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Turnpike Commission Votes To Raise Speed Limit To 70 MPH

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – The speed limit on the Pennsylvania Turnpike will be increasing.

It was mid-summer of 2014 when, eight months after the legislature approved it, the first 70 mile per hour signs went up on a small portion of the Turnpike as a test.

Expansion to the rest of the Turnpike was expected later.

But that never happened. Now, almost a full year beyond that expectation, the Turnpike Commission has completed its study, and on Tuesday night gave the go ahead.

So, the 65 miles per hour signs will soon be replaced by 70 miles per hour signs. But the 55 mile per hour signs will remain in place.

Simultaneously, in 2014, PennDOT launched a similar study for parts of I-80 and I-380 in eastern Pennsylvania with plans to expand 70 miles per hour statewide the next spring or summer season.

That would have been a year ago, which is when then-PennDOT secretary Leslie Richards told KDKA to look for the signs by late summer.

But now, nine months after that conversation, current PennDOT Press Secretary Erin Waters-Trasatt said: "We're still analyzing all the data and making our decisions. We expect to be able to announce our decisions this spring."

When it comes, don't expect 70 miles per hour on the Parkways - north east or west. They'll remain 55.

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