Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah lawmaker is looking to give more flexibility to studies that could increase interstate speed limits statewide.
Jim Dunnigan, R-Taylorsville, is sponsoring a proposal that would give the Utah Department of Transportation the flexibility of implementing speed limit tests on interstates across Utah. Over the last several years, lawmakers have heard and passed bills to survey speed limits in specific segments on Utah’s interstates. Last year, UDOT opened several permanent 80 MPH speed limit zones on Utah interstates.
“We have some very broad and wide-open spaces. We’re a long state, top to bottom and even east to west we’re pretty wide,” Dunnigan told Doug Wright. “We’re just looking to see where it makes sense and where it might be appropriate to have a more appropriate speed limit.”
Dunnigan has worked with UDOT on the proposal, which takes into account data from the last five years of studies. UDOT director of Traffic and Safety Robert Hull said the department is still looking at statewide data concerning speed-related crashes and engineering data to determine possible test areas. If a segment of the interstate does not have any speed concerns, Hull said, a speed limit test would be initiated there.
“We really, really need to look at the data and what the data’s showing,” Hull said. “If we’re looking at speed-related crashes – whether it’s rural or urban – if there are no concerns about the number of speed-related crashes we’re seeing, then those would be candidates to do the speed study. All this said, we’re allowing the study to tell us what’s going on out there and what’s happening. We’re not predetermining that a speed limit is going to be raised or anything like that.”
Related:
UDOT opens up new 80 mph speed zones
UDOT announced Tuesday that the speed limit has been increased to 80 mph in several areas of the state.Hull noted the tests could result in an increased speed limit — from 75 to 80 in rural areas, for example — or a decreased speed limit, if UDOT determined current speeds were creating dangerous situations in the segment.
“By going through the process of really focusing in on engineering studies and allowing the data to determine what’s going on and what’s really happening is really the best way to go about doing this, rather than arbitrarily setting a limit – whether it’s much lower or higher – it’s based on data and studies and engineering studies associated with it,” Hull said.
Dunnigan hopes the legislation will pass and more appropriate speed limits could be set throughout the state’s interstate system.
He estimated Utahns could expect higher speeds in additional areas by next summer. He anticipates I-70 East from Green River to Colorado will be part of that study, as well as urban sections of I-15 and I-215.
“We have five years of data now – we started this five years ago – and in our five years of data, first in the test sections and now expanded sections, we have not seen an increase in crashes, we have not seen an increase in fatalities,” Dunnigan said. “In fact, what the data does show, if you want to decrease injuries and fatalities, wear your seatbelt. That’s the most common determining factor of injuries in a crash.”
