People who are tired of cruising along I-285 at 55 mph might get a little more leeway with the gas pedal if the Georgia Department of Transportation increases the speed limit to 65 mph.
GDOT spokesman Mark McKinnon told Reporter Newspapers today, April 6, that transportation planners are considering raising the speed limit by 10 mph. He said GDOT’s planners are in the fact-gathering phase and said there is no date certain on when the increase would take effect. He said if the change happens, there might be parts of the road with a lower speed limit if there is a traffic accident or other factors that make the higher speed limit unsafe.
McKinnon said GDOT’s goal is to allow people to drive around town as quickly and as safely as it can.
“We’re constantly looking at speed limits, especially ones that we’re doing construction on,” McKinnon said. “(If we) widen a roadway, suddenly that road may be safer for a faster speed.”
According to the Atlanta-based nonprofit group PEDS, which advocates for pedestrians, and the National Motorists Association, which advocates for drivers, Georgia police officers using a radar detection device can not issue speeding tickets to drivers traveling less than 10 mph over the speed limit.
