Date:
Monday, December 12, 2005
Contact:
Chad Hancock, Traffic Operations Engineer, 360-905-2240
Jilayne Jordan, Public Information Officer, 360-905-2078
The Washington State Department of Transportation's (WSDOT) Southwest Region Office received approval from its Olympia headquarters office on Dec. 8 to temporarily reduce the speed limit on a section of Interstate 5 in Lewis County from 70 mph to 60 mph.
WSDOT will install the new signs during the day on Dec. 14 and 15. The northbound signs will be installed first, followed by southbound. In addition to the white speed limit signs, new yellow "Speed zone ahead" signs also will be posted ahead of the speed zone area to help alert motorists to the change. Motorists should note that the new speed limit will be officially in effect and enforceable at the same time the signs are installed.
The new 60 mph speed limit will be in both directions of I-5 between Exit 72 (Rush Road) in Napavine and just north of Exit 83 (Harrison Avenue) in Centralia, and will apply to both passenger vehicles and large commercial trucks.
The new speed limit is considered temporary because WSDOT may change it back to 70 mph after construction of two major I-5 widening projects in Lewis County is complete. In addition to widening the interstate between Rush Road and 13th Street and between Mellen Street and Grand Mound, both projects will make important safety improvements that could allow the speed limit to be raised again. Construction of the Rush Road to 13th Street project is being paid for by the 2003 nickel gas tax increase, and is scheduled to begin in 2007. Construction of the Mellen Street to Grand Mound project is being paid for by the new 9.5-cent gas tax, and is scheduled to begin in 2009.
“The exact date of the speed limit change won’t be known until the new signs are received and the sign replacement work is scheduled,” said WSDOT Traffic Operations Engineer Chad Hancock. “However, we are confident that it will occur before Christmas.”
During the three-year period between 2002 and 2004, there were a total of 572 collisions on this segment of I-5 resulting in 315 injuries and 7 fatalities. In 234 of these collisions, “Exceeding Reasonable Safe Speed” or “Exceeding Stated Speed Limit” was listed as a contributing circumstance. Only 78 of the collisions involved large commercial trucks.
“We are pleased that the Washington State Department of Transportation is moving forward with this temporary speed limit reduction,” said Lieutenant Ron Rupke of the Washington State Patrol. “We are hopeful that this action will help reduce the number of serious collisions that regularly occur on this section of the interstate. Of course, this effort will only succeed if motorists actually obey the new speed limit, and avoid aggressive or reckless driving - which is also a major contributing factor in many of the collisions. The Washington State Patrol is committed to aggressively enforcing this new speed limit in order to impact driver behavior, which in turn will increase the safety of our interstate.”
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