Maine’s Legislature has passed a bill that would authorize the state’s Transportation Department to raise the speed limit to 75 mph on any highway — higher than the 65 mph maximum limit in most of the state — as long as the department concludes that it is a safe speed.
Separately, a legislative committee voted to kill a feasibility study for a proposed private east-west highway through the state.
The speed-limit bill does not require the higher limit but rather empowers Maine’s DOT and its commissioner to determine what speeds are safe on which highways, considering factors such as road design and congestion, said Rep. Justin Chenette (D), the measure’s sponsor.
The Maine Motor Transport Association supports the speed-limit bill, said Brian Parke, the group’s CEO, who said he trusts DOT’s ability to make the right decisions about speed limits based on safety.
“Their engineers are going to be better suited to know whether it’s going to have positive or negative safety impacts and decide accordingly,” Parke said. “They’re going to look at traffic congestion, and they’re going to look at the safety impacts of raising the speed limit, not only for cars, but for trucks as well.”
Most over-the-road trucks are electronically governed so they cannot travel above 65 mph, which Parke said is a potential problem if other vehicles on the highway are traveling significantly faster. But he is confident that DOT will take that into consideration when studying potential speed-limit increases.
For additional coverage, see the May 20 print edition of Transport Topics.
