Assembly Transportation Committee approves new speed limit

The Wisconsin Assembly Committee on Transportation voted on March 3 in favor of increasing the maximum speed limit to 70 miles per hour.

“I am very pleased,” said Rep. Paul Tittl, author of the bill. "This is a commonsense bill that Democrats and Republicans support.”

The committee rejected an amendment that would have allowed the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to establish a 65 mph limit for commercial vehicles.

“Highways are safer when traffic is flowing at the same speed,” Rep. Tittl said. “Split speeds for commercial vehicles disrupt that flow.”

Traffic safety engineers say the safest place to set the speed limit is the point at which 85 percent of the people are driving at or below. The current 85 percentile speed hour on numerous highway segments throughout the state is over 70 miles per.

“Increasing the speed limit is primarily about safety and bringing traffic closer to that 85th percentile,” Rep. Tittl said. "That change should help to make our interstates and freeways safer.”

The committee votes was 14-1 in favor of the 70 miles per hour limit. The bill will head to the Wisconsin Assembly floor later this month.