A new law takes effect on August 28 that will raise speed limits on some rural Missouri interstates to 75 miles per hour.
Missouri’s current speed limit is 70. State Rep. David Tyson Smith (D-Columbia) tells “Wake Up Missouri” that he has issues with the timing of this change:
“There’s 1,000 separate construction zones in Missouri. And so it’s already, you know, a nailbiter when you’re driving through these really difficult construction areas,” Rep. Tyson Smith says.
He cites the massive I-70 construction and highway construction across the state.
Senate Bill 1408, a six-page bill from State Sen. Jamie Burger (R-Benton), makes the speed limit change. Representative Tyson Smith tells “Wake Up Missouri” that the General Assembly should have waited on this, noting there are about 1,000 construction zones in Missouri, many across I-70:
“We don’t want to be at a standstill with someone going faster now behind us. I think we should wait about two years until some of this construction settles down before we do this,” he says.
You can listen to the entire “Wake Up” interview with Representative David Tyson Smith (D-Columbia) here.