased since I moved to the area around 2011, but for a while, most drivers were neither meeting nor exceeding 60. That's less of the case now, although I don't witness quite the same level of disobedience as I do along other Seattle-area freeways.

I don't use the road that often, so I'm cautious in suggesting it, but the stretch of WA-518 eastbound between SeaTac airport and I-5 in Tukwila is posted (like all other freeways) at 60, despite the curves being pretty tight and there being two very busy merges that result in a ton of weaving. There are times, especially when there's a lot of flights landing, where it can feel like a bit of a free-for-all, with drivers almost dodging each other. I don't think the limit is too high, but drivers not exercising caution could get themselves in trouble coming into those curves at 60 during parts of the day.

[roadman65]

Sticking with Texas...

I think the northernmost 9 miles of I-35 should be 70 mph, not 75.

Parts of US 59 should be 65 or 70 that are posted 75.  There are places that are not freeway with center turn lanes, driveways of homes and businesses, and intersections very frequent that are posted at 75 mph.