- The DOT still needs to determine which roads will get higher limits.
- Authorities will assess traffic volume and crash history on local roads.
- Police will continue enforcing 70 mph limits until new signs are up.
Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe has given the go-ahead for the state to raise the maximum speed limit on rural interstates and freeways from 70 mph (113 km/h) to 75 mph (121 km/h). The change comes through Senate Bill 1408, sponsored by Republican State Senator Jamie Burger. While the law goes into effect on August 28, locals will have to wait a little longer before they can actually start driving at these high speeds.
What Has To Happen First
The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) has been tasked with deciding which stretches of road will have speed limits increased. Potential candidates include rural sections of I-70 and I-49 around the Kansas City metro, although no locations have been approved yet. Only once this process is complete and new 75-mph speed limit signs are erected can locals actually start driving at these higher speeds.
Read: Cars Got Safer, So Missouri Wants To Let Them Go Even Faster
KCTV5 reports that MoDOT considers several factors when deciding whether a road’s speed limit can be increased. It analyzes traffic volume, safety, crash history, and the terrain. The agency says it has a responsibility to set limits that are “reasonably safe” for each roadway and is now evaluating eligible locations individually.
The Signs Still Rule The Road
According to Missouri State Highway Patrol sergeant Justin Ewing, local police “will continue to enforce those speed limits just like we always have,” with the existing signs remaining the final word for drivers. “For now, the posted speed limit, whatever sign you see on the roadway, is going to be the speed limit that we enforce,” he said.
MoDOT director Ed Hassinger noted, “There’s a balance to be struck here between efficient traffic movement and safety, so we’re taking careful consideration of any potential location, what the roadway is like there and how people use it.”
Speaking to local media, resident Cian Hine expressed some frustration that the law has been changed, but the higher speed limits don’t yet apply. A key reason for this is that MoDOT needed the Governor’s signature before it could spend the time and money to analyze where the speed limits can be increased.
“I would say if the law is in effect, then make it in effect,” Hine said. “You know, just because the speed limit signs may not actually say that at the time, if the law is there, then uphold the law.”
