http://newsok.com/texas-to-open-fastest-us-highway-with-85-mph-limit/article/feed/430063


The state contract with the toll operator allows the state to collect a $67 million up-front cash payment or a percentage of the toll profits in the future if the speed limit is 80 mph or lower. At 85 mph, the cash payment balloons to $100 million or a higher percentage of toll revenues.

Texas Department of Transportation spokeswoman Veronica Beyer says "we must continue to look for innovative ways to generate revenue and be good stewards of taxpayer dollars."

It sounds like more of a financial decision than anything else, safety be damned.

I like this.

They do not mention that the difference the higher speed will cause in maintenance or construction costs.


It sounds like more of a financial decision than anything else, safety be damned.

To some extent blaming deaths on speed alone has been shown a poor argument since death rates have generally been lower on the Autobahn which prioritizes controlling lane disciplined verses our system prioritizing controlling speed. Granted if no one ever drove over 35 or had any intersections they, death rates would drop dramatically but that is not going to happen.

http://newsok.com/texas-to-open-fastest-us-highway-with-85-mph-limit/article/feed/430063



It sounds like more of a financial decision than anything else, safety be damned.


Yep, seems like they want as much traffic as possible, just for the revenue.

Just 12,500 additional deaths due to traffic speed increases? Psshaw! That's ONLY about 4 9/11s. So long as I get there faster, who cares right? Besides, it is my right to get there the fastest I can, no matter how many of you I put in danger. Remember, innocent to proven guilty... or I kill you first and then it doesn't really
matter.

those numbers are very very suspect .....

kind of like the alcohol related traffic stats ... (you know where if your 3rd row passenger has been drinking and some one hits your truck it is considered an alcohol related wreck)

This is going to last about 6 months.

If this is going to be 6 lanes then I dont think it's a serious hazard, and even moresoif it doesn't have much traffic like many new tollroads.
As someone pointed out about the autobahn, it works because people stay to the right unless they are passing. When I drive on it there were no cars taking their sweet time going 55mph in the far left lane.

This is going to last about 6 months.

why?

why?

Because they aren't going to get enough people to drive on it at 85 mph.

I-10 and I-20 in West Texas has been 80 mph for quite a few years, 85 on SH130 around Austin is probably safer since it is a newly built road with much less traffic.

The IIHS wouldn't be happy unless speed limits are 25 mph and every vehicle is in effect a safety bubble.

I consider myself an average person with a wife, 2 kids, and a dog. My car is more than capable of 85 mph and I am sure I would have no problem driving at that speed. However, I would avoid this road because I see how other people drive, and honestly, I don't want 95% of them doing 85 mph around me.

They are just acknolliging(?) reality

They do not mention that the difference the higher speed will cause in maintenance or construction costs.



To some extent blaming deaths on speed alone has been shown a poor argument since death rates have generally been lower on the Autobahn which prioritizes controlling lane disciplined verses our system prioritizing controlling speed. Granted if no one ever drove over 35 or had any intersections they, death rates would drop dramatically but that is not going to happen.

+1

Because they aren't going to get enough people to drive on it at 85 mph.

Were I a gambling man, I'd mortgage the house and bet against you. I'd much rather drive on a high-speed interstate than one that is artificially slowed.

Not at all saying 85 mph is appropriate everywhere, but having driven the OKC to LA route a few times when I was younger, it became evident very rapidly that a limit much below 80 is fairly preposterous. It is arguably one of the most barren stretches of highway in the entire country, particularly as you go through Arizona.

I-10 and I-20 in West Texas has been 80 mph for quite a few years, 85 on SH130 around Austin is probably safer since it is a newly built road with much less traffic.

The IIHS wouldn't be happy unless speed limits are 25 mph and every vehicle is in effect a safety bubble.

And the stats quoted by the IIHS are a classic example of implying causation from correlation and posting it as fact.

I've heard there are any number of roads, two lanes and up, where 85(ish) is apparently a rather reasonable speed.

Were I a gambling man, I'd mortgage the house and bet against you. I'd much rather drive on a high-speed interstate than one that is artificially slowed.

Not at all saying 85 mph is appropriate everywhere, but having driven the OKC to LA route a few times when I was younger, it became evident very rapidly that a limit much below 80 is fairly preposterous. It is arguably one of the most barren stretches of highway in the entire country, particularly as you go through Arizona.

I guess you have a lot more to spend on gasoline than I do. The drop in my gas milage from 65 to 75 is enough for me to never go over 70. I would hate to see what kind of milage I get at 85. I think I would probably get about 8 mpg. :)

Because they aren't going to get enough people to drive on it at 85 mph.

85 MPH would be a speed LIMIT.
Not a speed MANDATE.
I don't think this will have an effect on the numbers of toll-payers one way or the other.
Do you?

I just drove a modern vehicle (Chevy Impala, 6000milesodometer) from OKC to The Cities 12 hour drive with minimal stops for gasoline/etc. and set the Cruise control at 4MPH above the posted speed limit--wherever and whatever it was (all good, open country driving on good road surfaces) and the car did better than 30mpg. If I had clicked it up to 84 or 89 instead of 74 or 81 (to avoid an unfair ticket) I doubt that the mpg would have suffered an anomalous decrease. Where are your numbers coming from?

Radiacal - I drive a Ram 1500. At 60mph I get about 21 mpg. At 70 that drops to about 17.5. I rarely drive above 70 and I never do it for a long enough period of time to get an acurate MPG reading. However, I do pull an 8,000 pound trailer on occasion and at 65 mph I get 8.5 mpg.

Also, I understand the concept of 'speed limit' and since I don't want to drive 85 mph I would just be a hazard on this road, so I would avoid it. My guess is the only people who are going to use this road are people who want to drive fast and I bet most will drive be between 85 mph and 95 mph. However, I am content to wait until July of next year and see if the speed limit is still 85 mph.

With my wife's Toyota 4Runner (4.0L V6/2WD) there is a minimal decrease in gas mileage between 70 and 80, even less with my BMW Z4 (2.5L), minimal enough that we don't pay attention to it, wind direction seems to plays a bigger role than speed. Even when I had my F-150 (5.4L V-8/2WD) there wasn't much difference but then I did have a bed cover (vinyl type), that seemed to make more of a difference in mileage than speed, the tailgate acts like a big parachute. Everyone that I have known with a Dodge pickup seems to get worse mileage than a comparable Ford or GM pickup and large trailers always kill the mileage on any of them quickly. A friend of mine up here has a Dodge 2500 4x4 with the V-10, he gets 10 mpg on a good day but then he has 80,000 miles on his motorcycle because he rides it most of the time when the weather is half way decent. My new motorcycle gets worse gas mileage than my old on (1,352cc I-4 vs. 955cc I-3) but it is still in the break-in period.

The big truck (26 foot Budget rental) that I drove on the move from Austin to Denver was horrid on fuel mileage and it was a diesel, we spent more on fuel than we spent renting the truck. The smaller truck (16 foot gas) was a little better, on both trips we had some pretty severe head winds on I-35/I-135 and cross winds on I-70 which hammered us on mileage (went through OKC to break up the drive time and spent the night at my parents house). We made a few trips with the 4Runner and 5x8 utility trailer (no tall side walls), it made little difference but then we never had a huge load on that trailer, usually bulkier lightweight items or outdoor stuff, my motorcycle was the heaviest large item we hauled on it.

I know that gearing makes a big difference, I had an 85 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe (2.3L turbo 4-cyl/5-speed) and it got better mileage at 65+ than it did at 55 mph (the 55 mph max limit changed while I owned it) because you couldn't drive 55 mph in OD (5th gear) because it was lug the engine to much, you had to run in 4th. One time I filled up as soon as I got back into Dallas from OKC, I was running 75 most of the way and got 38mpg in that car, it would get about 20 mpg in town because of using boost more often than once you were up to speed on the highway.

We have a 75 mph speed limit on the interstates and toll roads in many parts of Colorado including I-25 between Denver and Colorado Springs and north of Denver, the traffic here seems to move a bit faster than that but most still rarely get much above 80, I still think for most people 80-85 seems to be their limit of what they are comfortable driving from what I have seen driving on the higher speed roads. All I know is that the roads in New Mexico are annoyingly slow (mostly 55 mph), especially when you are making a 14+ hour drive.

85 MPH would be a speed LIMIT.
Not a speed MANDATE.
...

True, but whenever they raise the speed LIMIT, don't they also raise the speed MINIMUM?

I'd much rather drive on a high-speed interstate than one that is artificially slowed.

Not at all saying 85 mph is appropriate everywhere, but having driven the OKC to LA route a few times when I was younger, it became evident very rapidly that a limit much below 80 is fairly preposterous. It is arguably one of the most barren stretches of highway in the entire country, particularly as you go through Arizona.

I agree with you that 85 MPH is not appropriate everywhere but there are many, many places in the rural west including many miles of 2 lane roads where 90 MPH would be an appropriate day time speed limit.

I have driven many miles of very isolate roads in far western Kansas, eastern Colorado and in west Texas where you can litterly drive for 100 miles on great roads, on very flat terrain, where it’s 20+ miles between farm houses and only see 2 or 3 other moving vehicles. This has happened to me many times.

In this type of situation and in the right vehicle it is safe and the time saved makes me less drowsy and more alert when I not in the vehicle for as long. Personally I feel very comfortable driving at 90 MPH in my Honda Accord V6 or when I drove a 300ZX.
I have driven other old poorly maintain pickups that 50 MPH was too fast.

I would like to see Oklahoma increase is daytime rural interstate speed limits to 85 mph

True, but whenever they raise the speed LIMIT, don't they also raise the speed MINIMUM?

Most people consider the limit as the minimum

I hope something like this happends in Oklahoma lol. I drive from El Reno to Oklahoma City Community College monday thru Friday and its horrific, especially southbound I-44 lol

True, but whenever they raise the speed LIMIT, don't they also raise the speed MINIMUM?
Certain sections of the 75 mph interstates here in Colorado have a 55mph minimum speed limit posted.

A few years ago there was an article in the Austin paper about the contract and the "bonus" payment to the state for an 85 mph speed limit. As with most things related to gov't, it's all about the money.

Statesman.com - About that 85 mph speed limit, and a $100 million check (http://www.statesman.com/news/local/about-that-85-mph-speed-limit-and-a-2454483.html)

85 MPH would be a speed LIMIT.
Not a speed MANDATE.
I don't think this will have an effect on the numbers of toll-payers one way or the other.
Do you?

I just drove a modern vehicle (Chevy Impala, 6000milesodometer) from OKC to The Cities 12 hour drive with minimal stops for gasoline/etc. and set the Cruise control at 4MPH above the posted speed limit--wherever and whatever it was (all good, open country driving on good road surfaces) and the car did better than 30mpg. If I had clicked it up to 84 or 89 instead of 74 or 81 (to avoid an unfair ticket) I doubt that the mpg would have suffered an anomalous decrease. Where are your numbers coming from?
A few years ago when gas was approaching the $2 mark (and then marched right past it to the $3 mark when Katrina hit) and then again when we were approaching the $4 mark (coming up again), there have been articles in the Oklahoman and other places about the relationship to mileage and speed. Essentially most cars & trucks are engineered for the highest fuel efficiency in the 55 to 60 mph range or thereabouts. Go slower or higher and it drops off rapidly. As they say, "your mileage may vary" but here were a couple of sources:

Tested: Speed vs fuel economy (http://news.consumerreports.org/cars/2009/09/tested-speed-vs-fuel-economy.html)

Consumer Reports recently conducted a seven-vehicle test comparing the fuel economy of each at speeds of 55, 65, and 75 mph. The results show the faster you drive, the more fuel you burn—no surprise there. But the most significant change in fuel economy comes from the most fuel-efficient vehicles we tested. The Honda Insight hybrid showed the largest drop in fuel economy—over 15 mpg going from 55 to 75 mph. ...

Mpg For Speed - Fuel Efficiency Vs. Speed (http://www.mpgforspeed.com/)

Gas Mileage Tips - Driving More Efficiently (http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/driveHabits.shtml)

While each vehicle reaches its optimal fuel economy at a different speed (or range of speeds), gas mileage usually decreases rapidly at speeds above 50 mph. You can assume that each 5 mph you drive over 50 mph is like paying an additional $0.26 per gallon for gas.

I would like to see Oklahoma increase is daytime rural interstate speed limits to 85 mph

There are many many folk out there who believe that is already the case. Rumor has it they are appreciated for their willingness to take point.

There are many many folk out there who believe that is already the case. Rumor has it they are appreciated for their willingness to take point.

As a CruiseControl setter (at 4mph over the "Posted 'Speed Limit'") empirical data demands that I give you a high five on that observation. I am confident that you also support the Autobahn--rather than Auto Ban--paradigm regarding the proper use of those expensive "freeways" and the expensive lanes thereof. The big quandry arises when some semi decides to pass another semi at a passing speed of approximately two miles per hour (at an ambiant speed of about 70+4 mph). However, if one realizes that everything we have arrives by truck, at some point in its journey, the potential anger and frustration is minimized. And you still give the trucker who finally pulls over to the right a thumbs up or friendly tap on the horn.

And when you encounter complete stops--on an Interstate--such as the one encountered just south of the Missouri border you realize that without well maintained highways it would be unsafe to drive 80 or 85. It's a tire thing.