Idaho lawmakers are going to proceed cautiously about raising speed limits on the roads, House Transportation Chairwoman JoAn Wood predicts.
The Rigby Republican said she doubts the Legislature will seek a wholesale change of the speed limits."We didn't have any plan to jump into that as a priority item in the Legislature," she said. "I think if we tried to change all the speed limits on the interstate and interconnectors, we are going to have some resistance from the safety commission and state police."
The Legislature approved capping the speed limit at 65 mph several years ago. But Congress has passed a measure repealing the maximum speed limits imposed on states.
Idaho State Police Capt. Mike Fosbury said he believes anything the federal government does to empower state government is proper.
But he added he thinks it is safer to keep the speed limits at 55 mph on Idaho's windy highways.
"If you're raising it on these secondary roads, I think you'll see our collisions going up pretty steeply," Fosbury said.
Wood said the transportation committees look at proposals from legislators and the public.
The recommendations will be presented to the state Transportation Board in December or January, he said.