A new highway that connects two of Texas' biggest cities could contain the fastest posted speed limit in the United States.
State officials are studying a proposal that would allow a speed limit of 85 miles per hour on a stretch of State Highway 130, a north-south toll road that will run between San Antonio and Austin when it opens later this year.
Most of the road is expected to have an 80 mph standard.
Last year, the Texas Legislature passed a bill later signed by Gov. Rick Perry that allowed speeds of up to 85 mph on highways originally designed to accommodate such speeds.
State Highway 130 is a new toll road that runs parallel to a congestion-plagued stretch of Interstate 35 for 89 miles between the two cities.
Some officials worry that higher speeds will result in more fatal accidents, but Darren McDaniel, the management director of the Texas Department of Transportation, said that consistency will keep motorists safer while speaking at a road safety conference earlier this week.
"The more people we can get to travel a uniform speed, the safer are the conditions that will exist," he said.
The highest current speed limits found in the U.S. are 80 mph on several rural roads in Texas and Utah.
State officials are studying a proposal that would allow a speed limit of 85 miles per hour on a stretch of State Highway 130, a north-south toll road that will run between San Antonio and Austin when it opens later this year.
Most of the road is expected to have an 80 mph standard.
Last year, the Texas Legislature passed a bill later signed by Gov. Rick Perry that allowed speeds of up to 85 mph on highways originally designed to accommodate such speeds.
State Highway 130 is a new toll road that runs parallel to a congestion-plagued stretch of Interstate 35 for 89 miles between the two cities.
Some officials worry that higher speeds will result in more fatal accidents, but Darren McDaniel, the management director of the Texas Department of Transportation, said that consistency will keep motorists safer while speaking at a road safety conference earlier this week.
"The more people we can get to travel a uniform speed, the safer are the conditions that will exist," he said.
The highest current speed limits found in the U.S. are 80 mph on several rural roads in Texas and Utah.
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