A new law allowing the increase of the speed limit on portions of the Oklahoma Turnpike will go into effect on Friday, but it could be months before higher speed limits are actually implented.
Starting November 1, a law will go into effect to allow the speed limit on the Oklahoma Turnpike outside of city limits to increase from 75 m.p.h. to 80 m.p.h. The law also increases the speed limit from 70 m.p.h. to 75 m.p.h. on some highways.
However, the Oklahoma Turnpike Commission says that they have no plan to raise the speed limit on Friday. Instead, turnpike authorities say that they’ll work with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation to conduct a speed study to determine whether it is possible to safely increase the speed limit.
The speed study is expected to conclude in early 2020. Actual increases to the Oklahoma Turnpike speed limit could come after the study.
“While we wanted to increase the speed limit on our turnpikes and state highways, we also worked to ensure the safety of Oklahoma drivers,” bill author Rep. Daniel Pae said. “We will use traffic and engineering studies that take into consideration things such as traffic density and infrastructure quality to determine where we could safely increase these speed limits.”