ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Maine Department of Transportation plans to lower the speed limit on Interstate 295 from Falmouth to Topsham from 70 mph to 65 mph, starting March 27. Traffic engineers and lawmakers were looking at any correlation between the number of crashes on the interstate and the speed limit.
FALMOUTH — The Maine Department of Transportation says it is lowering the speed limit on Interstate 295 from Falmouth to Topsham by 5 mph.
The new speed limit of 65 mph will go into effect March 27. The agency is attributing the need for a lower limit to an increase of crashes and traffic.
The MDOT said data show crashes increased by nearly 30 percent after the speed limit was increased from 65 mph to 70 mph in 2014. The agency said traffic volumes went up by a little more than 6 percent.
MDOT chief engineer Joyce Taylor said lowering the speed limit will allow drivers more reaction time.
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