New Speed trap area on I-20? (Dallas, Fort Worth: 2013, home, construction)

[SVTRay]

It's been a while since I've travel this route, so this may not be anything new.

Anyhow, The area in question is a hill just outside Ranger Texas off I-20 near what I refer to as Ranger Hill. The speed limit headed west out of Dallas was 60-65 mph until you got within a few miles of this hill. Then it changed to 75 mph. Now the state has came back and changed this small section of hwy into 65mph. I really didn't notice this much going. Well driving back, I noticed the limit change to 65 mph around Ranger Texas. In the past, the limit didn't change to 60-65mph until you entered Parker County. So it stuck out in my mind. Anyways, as I was about to descend off said hill, I noticed a State Trooper radaring on top of the hill. I have been making this run for 15 yrs and have never until now seen a Trooper radaring on or around this Hill. Well, as I descended, you could clearly see a couple of Troopers at the base and another trooper's lights flashing a 1/4 mile past them. As I got to the first set of troopers, I could see even more troopers with cars pulled over. I saw a total of 7 troopers in about 2 miles.


Just figured I would pass that along to anyone planning on traveling this route over the holidays. FYI: I also saw Troops through pout my trip in between Midland and Dallas. It was like they called in re-enforcements lol So drive slow and safe.

[An0nym0us88]

Thank you for the info. I will be traveling to Fort Worth pretty soon.

Since you said "radaring", how do you know if they're radaring? Do you have a radar detector?

[jbb303]

This was in response to an effort by residents of the area lobbying for lower speed limits and improvements to I-20:

Drivers thankful for a (somewhat) safer I-20 on Ranger Hill | Your Commute | News from F...

[lonestar2007]

Thank for posting this. Nowadays too many people won't take the time to bother with helping others out, so it's always appreciated when you see someone who does go out of their way to do so.

Thanks again.

[Trae713]

Good luck with then trying to lower the speed limit to 55. That ain't happening. They need to raise the speed limit in Ennis and Dallas County on 45 from 60 to at least 65.

[wxf848]

As noted in the article, the speed limit was changed as a result of local requests and safety concerns. In addition to the lower speed limit, improvements are being made to the road to enhance safety.

The speed limit reduction won't work unless drivers actually slow down. It's normal to have a period of strict enforcement after this kind of safety initiative in order to get actual speeds reduced.

[SVTRay]

Originally Posted by An0nym0us88

Thank you for the info. I will be traveling to Fort Worth pretty soon.

Since you said "radaring", how do you know if they're radaring? Do you have a radar detector?

Naw, I don't use radar detectors but it's not rocket science. I mean, it's not like they was pulling people over welcoming them to Ranger Texas.

Originally Posted by wxf848

As noted in the article, the speed limit was changed as a result of local requests and safety concerns. In addition to the lower speed limit, improvements are being made to the road to enhance safety.

The speed limit reduction won't work unless drivers actually slow down. It's normal to have a period of strict enforcement after this kind of safety initiative in order to get actual speeds reduced.

Enhance safety?

First of all I have a CDL and have driven semi-tractors and descending a hill like that at 75 mph is just stupid!

An experienced Semi-Tractor driver will always down shift prior to descending a hill in order to help maintain control of the vehicle. The brakes on a Semi-tractor are powered by air and riding the brakes could deplete the air faster than the on-board air-compressor can produce it. That and the brakes could fail due to air leaks or broken airlines etc. So popularly down shifting prior to a hill either climbing or descending is critical in maintaining safe control of a semi-tractor. Further more, as the Semi-tractor descends, the driver taps the breaks once the vehicle reaches a pre-determined RPM…generally around 1,000-1,300 RPMS. They do not accelerate and they do not want it gaining high speeds.


As for Four Wheelers endangering the locals, The closest exit 1-2 miles away from the descending side of Ranger Hill. It's not even populated on either side of the highway on said side of Ranger Hill. Heck, there is only 2-3 mini ranches on the top of the Hill before descending.

That article goes on to mention there has been 127 recorded wrecks on or around Ranger Hill since 2008. That averages 1 wreck every 2-3 weeks. Heck, I see 1-2 wrecks a day on the highway outside our home and the speed limit hasn't changed and no one is fussing about it.

As for the signatures demanding the speed limit change, most of that was done through an online petition and signed by out of state residents…California and Hawaii for heavens sake. WTH? Forget about the supposed politicians joining the march, you know their only speaking up to gain votes. You wouldn't hear a word edge wise out of them if not for the number of people complaining and media attention. Again, I see 1-2 wrecks daily on a single highway here and where are these politicians and out of town folks and their petition?

55MPH my rear. Now the 54" concrete barriers would be a huge improvement for night time driving. The short ones fail to block passing head lights. As for decreasing the grade, Good Luck with that one. Uh, maybe that is why the politicians are speaking up, they hear the sound of more Tax money coming their way lol

[wxf848]

Originally Posted by SVTRay

Naw, I don't use radar detectors but it's not rocket science. I mean, it's not like they was pulling people over welcoming them to Ranger Texas.





Enhance safety?

First of all I have a CDL and have driven semi-tractors and descending a hill like that at 75 mph is just stupid!

An experienced Semi-Tractor driver will always down shift prior to descending a hill in order to help maintain control of the vehicle. The brakes on a Semi-tractor are powered by air and riding the brakes could deplete the air faster than the on-board air-compressor can produce it. That and the brakes could fail due to air leaks or broken airlines etc. So popularly down shifting prior to a hill either climbing or descending is critical in maintaining safe control of a semi-tractor. Further more, as the Semi-tractor descends, the driver taps the breaks once the vehicle reaches a pre-determined RPM…generally around 1,000-1,300 RPMS. They do not accelerate and they do not want it gaining high speeds.


As for Four Wheelers endangering the locals, The closest exit 1-2 miles away from the descending side of Ranger Hill. It's not even populated on either side of the highway on said side of Ranger Hill. Heck, there is only 2-3 mini ranches on the top of the Hill before descending.

That article goes on to mention there has been 127 recorded wrecks on or around Ranger Hill since 2008. That averages 1 wreck every 2-3 weeks. Heck, I see 1-2 wrecks a day on the highway outside our home and the speed limit hasn't changed and no one is fussing about it.

As for the signatures demanding the speed limit change, most of that was done through an online petition and signed by out of state residents…California and Hawaii for heavens sake. WTH? Forget about the supposed politicians joining the march, you know their only speaking up to gain votes. You wouldn't hear a word edge wise out of them if not for the number of people complaining and media attention. Again, I see 1-2 wrecks daily on a single highway here and where are these politicians and out of town folks and their petition?

55MPH my rear. Now the 54" concrete barriers would be a huge improvement for night time driving. The short ones fail to block passing head lights. As for decreasing the grade, Good Luck with that one. Uh, maybe that is why the politicians are speaking up, they hear the sound of more Tax money coming their way lol

I'm not an engineer, so I can't really defend their decisions, but I've been down that hill at 75 and it seems fine to me as long as the pavement's dry. However, I wonder if the density of trucks affected the decision. The report says it's nearly half of the traffic; the 2010 traffic count says it's 47.2% (I'm not sure what constitutes a truck in that count). With that many vehicles that may need to slow down, maybe it's best to slow everyone down. On the uphill side, vehicles slowing down due to the grade may make the 85th percentile lower.

Lowering a speed limit isn't always the appropriate response when there are a bunch of wrecks. I would think that it would be more likely on a high speed road. I've noticed construction speed limits just 5 mph lower than the regular limit, like 70 instead of 75, which isn't that much of a difference, and it makes me wonder if just the act of lowering the speed limit gets some attention and makes people more aware that something is different and requires extra attention. Maybe they're hoping for that kind of effect.

[ragnarkar]

This is probably one of the rare places where I feel having a speed trap is justified.. I've driven this stretch countless times and I'm always amazed at how many trucks come barreling down at 70+.. and if you do the speed limit at 65, nearly everyone is passing you. Sure, there are places where speed limits are unjustly low but this isn't one of them. I just witnessed one of the most horrific accidents on this stretch yesterday and have googled "Ranger Hill" Texas Accident and there's a never-ending list of tragedies at that location.