WASHINGTON – Get ready to go a little faster on Maryland’s Intercounty Connector .
On Monday, the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) announced it will raise the speed limit on the ICC from 55 to 60 mph.
“When the highway opened, we said we said we wanted to be a little bit conservative. We wanted to have one year of actual operating experience before we looked at speed limits at all,” says MDTA Executive Secretary Harold Bartlett.
The one year mark of the highway that links Montgomery and Prince George’s counties was in November 2012.
The decision to raise the speed limit comes after the completion of an extensive engineering and crash analysis study, which found that increasing the speed limit does not directly lead to more accidents.
“We are confident that a 60 mph speed limit is safe and justifiable based on the design speed and geometry of the roadway, as well as on the speed most motorists are comfortable traveling the ICC,” says Bartlett in a press release.
In the engineering and crash analysis, 30 crashes were examined and their probable causes were identified. According to the study, the top two probable causes of crashes on the ICC in its first year were due to failure to drive in a single lane and crashes involving an animal.
The MDTA plans to implement the new speed limit by March 31.
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