Speed limit increase zooms through Senate Transportation Committee

The Senate Transportation Committee has advanced legislation that could speed up traffic on Florida’s highways.

A transportation package carried by Sen. Nick DiCeglie touches on numerous road planning issues. An amendment approved at the committee Wednesday morning would increase the speed limit on major roads by 5 miles per hour.

The change to the bill “authorizes FDOT to set the maximum allowable highway speed limits and increases speed limits on certain highways,” DiCeglie said at the committee.

The legislation (SB 462) now calls for the maximum speed on limited access highways to jump from 70 mph to 75 mph. For other rural highways outside urban areas, meaning those with populations of 5,000 or more, the speed limit would ramp up from 65 mph to 70 mph, so long as there is a median strip dividing the lanes of traffic.

The language filed by DiCeglie would also allow the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to set maximum speeds for other roads deemed as safe and advisable as high as 65 mph. The agency right now only has discretion to boost the maximum speed on such roads to 60 mph.

Notably, the Legislature in 2014 passed legislation that would have similarly increased speed limits. But then-Gov. Rick Scott vetoed that bill (SB 392).

But the roads, even if the legislation passed, would not be the nation’s fastest highways. Texas allows speed limits as high as 85 mph on some specified highways, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Montana, Nevada and South Dakota have speed limits of 80 mph on rural highways

The bill also covers a range of other matters involving Florida roads, and Senators at the committee discussed how the state will distribute almost $4.2 million each month from the state transportation trust funds to offset the impact of electric vehicles.

Senators spent more time discussing negotiations between road contractors and service providers surrounding the relocation of utilities due to road work. The legislation as written now would increase contractor claim limits from $1 million to $2 million, generating frustration from utility companies.

Sen. Tracie Davis, a Jacksonville Democrat, questioned how much influence road contractors had on the legislation.

“In conversation with some folks, we’re trying to figure out where this bill is actually coming from?” she said. “Is this the Department of Transportation bill? Is this the road business bill? Whose bill are you presenting?”

DiCeglie said he’s talking with all parties. “I’m working with the road builders, working with utilities and telecoms,” he said. “There’s a lot of folks that are interested in this piece of legislation.”