MODOT lowers speed limit on stretch of I-70

Rolling down a particular stretch of 1-70 might take a little longer. MODOT said it’s dropping the speed limit … from 70 to 60. “I think that’s too slow — it’s a little too slow,” said Sarah Anselmi.

The speed limit will lower starting next Thursday from just east of the connector to east of Lake of the Woods/St. Charles bridge — both east- and westbound lanes will be affected.
MODOT officials tell us they made the decision after looking through crash data from the past five years.
“We have seen a couple fatalities here in the last couple years. So, we looked at it and decided now is a good time to change this segment,” said John Schaefer, senior traffic studies specialist for the Missouri Department of Transportation.

Highway Patrol crash statistics dating back to 2010 show speed as one of the leading causes of deadly crashes in Missouri. MODOT officials said slowing down traffic on this stretch of road where cars are exiting and entering the interstate could prevent some of those crashes.
“When you have that mix of different speeds you’re going to have people coming up approaching some people too fast and then switching lanes. So, the idea is to keep everybody moving at the same speed, so you don’t have a lot of the lane changes, which is where your crashes tend to happen,” said Schaefer.

Some interstate drivers aren’t convinced 60 miles an hour is the answer. “70 is fine as far as the speed limit goes. The problem is when people actually go above the speed limit,” said Paul Trevino. MODOT officials said there will be message boards on the interstate to inform and remind drivers of the change.