55 TO REMAIN ALIVE IN STATE HIGHWAYS

When it comes to speed limits, 55 is still alive in Missouri and likely to remain so on most two-lane state highways.

Gov. Mel Carnahan is expected to sign a bill early next week that would raise the speed limit to 70 mph on rural interstates and allow for speeds of 65 mph on rural, four-lane divided highways and 60 mph on two-lane numbered highways.

But area motorists can expect little immediate change, except when traveling on interstates. That's because the Missouri Highways and Transportation Department wouldn't raise the speed limits on any of the state routes until each has been studied.

Officials advise motorists to obey posted speed limits rather than try to predict changes in the limits.

"We are going to have many varying speed limits within the state of Missouri, so the safest thing is to obey the posted speed limit," said Capt. Clarence Greeno of the Missouri Highway Patrol headquarters in Jefferson City.

Each of the 10 highway district offices in the state will review the state highways in their region. Everything from the condition of the highways to traffic congestion, and safety issues such as whether the road is winding, will be considered in deciding whether to raise the speed limits, state highway officials said Friday.

About 90 percent of the state's two-lane highways will keep their 55 mph speed limit, said Jeff Briggs, a highways department spokesman in Jefferson City.

Missouri has over 32,000 miles of state highways and interstates. Included are 24,000 miles of two-lane lettered highways, whose maximum speed limits will remain at 55 mph.

Most of the lettered highways are old farm-to-market roads that are often steep and winding, officials said.

The state has 5,700 miles of two-lane numbered highways. While the bill would allow the speed limit to be increased from 55 to 60 mph on such highways, it doesn't require it.

The bill also allows the highways department to lower speed limits, Briggs said. He said speed limits could vary on different stretches of the same highway.

The legislation doesn't change speed limits on state highways within city limits; those limits are set by cities upon the recommendations of the highways department.

Briggs said highways department engineers hope to review all of the major state roads and post any new speed limits within a month. But it could be the end of the year before any decisions are made on changing the speed limits on some of the less-traveled highways, Briggs said.

The 70 mph speed limits on interstates should be posted within a day after the governor signs the bill into law.

Highways department crews will place decals over the current speed limit signs along the interstates. "We have done that in the past when we have had speed limit changes," said Jim Murray, the department's District 10 engineer in Sikeston.

District engineers then plan to review the speed limits on a stretch of Highway 60 near Sikeston and Highway 67 from the St. Francois-Jefferson counties line south to Fredericktown. Both sections are four-lane, divided highways where speed limits may be increased.