70 MPH Speed Limits in Virginia

[Bluerauder]

Effective TODAY 1 July 2010 on some stretches of highway .....



"Speed Limits
70 MPH Speed Limit
Enabling Legislation

The General Assembly passed House Bill 856 and Senate Bill 537 — both signed by Gov. Bob McDonnell — increasing the maximum allowable highway speed limit to 70 mph on certain highways after a traffic engineering study. These bills revised Code of Virginia § 46.2-870.

The transportation commissioner and his designees have the authority to approve or deny the speed limit recommendations in the traffic engineering study.

The law goes into effect July 1, 2010, and the first sign changes will take place around that time.

The dates by which speed limit signs will be posted on sections eligible for the 70 mph increase will depend upon the available funding and time to complete any recommended roadway safety improvements identified in the study.

Traffic Engineering Study

Fieldwork for the traffic engineering study began April 12, 2010, with the first sections scheduled to be reviewed by early June. However, not all sections can be studied by July 1.

Per the Code of Virginia, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) solicited law enforcement data from the Virginia State Police through a meeting with their headquarters staff prior to beginning the engineering study, VDOT will utilize that information in developing recommendations.

Highways eligible for maximum allowable speed limit of 70 mph under the revised code section:

•Interstates (1,119 miles)
•Separated reversible HOV lanes (35 miles)
•Other limited access roadways (150 miles)

Initial study candidates were identified as 741 miles of interstate sections currently posted at 65 mph. Interstates with posted speed limits lower than 65 mph were not candidates for study.

Identified interstate sections were prioritized for study in three phases, based on traffic volume, level of congestion and crash density:

•Phase I (323 miles) is currently under way and studying interstate segments having no significant levels of crashes and congestion


•Phase II (327 miles) is also in progress and studying interstate segments with moderate crash levels and congestion


•Phase III (91 miles) will study interstate segments that have significant incidences of crashes and congestion."

[PonyUP]

Effective TODAY 1 July 2010 on some stretches of highway .....

Be careful of it the first few months, if it's anything like other areas that go to 70, they will strictly enforce it until it becomes old habit, then you can push 75 or towards 80 with no problem

(Of course there are enough times the speed limit is ignored it doesn't really matter I guess :beer:)

[CBT]

70, cool! Then my tickets will only be for 25-30 over!

[merc]

Sorry for redirecting your thread, but the real news in Virginia is this. A five mile bump in the speed limit doesn't move me much.


Va. gun rights group cheers high court ruling
A Virginia gun rights group cheered Monday's Supreme Court decision that the Constitution guarantees all Americans the right to own firearms, potentially opening the door to legal challenges of some state and local laws and regulations.

But at least one gun control proponent also hailed the court's decision for making it clear for a second time in a landmark ruling that reasonable regulations and laws restricting guns do not conflict with the Second Amendment.

"I think the most interesting part of the Supreme Court decision is that it rejected an absolutist view of the Second Amendment for the second time," said Abigail Spangler, founder of Protest Easy Guns. She was referring to the 2008 Heller ruling that also recognized a Second Amendment right to firearms ownership and struck down the District of Columbia's handgun ban. Monday's decision, in McDonald v. Chicago, basically held that the Heller ruling, involving regulations in a federal enclave, also applies to state and local governments.
"It was sort of what I was expecting, quite frankly," Virginia Citizens Defense League President Philip Van Cleave said in a telephone interview Monday.

Van Cleave said that after the Heller case recognized a Second Amendment right to own and keep firearms in the home for self-defense, it seemed likely that the court would build on previous cases holding that protections in the Bill of Rights apply to state and local governments also, and would strike down Chicago's law.

But Van Cleave also doubted that it would have any immediate impact on Virginia's firearms laws, including the state's gun-a-month law. That measure, enacted by former governor Douglas Wilder, prohibits Virginians from buying more than one handgun every 30 days. Del. L. Scott Lingamfelter (R-Prince William) led a high-profile but ultimately unsuccessful effort during this year's annual legislative session to overturn the law.

The Supreme Court decision comes as Van Cleave's group is planning a statewide celebration of another gun rights victory. On July 1, new laws become effective, including a measure signed by Gov. Robert F. McDonnell that allows people to carry concealed weapons into restaurants that sell alcohol, a measure dubbed by opponents as the guns-in-bars bill.

Van Cleave said the passage of the law in Virginia, a host of similar gun-rights measures across the country and two major gun rights decisions by the Supreme Court have given gun owners momentum in the debate over guns.

"When was the last big victory gun controllers had?" Van Cleave said.

But Spangler said gun control groups will continue to push for reasonable restrictions on access to weapons for people who should not have them or carry them into certain venues. Her priority remains trying to close the so-called gun show loophole, including a bill now before Congress.
By Fredrick Kunkle | June 29, 2010; 9:07 AM ET

[Mercury93]

Welcome to the 70 mph club, Virginians! :beer:

[Da Dark Jedi]

Here in Illinois they are working on this law also. Problem will be, here people will do 40 MPH and stay in the left lane and will not go any faster than the person in the right lane.

[ImpalaSlayer]

Here in Illinois they are working on this law also. Problem will be, here people will do 40 MPH and stay in the left lane and will not go any faster than the person in the right lane.

i hate that crap man, GTFO!

[knine]

Effective Sep 1st in Illinois .............................. .........All traffic fines increase.

[Da Dark Jedi]

Effective Sep 1st in Illinois .............................. .........All traffic fines increase.


Thanks for the heads up. This State/Chicago even give parking tickets on Sunday while people are in church for not feeding the parking meter. Our parking lots along the Lakefront now has meters in them, no more free parking on the beaches.

[fastblackmerc]

So 70mph on I95.... maybe??

[Mike]

Here in Illinois they are working on this law also. Problem will be, here people will do 40 MPH and stay in the left lane and will not go any faster than the person in the right lane.

And that'll SUCK!!!! :mad2:

[Bluerauder]

So 70mph on I95.... maybe??

We can only hope. :rolleyes: I think that the upward adjustment will be focused on the areas that are now posted at 65 MPH just out of the built up areas.

Last night, I would have been satisfied breaking 10 MPH on I-95 South. Route 1 was stalled out completely. It took 1 hour and 20 minutes to come home from work (13 miles). What a pain. I think there were lots of folks getting an early start on the 4th of July long weekend headed to the beaches.

[SID210SA]

70??? Been there and done that.....Our state wanted to "Keep Texas Moving" so on stretches of I-10 in West Texas the speed limit was bumped from 70 to 80 MPH and in other areas from 65 to 80 MPH....but thats old news...it happend a couple of years ago...

[Ms. Denmark]

70??? Been there and done that.....Our state wanted to "Keep Texas Moving" so on stretches of I-10 in West Texas the speed limit was bumped from 70 to 80 MPH and in other areas from 65 to 80 MPH....but that's old news...it happened a couple of years ago...
There are stretches of W.Texas interstate so boring WOT isn't enough.;)

[scruff]

you guys down south rock i wish our polititans would get there heads out of there ass and do the same here

[LSp8]

I remember when I was stationed in Sierra Vista, AZ and San Antonio the speed limit was 80mph and i still hit the brakes when I saw State Boyz before I realized I was doing nothing wrong. It was weird trying to adapt when the speed limit in my home state of Maryland is ONLY a pathetic 55 mph on I-495, 95 and 270 (as if any of us follow that s_**)