Commuters traveling along certain stretches of Northwest Florida’s highways may be in for a surprise this year. Florida Department of Transportation officials are adjusting some speed limits in Wakulla and Leon County.
While state lawmakers debate the safety of raising interstate speed limits, transportation officials in Northwest Florida are raising some while lowering others. Highway 319 between Taft Drive and Council Moore Road in Wakulla County is being raised from 35 to 45 miles per hour, while a stretch of Apalachee Parkway just east of the Florida Capitol in Tallahassee is being lowered to 35 from 45. Florida Department of Transportation Spokesman Ian Satter said the changes resulted from routine traffic studies and aren't necessarily meant to address specific safety concerns.
“If we can do a traffic study and we can find out that the traffic in that area can accommodate that speed and make sure that we can make sure traffic is flowing in a safe and efficient manner – those are all the reasons why we do traffic studies. We conduct them all the time just to ensure that the corridors in the area are meeting safety standards,” Satter explained in a phone interview Monday.
Satter says new speed limit signs should be up on both roads by Tuesday.