Texas Is About To Get Fastest Stretch Of Roadway In The Western Hemisphere (San Antonio: insurance, safety)

[Metro Matt]

TEXAS —



Texas is set to get a new bragging right: the fastest speed limit in the country.

The Texas Department of Transportation has approved an 85 mph speed limit for an upcoming 40-mile stretch of Texas 130 from Austin to Seguin. Currently, no road in the country has a posted speed limit faster than 80 mph. An 85 mph designation would give the new toll road the fastest speed limit in the Western Hemisphere, according to some reports.

In 2011, the Legislature gave TxDOT the authority to grant an 85 mph speed limit to roads designed to accommodate that speed. Last week, following engineering and traffic studies conducted by TxDOT, the Transportation Commission authorized speed limits of up to 85 mph on the road.

The new stretch of Texas 130 (known officially as Segments 5 and 6) is being built by a private consortium led by Spanish-based toll road firm Cintra. The firm has spent $1.3 billion to design and build the road and collect the tolls on the road for 50 years, though TxDOT retains ownership of the road. Under TxDOT's contract with the SH 130 Concession Company, the firm had to pay TxDOT an extra $67 million if the new road received an 80 mph speed limit. If the road received the coveted 85 mph speed limit, TxDOT’s bonus jumped to $100 million.

"The Texas Department of Transportation has determined that SH 130 Segments 5 and 6 may be safely traveled at 85 miles per hour," Chris Lippincott, spokesman for the SH 130 Concession Company, said. "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 toll road is scheduled to open Nov. 11, but Lippincott has said the road may open sooner.
Since earlier this year, the possibility that TxDOT might allow an 85 mph speed limits in the state has prompted concerns about safety.

“As the accidents pile up on 85 mph roads, so too will insurance claims,” David Snyder with the American Insurance Association wrote in a Fort Worth Star-Telegram editorial last year. “That will lead to increased insurance costs.”

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This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/texas-transportation/transportation/texas-officials-approve-85-mph-limit-toll-road/.

[Willsson]

Texas 130 toll road's 85 mph speed limit will be highest in country

The Texas Transportation Commission has approved the 85 mph speed limit for the 41-mile-long toll road near the increasingly crowded Interstate 35 corridor between Austin and San Antonio.

[Austinite101]

Don't know if I want to go 85. My death is ensured at those speeds. I'll stay on 35 for now...

[lonestar2007]

Cool. I heard something about this on the news this evening.

I don't see why there would be more accidents. Accidents are more prone to happen because of varying speeds of the flow of traffic. People paying a toll so they can go the greater speed aren't going to get on there and dilly dally along.

[TX75007]

Yawn.

Most people do 80-85 on PGBT today anyway. Its posted at 70.

And on I-20 most people do 90. I don't think I drove slower than 80 mph when I drove to the East Coast or the West Coast this year, either.

[bluescreen73]

Can you say gimmick designed to lure people into overpaying for the privilege of driving 85mph? Just another way for the state to fleece you without having to use the word "tax" to describe it.

[Metro Matt]

Originally Posted by Austinite101

Don't know if I want to go 85. My death is ensured at those speeds. I'll stay on 35 for now...

From the looks of it there isn't much to run into besides open cow pastures. Unless you hit a cow going 85 you should survive.

[Metro Matt]

Originally Posted by lonestar2007

Cool. I heard something about this on the news this evening.

I don't see why there would be more accidents. Accidents are more prone to happen because of varying speeds of the flow of traffic. People paying a toll so they can go the greater speed aren't going to get on there and dilly dally along.

This

I've used the Indian Nation Turnpike going from Tyler to Tulsa, Oklahoma & it cuts travel time down significantly.

[Austinite101]

Originally Posted by Metro Matt

From the looks of it there isn't much to run into besides open cow pastures. Unless you hit a cow going 85 you should survive.

I'm thinking about rolling over. If for any reason, anything happens on the road, whether it was some one else or me, and I have an accident/collision, I'm going to be pretty messed up. Or more than likely, I will die. Metal is strong, but at these speeds, it will move like liquid.

[TXRyan23]

The only thing that sucks about an 85mph speed limit is the people that will STILL get on the highway and do 55.

If the speed limit is 85mph, they should atleast set a minnimum of 70 or 75 to get on the highway, and they should enforce it.