Speed Limit Changes In Iowa This Week: 55 to 60 MPH

Starting Wednesday, July 1, Iowa is officially increasing the speed limit from 55 mph to 60 mph on many two-lane paved highways across the state. Before you put the pedal down, though, there's one important catch.

Not Every Road is Changing.

According to reporting from KWQC, the new law takes effect Wednesday, but drivers should wait until they actually see a 60 mph speed limit sign before assuming the limit has changed.

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"Please don't assume that a roadway is going to go from 55 to 60 until the signs are up," Daniel Yeh, Director of Government & Community Relations for the Iowa DOT, told KWQC. "There's some roadways that we won't be moving, just due to safety considerations. But a lot of them we will."

The Iowa DOT says it will take about one to two weeks to replace roughly 1,800 speed limit signs across the state, starting with the busiest U.S. and Iowa highways before moving to less-traveled roads. The project will cost around $270,000, and counties and cities will also be updating signs on roads they maintain.

Why The Change After All These Years?

State lawmakers say the original 55 mph limit dates back to 1973 during the oil embargo, and today's vehicles are much safer than the station wagons and Ford Pintos people were driving back then.

As Iowa Senator Kerry Gruenhagen told KWQC, "Today we have seatbelts and hands-free laws. Our vehicles have not only airbags, but crash avoidance systems."

Five miles per hour isn't exactly NASCAR, but hey, we'll take what we can get.