Illinois may increase speed limit 70

[JREwing78]

i think most freeways in wisconsin outside of milwaukee and madison could handle 75MPH without much problem

They do now. Sometimes, faster than that - though traffic's heavy enough on any of the Interstates south of Portage that it's frequently difficult to sustain more than about 10 over. It's particularly bad on the Madison-Beloit stretch of I-39/90 (still 2 lanes each way).

The 70 mph limits can't come soon enough to Illinois. Anyone who's drive I-39 south of Rockford could attest to that - hell, that thing's so arrow-straight you could do land speed testing on it.

[kphoger]

Last year (or two ago), we drove from the Michigan dunes back to Wichita, so time was of the essence.  We left on a Sunday morning.  It was basically I-80 all the way.  I never dipped below 75 across Chicagoland, and never dipped below 80 across the rest of Illinois, yet I was never all that much faster than the regular flow of traffic.  On the two-lane highways in rural Illinois (55 mph limit), I've more than once been going over 65 and passed by a cop with no problem.  Once, on IL-47, I even passed by a cop while going more than 70 with no problem.  Illinois loves speeding.

[SSOWorld]

Illinois always has the occasional weaver going 85-95.

[dfwtbear]

Instead of artificially setting a speed limit, why can't they just adhere to the 85% standard. Besides the aspect of being able to write more speeding tickets if its artificially lower, I see no need the the slowness.

[SSOWorld]

Instead of artificially setting a speed limit, why can't they just adhere to the 85% standard. Besides the aspect of being able to write more speeding tickets if its artificially lower, I see no need the the slowness.

Cops won't make money then.

[Alps]

Instead of artificially setting a speed limit, why can't they just adhere to the 85% standard. Besides the aspect of being able to write more speeding tickets if its artificially lower, I see no need the the slowness.

Cops won't make money then.

They will if they go after the 15%. They pull over well less than 1% of drivers if you think about it - Let's say they're able to deploy 3 police on a stretch of road and each can process someone and pull over the next guy in 15 minutes. They will get 12 vehicles an hour pulled over. Typical freeway volumes are above 1,000 vehicles an hour in each direction - hence the 1%. Most roads would have one police officer, so that's 4 vehicles an hour. Typical volumes of a profitable road would still be in the hundreds of vehicles per hour. So if they really just targeted the top 15% or even top 5%, they would not only have the same pullover rate they do now, but get much more money per bogey.

[Mdcastle]

I've noticed too that people tend to drive fast in Illinois, particularly Chicagoland (but aren't otherwise aggressive). Back when the Tri-State was 55 we were going 65 and getting passed by everything on the road.

[agentsteel53]

who knows what the 85% standard is on any given day? 

95% of rural roads don't need speed limits at all.  tickets should instead be issued for reckless driving. 

[NYYPhil777]

Here's a different idea for the speed limits.  each lane has a specific speed limit.  Since 95% of all exits are on the right, the right lane could be 60, the middle lane 65 and the left lane 70.  by doing this, you can finally legitimately enforce the Illinois Left Lane law.  No passing on the right either.

Grand idea!

Anyway, I really hope Illinois comes to its senses and makes the maximum speed limit on rural four-lane interstates (or other freeways) 70. That would really improve my drives on I-64, I-57, and I-24 that occur every year.
Missouri should also make their maximum speed limit on rural four-lane freeways (including interstates) 75. 

[kphoger]

Here's a different idea for the speed limits.  each lane has a specific speed limit.  Since 95% of all exits are on the right, the right lane could be 60, the middle lane 65 and the left lane 70.  by doing this, you can finally legitimately enforce the Illinois Left Lane law.  No passing on the right either.

Grand idea!

Anyway, I really hope Illinois comes to its senses and makes the maximum speed limit on rural four-lane interstates (or other freeways) 70. That would really improve my drives on I-64, I-57, and I-24 that occur every year.
Missouri should also make their maximum speed limit on rural four-lane freeways (including interstates) 75. 

No, because if I want to drive 68 mph, I would be required to drive in the left lane.  If someone wanted to pass me, I would be legally required to slow down, change lanes, change lanes again, and speed up again.

[NYYPhil777]

Here's a different idea for the speed limits.  each lane has a specific speed limit.  Since 95% of all exits are on the right, the right lane could be 60, the middle lane 65 and the left lane 70.  by doing this, you can finally legitimately enforce the Illinois Left Lane law.  No passing on the right either.

Grand idea!

Anyway, I really hope Illinois comes to its senses and makes the maximum speed limit on rural four-lane interstates (or other freeways) 70. That would really improve my drives on I-64, I-57, and I-24 that occur every year.
Missouri should also make their maximum speed limit on rural four-lane freeways (including interstates) 75. 

No, because if I want to drive 68 mph, I would be required to drive in the left lane.  If someone wanted to pass me, I would be legally required to slow down, change lanes, change lanes again, and speed up again.

Then it's no longer a grand idea. Bummer.

[agentsteel53]

speed limits should never be done on a per-lane basis.  70-70-70 is far more optimal than 70-65-60: it reduces speed differentials (increasing safety) and increases overall limits.

now 70-65-60 vs 55-55-55 is another question.

[vdeane]

Here's a different idea for the speed limits.  each lane has a specific speed limit.  Since 95% of all exits are on the right, the right lane could be 60, the middle lane 65 and the left lane 70.  by doing this, you can finally legitimately enforce the Illinois Left Lane law.  No passing on the right either.

Grand idea!

Anyway, I really hope Illinois comes to its senses and makes the maximum speed limit on rural four-lane interstates (or other freeways) 70. That would really improve my drives on I-64, I-57, and I-24 that occur every year.
Missouri should also make their maximum speed limit on rural four-lane freeways (including interstates) 75. 

No, because if I want to drive 68 mph, I would be required to drive in the left lane.  If someone wanted to pass me, I would be legally required to slow down, change lanes, change lanes again, and speed up again.

What usually happens when a speed limit increases is that faster traffic moves the same way it always has but that slower traffic speeds up, improving the experience for everyone.

[kphoger]

I think you misunderstood.  I was referring to having different speed limits lane-by-lane, not an increased overall limit.

I only recall having driven on one highway with a differntial speed limit, and that was in a place where speed limits are widely ignored.  In December 2008, I started a brief conversation about it on SkyscraperCity, not knowing what the meaning of the dual signs was.  If you speak Spanish or have a decent online translation tool, you can follow it here (posts 469—474, the picture in question being in post 470):
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=330135&page=24#469

[NYYPhil777]

speed limits should never be done on a per-lane basis.  70-70-70 is far more optimal than 70-65-60: it reduces speed differentials (increasing safety) and increases overall limits.

now 70-65-60 vs 55-55-55 is another question.

I understood already, I'm now glad I no longer agree with the 70-65-60 idea. Everything is ok now.

[Revive 755]

It appears there is a another push to raise the limit in Illinois to 70 this year, but the Chicago area counties have the option of opting out.  Bill text:

http://openstates.org/il/bills/98th/SB2356/documents/ILD00126557/

[Big John]

^^ Unlike the prior bill, it also allows 70 on other 4-lane or higher rural divided highways and 65 (from 55) on other rural highways

[Brandon]

It appears there is a another push to raise the limit in Illinois to 70 this year, but the Chicago area counties have the option of opting out.  Bill text:

http://openstates.org/il/bills/98th/SB2356/documents/ILD00126557/

My guess is that Cook'll opt out but the others, especially McHenry and Will will opt in.

[nwi_navigator_1181]

My thing is, what is taking Illinois so long to join the 70 train? If Cook, Lake, and Will* wants to stay at 65, let them. The traffic is too dense for 70 mph, so I completely understand those counties' decisions to opt out. It can be pulled off (I've done it), but I can see why most drivers are leery.

There is so much open road outside of Chicago, a speed limit of 70 mph is more than viable. Besides, it would be easier to pull off if Illinois was stricter with their "Slower Traffic Keep Right" rule.

I'm willing to think that Ohio's move to finally up its maximum speed to 70 gave Illinois some motivation to revisit this issue.

*Will County could pull off 70 if they do it west of I-55 and south of I-80.

[midwesternroadguy]

Yeah, it's so crappy that speed limit laws are enacted to keep people driving at a safe speed. And it is a proven fact that the faster a car is driven over 55 mph, the lower gas mileage it gets. I don't have the exact numbers offhand, but mileage drops a certain percentage for every mile an hour over 55, due the the effects of wind resistance and aerodynamics.

Whose job is it to monitor gas mileage?  IMHO, it should not be anyone other than the driver.
Anyway, gas mileage above 55mph has gotten much better since the early 1970s, and the whole drop in speed only yielded a savings of 0.1%.  Not worth it to try to control behavior.  Better to set a reasonable limit (i.e. 70mph) and keep traffic flowing.

Really?  My Chevy gets 29 mpg when I drive 70-75 mph, and it gets 42 mpg when I drive 55 mph.  With all the distracted driving going on, I frankly think that there are enough irresponsible people driving that raising speed limits just adds gas to the fire.  Besides, the last thing that we should be doing is increasing carbon emissions these days, if we wanted to consider things in a more selfless manner. 

[Brandon]

Yeah, it's so crappy that speed limit laws are enacted to keep people driving at a safe speed. And it is a proven fact that the faster a car is driven over 55 mph, the lower gas mileage it gets. I don't have the exact numbers offhand, but mileage drops a certain percentage for every mile an hour over 55, due the the effects of wind resistance and aerodynamics.

Whose job is it to monitor gas mileage?  IMHO, it should not be anyone other than the driver.
Anyway, gas mileage above 55mph has gotten much better since the early 1970s, and the whole drop in speed only yielded a savings of 0.1%.  Not worth it to try to control behavior.  Better to set a reasonable limit (i.e. 70mph) and keep traffic flowing.

Really?  My Chevy gets 29 mpg when I drive 70-75 mph, and it gets 42 mpg when I drive 55 mph.  With all the distracted driving going on, I frankly think that there are enough irresponsible people driving that raising speed limits just adds gas to the fire.  Besides, the last thing that we should be doing is increasing carbon emissions these days, if we wanted to consider things in a more selfless manner. 

Again, that's up to the driver, not some asinine fool who is chauffeured around from the state legislature.  Set a reasonable speed limit like 70mph with a minimum of 50 or 55mph and if you don't want to go that fast, get the fuck off the freeway.  Again, your gas mileage is far better than what vehicles used to get with far, far fewer carbon emissions.  My car doesn't have much change between 55mph and 70 mph and starts dropping at 75 mph.

Or, are you saying that a gas-powered car can be limited while an emission-less electric car can go whatever speed it feels like?  Which is it?

[InterstateNG]

And my car gets the same gas mileage at 75 as it does at 55.  It depends on the vehicle.

It's not 1975 anymore.

[Brandon]

And my car gets the same gas mileage at 75 as it does at 55.  It depends on the vehicle.

It's not 1975 anymore.

To be frank, I find a strong crosswind or strong headwind does far more to the mileage than anything else at most freeway speeds.

[AsphaltPlanet]

This seems relevant

http://www.mpgforspeed.com/

[Revive 755]

^ I have had trips in which the gas mileage at 75 mph does not agree with the reduction that site calculates I should have - so I second the notion of wind direction being a big factor.  If the motivation is to save gas, bump up the gas tax.

I also wonder how many long road trips those who advocate a return to 55 mph take per year.