85 Mile Per Hour Speed Limit Seen on State Highway 130

[ALS]

Toll road two thirds completed runs from I-10 east of San Antonio to Georgetown, north of Austin

Woai Radio - WOAI - June 7th 2012

You have got to be kidding me? --Ed.

The Texas Department of Transportation said today a toll road being built from San Antonio to north of Austin could be the first road in the country to have a posted 85 mile per hour speed limit.

"It was designed under extremely high design parameters," said Darren McDaniel, the Speed Management Director for the department, which builds and manages all Texas highways.

The highway, called State Highway 130, is being built to take traffic loads off of the heavily overcrowded Interstate 35 between San Antonio and north of Austin, a stretch which is one of the most congested in the country. Most of the highway is built, and posted at 80 miles per hour, and the remainder is set to be opened before the end of this year.

"We'll definitely take a look at that stretch, and we will conduct speed studies to see what that speed limit will be," he said.

The Texas Legislature last year passed a law that allowed speed limits of up to 85 miles per hour on newly constructed highways which were determined to be safe enough to allow that speed.
... [Read More]

[Kurz]

85 is way too fast, my engine would be turning at 4K RPM.

[PaleMelanesian]

Not only that, but you're fighting TWICE the aerodynamic drag compared to 60 mph.

Also, twice the impact energy if/when you crash. Four times if you hit oncoming traffic head-on. Six times the impact energy of the standard 35 mph crash test. In other words, you're dead.

[ksstathead]

Well, it would lower health care costs. No injured...

[chilimac02]

The stretch of I35 it was built to aid is pretty crazy. On 35 there, the left lane is a solid line of cars/18 wheelers going 80, and the right lane is a "passing lane" whenever there aren't cars going 75 over there. You guys probably think I'm exaggerating, but hopefully someone will concur.

I agree that 85 is a pretty fast limit. But, in Texas if the limit is 70, 20% of traffic is going over 80. You rarely see anyone pulled over by police. Highway Patrol is the only law enforcement watching for speeds. And there aren't enough of them to watch over our insanely large state. All of this to say, if the limit is 85, people will go faster.

But, the high speed limit will help alleviate congestion on a horribly congested road. Texans will gladly pay the fine, er... toll, to drive fast.

I hope the idea works, and I hope people drive safely. I'll be the one driving 60mph on I-20...

[MN Driver]

85mph is 55mpg for a tank fill with a warm, no-wind, no-A/C day on a flat stretch in my 2000 Honda Insight when my buddy was driving. I won't risk the ticket but he wanted to arrive sooner so he got to drive. 65mph average speed doing a lean-burn DWL got me 73mpg(FCD said 70mpg however).

I always see people say 'don't go over the speed limit, you'll lose mpg'. Depends on the limit too, you lose it at a crazy rate above 60mph with most cars (65mph with my car) so when you look at most of the US interstate highways being 70-75mph and in town roads 30mph, depends on what the speed limit is, it's why I don't like that statement.

One thing I'd have to say though is that there have been trips where if the PSL was 85mph, I would go that speed on certain trips because I would arrive sooner and save money because I'll get to my destination without the need to stop and sleep at a hotel. I'll take the 55mpg versus higher mpg.

[herm]

Lets hope for improvements in aerodynamics, but you know it will be a lot of pickups on that road doing 95mph.

[PaleMelanesian]

This is Texas after all. Top-selling vehicles are F150, then Silverado, then Ram.

[Earthling]

It's fuelish.

I resent 70 mph speed limits since the speed differential between my vehicle and others is too high.

The State of Texas needs to have their heads examined.

Harry

[Carcus]

Guess I'm the only one who wants to go try it out -- in the old Beemer. The faster it goes, the more it seems to be in its element, and mpg loss at higher speeds isn't significant.

My pickup, however, is a whole other story.