Speed limits to increase on some rural, two-lane highways

By Robb Jeffries
Forum News Service
ST. PAUL - Speed limits on some northern and western Minnesota highways will be getting an increase, the Minnesota Department of Transportation says.
About 340 miles of two-lane highways will increase from 55 mph to 60 mph. The changes come as part of a 2014 legislative mandate to evaluate potential speed limit increases on all Minnesota two-lane highways with a posted limit of 55 mph.
Minnesota has about 7,000 miles of two-lane highway that will be studied by 2019 under this mandate. In 2015, MnDOT will study about 1,500 miles to determine if similar speed increases are warranted.
Sue Roe, a spokeswoman with MnDOT, said several criteria were considered before approving the increases, including crash rates, number of highway access points and a speed study on the affected road.
“These studies have been done to find what people normally drive on these roads. Some drivers are already going this speed, anyway,” she said. “Ultimately, it makes the road safer because drivers will have more similar ideas on what speed they should be going.”
Some of the longer highways with speed increases are Minnesota Highway 32, which runs from near Barnesville north to Greenbush, and much of U.S. Highway 212, which runs west from Edina to the South Dakota border.
Not all roads studied in 2014 received an increase. About 570 miles of roads were considered in 2014, meaning 230 miles of those highways will remain at 55 mph.