Those of you who drive U.S. 167 in Rapides Parish can now legally drive a little faster. That’s because DOTD has raised the speed limit along that stretch of roadway between I-49 and just north of the State Highway 28 East interchange from 50 to 60 mph. Erin Buchanan with DOTD says the change is a result of a routine review.
“Our traffic engineer and his staff in the district took a look at several different routes in the district to determine if the posted speed limit was still appropriate, and we made some adjustments,” Buchanan explained.
Buchanan says the result of that review found that most drivers were comfortable driving 60 miles an hour along that stretch of the Pineville Expressway.
“We determined that the 85th percentile of drivers were already comfortable driving 60 mph, and so we want to bring uniformity in by raising that speed limit to match the behavior that’s occurring already,” Buchanan noted.
Buchanan says not only will raising the speed limit along that stretch of 167 not result in more crashes; but if anything, it should result in fewer crashes.
“You don’t have a large difference in speed by what the 85th percentile is driving, and then others who are trying to match what was the posted speed limit. That’s when you actually see an increased risk for crashes,” Buchanan said.
The new speed limit is in effect right now.