The speed limit on most of Iowa’s interstate highways will rise five miles-an-hour this week, but it’ll be a slow-going process. D-O-T spokeswoman Dena Gray-Fisher says state crews will start at 9 A.M. Friday by putting up new black-and-white signs or by just covering the 65s with 70s. There are about 450 signs that’ll have to be put up, which includes the “overlays,” new signs where old ones were damaged, and new transition signs where you’ll have to increase or reduce speed as you approach a new speed zone. Gray-Fisher says drivers will -not- be able to go 70 on interstates Iowa-wide. There are 782 miles of interstate in Iowa but only the rural sections will rise to 70. The cost of the sign change-over is expected to be 90-thousand dollars. Gray-Fisher says motorists who assume the speed limit is 70 everywhere on Friday may end up with a costly ticket. She says to always drive at the posted speed limit and motorists need to be aware that some areas will remain 65, 60 or 55 miles an hour. Gray-Fisher couldn’t say how many people it would take to post all of the 70 mile-an-hour signs on Friday, but she guesses it’ll take most of the day. D-O-T crews across the state will be involved in the one-day project to put up the hundreds of speed limit signs. Those thick metal signs may not look so big as you’re buzzing past them, but they measure five-feet in height by three-feet in width.
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