A bill that would raise the speed limit to 75 miles an hour on many miles of interstate highways in Iowa has cleared its first hurdle in the state senate. Senator Randy Feenstra, a Republican from Hull, says 75 is the posted speed limit in neighboring South Dakota and the data he’s seen doesn’t indicate “an uptick” in traffic accidents and fatalities there.
Senator Chris Brase (like the word “brace”), a Democrat from Muscatine was also on the subcommittee, but he opposes the higher speed limit.
According to Iowa D-O-T data, the average speed on Iowa interstates is about 72 miles an hour, just above the current speed limit of 70.
Seventy-five is the posted interstate speed limit in states to Iowa’s west like South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas. The speed limit is 70 in Minnesota, Missouri, and Illinois. Wisconsin is the only neighboring state to have a lower speed limit. Sixty-five is the upper limit on all rural and urban interstates in Wisconsin.
