Biggest Speed Limit Drops at State Lines

[Roadgeekteen]

I feel like we've had this thread before but I couldn't find it in search. I think there are some 70 to 55 drops on 2 lane roads at the Texas/Louisiana border. (Might be a 75 to 55 drop but I haven't found any).

[hotdogPi]

NY 23: 55 MPH
MA 23: 30 MPH

[Roadgeekteen]

NY 23: 55 MPH
MA 23: 30 MPH

Massachusetts must think that the area directly across the border is "thickly settled".

[doorknob60]

We've definitely had this thread before, but US-93 drops from 70 to 45 MPH coming from Montana into Idaho. A few miles down the road it goes back to 65 at least.

One that used to be egregious is for a while (about 2 years from 2014 to 2016), going from Idaho to Oregon on I-84 was going from 80 to 65. It used to be 75 to 65, and now it's 80 to 70, neither of which are great, but that in between time was especially bad.

Similarly, Nevada to Oregon on US-95 used to be 70 to 55 for many years (with a small gap going through McDermott, not sure the specific limit there), thankfully both sides are 70 now.

[SkyPesos]

I-70 drops from 65 to 45 mph crossing into WV from OH. There's a single lane portion of I-70 in Wheeling that requires this drop. Bypass traffic are advised to use I-470 to cross the state line.

[US 89]

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=16989.0

[Roadgeekteen]

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=16989.0

That's the one! I was searching for "speed limit drops".

[kphoger]

I think there are some 70 to 55 drops on 2 lane roads at the Texas/Louisiana border. (Might be a 75 to 55 drop but I haven't found any).

Should have looked at the other end of the state.

NM-125 = 55 mph / TX-125 = 75 mph

[Roadgeekteen]

I think there are some 70 to 55 drops on 2 lane roads at the Texas/Louisiana border. (Might be a 75 to 55 drop but I haven't found any).

Should have looked at the other end of the state.

NM-125 = 55 mph / TX-125 = 75 mph

I didn't do that because I thought that NM was generally 65 on 2 lane roads.

[roadman65]

How about Texas to to AR as well.  Both Arkansas and Louisiana still post two lane roads at 55 mph, but Texas has postings of 70 to 75 mph on East Texas roads.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Would guess there are quite a few 55-30 or 60-30 where there's a town hugging one side of the state line.

[sprjus4]

US-29 drops from 70 mph to 55 mph at the North Carolina / Virginia state line.

Although, when you continue northbound through the US-58 interchange, the speed limit quickly increases up to 65 mph.

[kphoger]

I think there are some 70 to 55 drops on 2 lane roads at the Texas/Louisiana border. (Might be a 75 to 55 drop but I haven't found any).

Should have looked at the other end of the state.

NM-125 = 55 mph / TX-125 = 75 mph

I didn't do that because I thought that NM was generally 65 on 2 lane roads.

There are plenty of both to go around in NM.

I've also personally driven across the TX/OK state line and dropped from 75 mph on RM-2248 (north of Darrouzett) to 55 mph on Beaver County Road NS151.

[sprjus4]

Another topic could be roads that decrease at the state like by any amount, solely due to artificial laws - specifically arterial routes that don't change quality (like freeway to arterial at the state line).

One that comes to mind is US-74 at the Tennessee / North Carolina state line. The road drops from 65 mph to 60 mph at the line, solely due to North Carolina not permitting any higher than 60 mph on non-limited-access highways, whereas Tennessee allows 65 mph.

US-30 at the Ohio / Indiana state line decreases from 70 mph to 60 mph despite the roadway quality not changing - just merely what's written in the law for each state.

[cl94]

I didn't do that because I thought that NM was generally 65 on 2 lane roads.

There are plenty of both to go around in NM.

I've also personally driven across the TX/OK state line and dropped from 75 mph on RM-2248 (north of Darrouzett) to 55 mph on Beaver County Road NS151.

I'm convinced NM sets rural speed limits by pulling a number out of a hat. I have yet to determine a real pattern to if a rural 2-lane road is 55, 60, or 65. I've seen roads of all qualities be signed as all three.

[US 89]

I didn't do that because I thought that NM was generally 65 on 2 lane roads.

There are plenty of both to go around in NM.

I've also personally driven across the TX/OK state line and dropped from 75 mph on RM-2248 (north of Darrouzett) to 55 mph on Beaver County Road NS151.

I'm convinced NM sets rural speed limits by pulling a number out of a hat. I have yet to determine a real pattern to if a rural 2-lane road is 55, 60, or 65. I've seen roads of all qualities be signed as all three.

I remember driving US 84 from NM into CO. Road quality is better on the Colorado side (as per the usual) but geometry is significantly worse... yet NM's portion was 55 mph and CO's was 65. And I think it stayed 65 all the way to Pagosa, which is weird because Colorado tends to like nanny limits where it gets curvier for a bit.

[andrepoiy]

New Brunswick to Quebec - 110 to 100 km/h.

Not that big a drop, but my father was going 130 km/h, and right after he crossed the border he got a speeding ticket from Quebec's provincial police.

[Dirt Roads]

I can't find the recent thread, but US-460 drops from 65 MPH in West Virginia to 45 MPH crossing into Glen Lyn, Virginia.  Here's the old thread:
https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=16989.msg2111000#msg2111000

Better than it used to be before the eastbound bridge was constructed.  Back in those days, US-460 eastbound lanes were 55 MPH in West Virginia but took a hard right turn onto old US-460 (now Lurich Road) at 25 MPH.  It was really tough for trucks to keep their speed down enough to make the turn.  The old road went through town and up by the power plant before taking the old US-460 bridge across the New River.  I remember it all being posted at 25 MPH, but it was usually slower than that behind the coal trucks.  IIRC, the speed limit in Virginia was 40 MPH when they first opened the "new" bridge for the eastbound lanes.  Seemed to me that the original design of the westbound lanes didn't provide enough space for a spiral coming off the east side of bridge for the new eastbound lanes.  That's been tweaked a bit over the years, but not much speed improvement.

[Occidental Tourist]

I-10 w/b drops from 75 miles per hour down to 35 miles per hour as you cross the Arizona/California border and approach the inspection station.

[webny99]

I-10 w/b drops from 75 miles per hour down to 35 miles per hour as you cross the Arizona/California border and approach the inspection station.

It looks like all traffic has to go through the inspection station? Why is that?

[jmacswimmer]

I-10 w/b drops from 75 miles per hour down to 35 miles per hour as you cross the Arizona/California border and approach the inspection station.

It looks like all traffic has to go through the inspection station? Why is that?

Checking for invasive species:
https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/pe/ExteriorExclusion/borders.html

[webny99]

I-10 w/b drops from 75 miles per hour down to 35 miles per hour as you cross the Arizona/California border and approach the inspection station.

It looks like all traffic has to go through the inspection station? Why is that?

Checking for invasive species:
https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/pe/ExteriorExclusion/borders.html

Wow. I can't believe I made it through more than 20 years of living without knowing this was a thing.

[paulthemapguy]

There's a 55-to-30 as Exchange Street, a county highway, crosses into Indiana east of Crete.

https://goo.gl/maps/FJMDYkEttgxux9a18

[Roadgeekteen]

There's a 55-to-30 as Exchange Street, a county highway, crosses into Indiana east of Crete.

https://goo.gl/maps/FJMDYkEttgxux9a18

Looks like the road straddles the state line.

[Occidental Tourist]

I-10 w/b drops from 75 miles per hour down to 35 miles per hour as you cross the Arizona/California border and approach the inspection station.

It looks like all traffic has to go through the inspection station? Why is that?

Checking for invasive species:
https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/pe/ExteriorExclusion/borders.html

Wow. I can't believe I made it through more than 20 years of living without knowing this was a thing.

Fruit flies.  Nothing like growing up in SoCal in the eighties and hearing the helicopters flying overhead at night spraying malathion.  That and the orange sunsets.