Illinois may increase speed limit 70

[pianocello]

I recently used the I-80 Mississippi River crossing; going WB the speed limit drops to 65 right where the entrance from IL 84 merges in.

EB I-280 gets posted at 70 right after it's Mississippi River bridge.

I didn't have time though to see how I-74 is posted now.

IIRC, it's still 65 from the River to the Airport. I'm not able to go back to verify that until mid-May, though.

[SSOWorld]

I recently used the I-80 Mississippi River crossing; going WB the speed limit drops to 65 right where the entrance from IL 84 merges in.

EB I-280 gets posted at 70 right after it's Mississippi River bridge.

I didn't have time though to see how I-74 is posted now.

IIRC, it's still 65 from the River to the Airport. I'm not able to go back to verify that until mid-May, though.

It is what he said it is.

[US 41]

I know Indiana is a different state, but I'm sort of confused as to why the SL drops from 70 to 65 in Terre Haute. All the exits in TH are spaced out fairly far from each other.

INDOT raised the speed limit from 65 to 70 through West Terre Haute. It is still 65 from the Wabash River to Exit 11 however.

[mwp3]

The Tri-State Tollway between Gurnee (roughly IL-132/Grand Avenue) and the Wisconsin border was supposed to become 70 mph, but that hasn't happened yet.

[jreuschl]

The Tri-State Tollway between Gurnee (roughly IL-132/Grand Avenue) and the Wisconsin border was supposed to become 70 mph, but that hasn't happened yet.

Any plans to increase beyond Gurnee?  Driving 55 may be dangerous!

[mwp3]

The Tri-State Tollway between Gurnee (roughly IL-132/Grand Avenue) and the Wisconsin border was supposed to become 70 mph, but that hasn't happened yet.

Any plans to increase beyond Gurnee?  Driving 55 may be dangerous!

I think that it's 65 after the border at which it becomes a freeway again.

[DevalDragon]

This won't happen for a while. All of this is currently a 45 mph construction zone while they are putting in the 4th lane. Why this part wasn't widened when the rebuilt the rest of the Tri State is beyond me.

The Tri-State Tollway between Gurnee (roughly IL-132/Grand Avenue) and the Wisconsin border was supposed to become 70 mph, but that hasn't happened yet.

Any plans to increase beyond Gurnee?  Driving 55 may be dangerous!

I think that it's 65 after the border at which it becomes a freeway again.

[Joe The Dragon]

they waited for WI to do there part so they pushed it back a bit.

[SSOWorld]

well, WI is not doing their part, so it will be a while

[bahnburner]

Interesting... sounds like some potentially amazing news.



The bill in question is SB 2015, awaiting the governor's signature or not (veto-proof).
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=2015&GAID=12&DocTypeID=SB&SessionID=85&GA=98

[US 41]

Now they need to prove that it is unsafe to go 80 m.p.h. on rural freeways in Illinois.

[Revive 755]

I'm sure the Toll Authority will still find some way to stay at 55 if the bill becomes law - probably some excuse such as peak period congestion, or being consistent with the non-tolled facilities around Chicagoland.

[ET21]

Lawmakers can bitch about it forever, still won't change the fact drivers do 70+ no matter what the limit is on the interstates

[Brandon]

I'm sure the Toll Authority will still find some way to stay at 55 if the bill becomes law - probably some excuse such as peak period congestion, or being consistent with the non-tolled facilities around Chicagoland.

Which is funny because ISP District 15 tolerates 70-75 as it is right now.  Posting 70 would merely make what is currently tolerated legal.

[Revive 755]

From recent travels, I have found that the US 34 freeway between Galesburg and Monmouth, the US 67 bypass of Jacksonville, and the US 51 freeway south of I-72 in the Decatur area are still posted at 65.

[UNDSIOUX]

From recent travels, I have found that the US 34 freeway between Galesburg and Monmouth, the US 67 bypass of Jacksonville, and the US 51 freeway south of I-72 in the Decatur area are still posted at 65.

I don't believe any "stand alone" controlled access US Highways are marked above 65 when plenty could be. 

I'm sure the freeway portion of US34 could very well handle 70 MPH.  I know when I drive the controlled access portion of US51 from I-72 to Macon near Decatur and can always count the amount of cars using the road by using the fingers on only one hand, I just realize there was no rhyme and reason to IDOT's speed limit plan.   

Maybe there will be a better mindset with Annie "no-no to 70" Schneider being shown the door at IDOT, and the 70 MPH map will be expanded to cover these highways.

[bahnburner]

Update on that bill. Vetoed by Quinn a$ expected.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-quinn-vetoes-70-mph-speed-limit-for-tollways-20140826-story.html

August 26, 2014, 6:13 PM

Quinn vetoes 70 mph speed limit for tollways

Gov. Pat Quinn today vetoed a measure that would have raised the maximum speed limit on Illinois' tollways to 70 mph from the current 65 mph, citing safety concerns.

"Recent evidence shows that drivers already travel at excessive speeds on Illinois toll highways,"  Quinn said in his veto message to lawmakers.

The governor said a tollway study of drivers on Interstate 94 in Lake County last year found 71 percent of them exceeded the posted limit by 15 mph or more. Another tollway study found between 91 percent and 98 percent of drivers on seven different tollway segments exceeded the speed limit from 11 mph to 15 mph during off-peak hours, he added.

"The convenience of increased speeds for drivers on Illinois tollways does not outweigh the safety risks to children, families and our dedicated public servants,"  Quinn said.

The measure passed the legislature in May with enough votes to override a veto --- 111-4 in the House and 48-6 in the Senate. The measure was sponsored by state Sen. Jim Oberweis, the Sugar Grove Republican who is challenging Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin in the Nov. 4 general election.

Last year, Quinn signed into law a separate Oberweis bill that raised the speed limit on rural interstates to 70 mph. Quinn signed that bill despite objections from the Illinois Department of Transportation, state police and leading roadway safety organizations, who feared increased mayhem on the highways, especially between cars and trucks.

"This limited 5 miles-per-hour increase will bring Illinois' rural interstate speed limits in line with our neighbors' and the majority of states across America, while preventing an increase in excessive speeding," Quinn said in a statement last year.

[Brandon]

^^ I see that veto being overridden.  It'll make Quinn look like the fool he is.

[SSOWorld]

Chicago politics seem to be losing in this one...

[bahnburner]

So it's actually being talked about...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-65-mph-tollway-20140828-story.html#page=1

Subscriber-only article, but quoting it in case anyone is blocked from it.

Quinn's speed-limit bill veto adds fuel to debate

In rejecting a bill that would have raised speed limits to 70 mph throughout Illinois' 286-mile network of tollways, Gov. Pat Quinn reignited the debate on what constitutes the safest pace for vehicles on the road.

"Good for him," Jackie Gillan, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, said when she heard that Quinn vetoed a measure that lawmakers approved overwhelmingly in May. "Because speed kills."

But John Bowman, spokesman for the National Motorists Association, which advocates for higher speed limits, said Quinn "kind of got it backward with his logic there." Studies showing that upward of 98 percent of drivers on tollway segments exceed the limits by as much as 15 mph are "probably a good indication that the speed limit needs to be raised up," Bowman said.

Quinn used those statistics in his veto of the measure, which specifically called for raising speed limits in "urban district" stretches of the tollway.

Drivers already are traveling too fast in those urban districts and should be discouraged from driving faster, Quinn said. That position contrasted with his stance last year, when he signed a bill raising speed limits on rural interstates, saying that the increase would bring those speed limits in line with most other states while preventing an increase in excessive speeding.

As it stands today, interstate segments farther from urban areas have posted limits of 65 to 70 mph while much of the Chicago region's interstates have 55-mph limits, though drivers regularly travel much faster without penalty.

At the Hinsdale Oasis on Interstate 294 on Wednesday afternoon, drivers expressed starkly different speed philosophies.

"I think they've got to keep the pace of the traffic up," said David Hille, of Vermilion, Ohio, grabbing a cup of coffee for the commute home. "Cars can go faster safer. It's just the drivers. Cars don't get into the accidents; drivers do."

An opposing view came from Kim Gabriele, who said highway speeds in her hometown of Kalamazoo, Mich., are higher than in the Chicago area. But she said the congestion of the Illinois tollway system necessitates lower speeds.

"I personally wouldn't mind keeping it lower for that reason," she said. "Depending on what your set point is, everyone always goes faster than that. If the limit is 75, people are going to go 80."

Quinn's veto was supported by Illinois Tollway administrators. After he signed the bill increasing speeds on rural highways last year, the Tollway raised speed limits to 70 mph on nearly 80 miles of its system, but not in urban areas, where it remains 55 mph.

But the Tollway, the Illinois Department of Transportation and the Illinois State Police opposed the bill to raise limits on urban segments of toll roads. Tollway spokeswoman Wendy Abrams said Wednesday that "there is no immediate benefit to increasing the speed limit on urban portions of our system that already experience excessive speeding."

Quinn vetoed the bill Tuesday, saying he was placing "the safety risks to children, families and our dedicated public servants" above "the convenience of increased speeds for drivers."

Quinn, a Democrat, is running for re-election in November. State Sen. Jim Oberweis, a Sugar Grove Republican and his party's nominee for U.S. senator, sponsored the bill Quinn rejected.

Oberweis said he believed Quinn's rejection was politically motivated.

"There's no good, logical argument for vetoing that bill," he said.

Oberweis, who also sponsored the bill raising rural interstate speed limits, said "75 percent of the people" and 90 percent of lawmakers supported the bill to raise limits on urban tollways. "Then, he (Quinn) has the unmitigated gall to veto it because he personally doesn't like it. That's just ridiculous.

"It's pretty clear that this is the will of the people," Oberweis added, noting a common theme among higher speed limit advocates: that speed differences between vehicles is a byproduct of artificially low limits and is the major cause of highway crashes.

Since Congress allowed states in 1995 to set limits above a national maximum of 65 mph, 34 states have raised speed limits to 70 mph or higher on some roads. Illinois did so on rural interstates Jan. 1.

Speed limits throughout the state fall into two categories: what's posted and what drivers appear to obey. A Tribune analysis of speeding ticket data suggested that while the posted limit on Chicago-area interstates was 55 mph, the enforced speed limit – the point at which troopers write a ticket – is generally closer to 80 mph.

Bowman's group, based in Waunakee, Wis., advocates setting limits at or near the pace at which 85 percent of drivers are traveling. The organization says setting limits at the 85th percentile reduces speed differential and weaving – two key factors in crashes.

He pointed to 2012 data in Utah that showed speeding and fatalities remained unchanged when speed limits were increased to 80 mph on highway segments there.

But Gillan's group, based in Washington, has studies from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety that say involvement with severe crashes increases with speed and that drivers continue to ratchet up their speeds beyond the posted limit when that limit is raised.

As for setting speed limits at the 85th percentile, Gillan said that is an oversimplified approach, not based in scientific study.

"If the 85th percentile is driving in excess of 0.08 blood alcohol concentration, shouldn't we set the national limit above that?" she said. "If most people are not wearing seat belts, should we outlaw seat belts? Just because it's popular doesn't mean it's safe."

She also noted that speed differential is not a factor in almost all single-car crashes.

And, drawing "a causal relationship" between higher speeds and fewer fatalities is flawed thinking, she said.

The reason for decreasing numbers of fatalities is that motorists are driving safer cars and drunken driving laws are tougher, Gillan said. Even with those changes, 33,000 people die a year in motor vehicle crashes, the equivalent of "a major airplane crash every single day of the week," she added.

"The fact of the matter is when you're driving 70 or 75 miles an hour," Gillan said, "cars can't withstand crashes at those speeds; neither can people."

Oberweis said he will reintroduce the bill at the veto session in November and expects that "it's highly likely" legislators will override Quinn's veto.

In May, his colleagues in the Senate approved it 48-6. A few weeks later, lawmakers in the House followed by passing it 111-4 – votes that would withstand a veto if the measure returns to senators and House members.

[Brandon]

^^ "Speed kills" has got to be one of the biggest lies ever told.  Speed does not kill, speed differentials kill, inattentiveness kills, but pure speed by itself does not kill.

In addition, if 70 is good enough for the W.P. Reuther Freeway in Metro Detroit, it's good enough for the Tri-State Tollway.

[Big John]

Not following the 85th percentile speed to set the speed limit at I see.

[Brandon]

Not following the 85th percentile speed to set the speed limit at I see.

Of course not.  We live in a nanny-state full with a nanny-governor who places nannies at the heads of ISTHA, IDOT, and the ISP.  Never mind that no one pays any heed to the 55 mph limit on the tollways, and the 85th percentile has been measured between 65 and 70 mph, and District 15 of the ISP have a tolerance of 70-75 mph.  70 mph on the tollways actually makes sense.  I guess that's why Quinnochio vetoed the bill.  It actually makes sense.  Come November, I'm vetoing his ass (for many, many reasons, including this one).

[ET21]

Still do 70 lol

[dave069]

Hello all! First post here

While I do support the bill to raise urban speed limits to 70, I don't expect the tollway to up any speed limits even if the veto is overridden, which is most likely. The tollway needs to be pressured to post speed limits above 55 by its customers.

I was also on I-290 recently between I-355 and I-90 and was pleased to see 60mph signs for myself. I am hoping more suburban highways IDOT maintains will get this new limit and the tollway will at least change their limit to 60 instead of 55.

And as far as rural freeway speed limits the accuracy of the IDOT map is questionable. The map makes it look like 70mph on I-55 starts at Bluff Road but when I was out there in April I didn't see a 70 till about mm242 (1/2 mile north of N. River Rd). I-57 drops to 65 once you enter Cook County so 70mph doesn't extend to U.S. 30. Does anyone know how I-80 is posted? According to the map it looks like 70mph stops at I-55. Also, is I-74 through Champaign 70?