The saying goes that everything is bigger in Texas. This fall that will apply to speed, too.
The Texas Transportation Commission has approved an 85-mph speed limit for a new toll road between Austin and San Antonio. It will be the highest speed limit in the United States, according to local news reports.
The toll road is a 41-mile stretch of Texas State Highway 130 known as Segments 5 and 6, running from Mustang Ridge near Austin to Seguin outside of San Antonio. If motorists drive at the speed limit, they'll cover the 41 miles in less than a half hour.
The 85-mph limit surpasses the current high in the United States, set on portions of Interstate 15 in Utah and sections of I-10 and I-20 in west Texas, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
But are the higher speeds safe?
The Insurance Institute says the higher the speed, the more dangerous for the motorists. Higher speeds limit reaction times, increases braking distances and put stresses on safety equipment in cars and on roads, the institute says.
"There are limits to the amount of crash energy that can be managed by vehicles, restraint systems and roadway hardware such as barriers and crash cushions. The higher the speed, the higher the likelihood that these limits will be exceeded in crashes, limiting the protection available for vehicle occupants," according to the institute's website.
Texas officials say safety won't be compromised by the higher speeds.
"Safety is our top priority and tests have shown the designated speed is a safe one," Mark Cross, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Transportation, is quoted as saying by the Texas Tribune.
The SH 130 Concession Co. which built and will operate the toll road, says motorists bear responsibility for safety.
"We are committed to operating a safe, reliable highway for our customers. On any road, drivers hold the key to safety based on traffic, travel conditions and the capabilities of their own vehicles," the company said in a statement, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Tolls have yet to be set, but whatever they are drivers won't have to slow down to pay them.
"There will be no toll plazas on segments 5 & 6 of SH 130. Tolls will be collected electronically at certain points along the roadway, meaning motorists will not have to slow down or stop. Traffic will be 100% free flowing," according to The SH 130 Concession Co., which was formed by the Spanish construction company Cintra and the Texas company Zachary American Infrastructure.
Officials hope drivers will use the highway to avoid and alleviate congestion on Interstate 35, which the toll road operators say is more congested in the area than at any part in its entire length, from Canada to Mexico.
"We look forward to opening this segment of SH 130, which will help reduce congestion for the Austin-San Antonio corridor by providing Texas drivers and others with an alternate route for traveling through our great state," Cross told the Texas Tribune.
The toll road is required to open by November 11 but may open sooner.
"We are confident we will be open ahead of schedule,” Chris Lippincott, spokesman for the SH 130 Concession Company, told Texas Weekly.
While the higher speed promises quicker trips for drivers, it also means more money into state coffers. The concession company will pay the Texas Department of Transportation a $100 million bonus for the 85-mph limits, the Texas Tribune reported. If the limit had been set at 80 mph, the bonus would have been only $67 million, according to the report.
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These Toll roads are a joke. It took the State over a decade to build a portion of 183. A free road. The toll road cover half the city, and were built in a couple years. The problem is, if you use them daily it's well over a hundred dollars a month. So now we have great roads that no one uses, and traffic is worse than ever. Austin as managed the worst road system in the history of road systems. It really is that bad.
Several people are driving the toll road and I'm one of them especially during traffic hours, individually we have our choices to drive either way and obviously we alwasy pay for our comfort and convenience, nothing is free in this wide world of ours but at least we have choices. Above all the toll road was build for long term plan.
The roads would be safer if all the slower traffic would just stay in the right hand lane,period.Too many people out there get a kick out of driving slow just to anger people.Anyone can pick these folks out because the offending slow poke is constantly looking out the rear view miiror to make sure they are annoying someone.Don't believe me ??? just watch the lead driver of a traffic jam sometime and you'll see what I mean
Hmmm....turn off the GPS, in-car video, stop texting and actually DRIVE? What a novel idea.
The bigger problem is Texas drivers, nice people but very bad drivers.
I have yet to travel to a state where someone doesn't say that about the drivers.
It will be interesteing to see the rate of accidents on this one – one thing about driving big vehicles is that the mass that supposedly makes them safer also means there is more kinetic energy to dissapate when something goes wrong, and that can be a problem. During the winter I tend to see more pickups and SUVs in accidents than I do smaller cars simply because people forget that simple fact.
I live in Germany, and 85 mph is common here. On the open rural stretches of the autobahn there is no speed limit. In places where there is a limit it is typically 130 kilometers per hour, or about 78 mph. One thing that prevents more accidents here is that Germans are very strict about using the left lane only for passing. In fact, if a policeman sees you driving in the left lane while not passing he will probably give you a ticket. Also, you can get a ticket for passing in the right lane. In the States people just seem to pick whichever lane has the smoothest pavement and stay there.
You want to alleviate a lot of the traffic jams along 35? Start passing out tickets to all the idiots going the speed limit (or in most cases slower) in the passing lane. It amazes me that even with minimum speed limit signs posted, they are not enforced. But drive without a front license plate on and you're sure to get pulled over..smh
"Speed does not cause accidents."
If a deer jumps out in front of me, it's easier to avoid it if you are going 35 instead of 85. I bet you think guns don't kill either.
Now they can all save roughly 3 minutes of travel time.
I lived in Texas for eight years. People have been traveling 85+ miles per hour in Texas for a long time.
This is great! The quicker I go through Teaxass, the better.
41 miles in Texas helps you get through the state quicker, LOL. Well since that represents only approx 5% of the distance across the Great State, it will only help you so much. Still LOL.
...and you can even apply your lipstick while doing it.
I live in Round Rock but have to drive downtown for work, I live 2 mi. off I 35, my work is near the Capital. In order for me to use this toll way I would have to drive 20 miles out of my way. What a joke!
Man, I've never seen a bigger bunch of whiners than todays GOP, nothing is ever good news to them. Even the death of Osama was "bad news" in their minds. Now you are complaining about a high way that you can drive 85mph, man what happened to your party? I guess the party NO made you the party of negativity.
That particular part of the tollway is nowhere near Round Rock or downtown anyway.
Franky:
I read the article 3 times, looking for some political party reference. Couldn't find any,...
Why don't you stick your head in a toaster and dry it out before posting like a troll-idiot?
"...41 miles in less than an hour..." Really? At 50 MPH you travel 41 miles in less than an hour. Is it too hard to calculate that at 85 mph it will take sighlty under 1/2 hour to travel 41 miles
Yeah, but that same stretch on I-35 can take two hours sometimes.
It says it would be traveled in half an hour. what are you talking about?
you may want to check your math again. at 50 mph it would take 49 minutes to drive 41 miles. at a constant 85 mph, you would drive the 41 miles in just under 29 minutes...
If you Read it properly it said 41 Miles in under half an hour!
Stated in the third paragraph, Dave
It does not matter what speed limit you set Americans are the worst drivers at any speed , They all think the road is there just for them and them alone so they all cuss and moan at one another trying to get in front
You obvıously have never been to Istanbul, Parıs, or Caıro. Americans drıve perfect in comparison ha ha ha ha
Heck, why not just round it off to an even 100mph. Most people drive 7mph over the posted limit anyway so that means if its 85 they're gonna be going 92mph. A 100mph is only 8 more.
I drive on the German autobahn on a regular basis. I'm glad to see someone in the US finally realizes it's ok to allow folks to drive faster that 70 MPH on the open highway.
The problem with that is that German drivers compared to US drivers are extremely well-trained. It's expensive to get a license there, because you have to go through intensive behind the wheel training for a couple of weeks in addition to a very tough written exam that is far harder than tests in the US. They don't have distracted drivers there. No drinking or eating is allowed in cars, among many other restrictions. Most autobahns in Germany do have restricted speeds now, and many of them are below US interstates in some places. US drivers simply are poorly trained and don't put safety first. By the way, the roadbeds there are far thicker, cutting down on damage from heavy trucks. I think there's going to be some awful accidents on this stretch of road, and most will not be survivable.