Speed Limit Cut to 60 mph
On Northbound Route 13
Springfield-to-Bolivar
MoDOT, District 8, Springfield --
The speed limit will be reduced to 60 mph along a 14-mile long
section of northbound Route 13 between Springfield and Bolivar
starting Monday, Jan. 31, the Missouri Department of Transportation
said.
The lower speed limit in northern
Greene and southern Polk counties is scheduled to go into effect
by mid-morning Monday -- unless bad weather causes delays in changing
signs.
The current maximum speed limit is
65 mph.
MoDOT District Engineer Dale Ricks
said the speed limit reduction is another in a series of steps
aimed at improving safety along northbound Route 13. The goal
is to reduce accidents, he said.
"The problem here is people
are overdriving the roadway," Ricks said. "People need
to slow down on this section of roadway."
MoDOT has added to the number of
signs that alert drivers of upcoming curves and made other safety
improvements. MoDOT also supported police agencies in a speed
enforcement program to try to slow traffic.
However, the accident rate along northbound Route 13 is greater
than the southbound side and is greater than the statewide rate
for similar roadways.
The northbound two-lane section is
the old highway built in the 1920s. The roadway, with no shoulders,
has many curves and hills and is intersected by numerous side
roads and driveways.
The new 60-mph section:
* Starts at about Pinewood Drive
north of Route WW -- a little north of the Ebenezer community
-- where the northbound and southbound lanes separate.
* Ends just north of the Slagle community
where the northbound and southbound lanes return to side-by-side
alignment.
The southbound section also has many
intersections, but the roadway is built according to more modern
standards. The southbound lanes, built in the mid-1970s, are straighter
than the northbound lanes, have more gradual slopes and have shoulders.
The southbound speed limit will remain 65 mph.
Route 13 between Springfield and
Bolivar is scheduled for pavement improvements in 2005 under MoDOT's
new Smooth Roads Initiative using Amendment 3 funds. The southbound
lanes will receive a smoothing treatment in a diamond-grinding
operation. The northbound lanes will be resurfaced. Both sides
of the highway will get striping and sign improvements.
(For more information,
call MoDOT in Springfield at 417-895-7600 or toll-free at 1-888-ASK-MoDOT.)
