Driving to Grandmother’s house and frustrated by Iowa’slower-than-most-of-its-neighborhors Interstate speed limit? There’s a slim chance the posted limits will be higher next Christmas. The prospect of having the 2003 Iowa Legislature change the posted limits on Iowa’s Interstates is uncertain, according to Senate Republican Leader Stewart Iverson of Dows. Iverson doesn’t know if there are enough votes to pass the highest speed limit, especially with so many new legislators who’ve never voted on the issue. There are 17 new Senators and 41 new Representatives, and their opinions will tip the balance. But Iverson isn’t putting the issue on the front burner. Iverson says if someone wants to bring the issue up, so be it, but he’s not making it a priority action item. House Speaker-elect Christopher Rants of Sioux City has long favored a higher speed limit, but he’s not committing to putting the pedal to the metal. Rants says he gets more mail about the speed limit than he does on any other issue. Rants says folks are passionate about the issue, and he’s been called names by those who oppose the higher speed. The speed limit in Missouri and Minnesota is 70 miles per hour on the Interstates, and Nebraska’s Interstate speed limit is 75.
