You can go faster now on I-95

There’s a new speed limit on I-95 in Miami-Dade County.

Between State Road 112 and Northwest 151st Street the speed limit went up from 55 mph to 60, according to the Florida Department of Transportation.

The change applies to both northbound and southbound lanes along that stretch of I-95 in the county.

An FDOT statement said the change arose from an engineering study that determined that the higher speed was adequate for the segment.

“The Florida Department of Transportation uses the ‘85th percentile’ method of determining appropriate and safe posted speed limits in conjunction with the maximum statute based speeds,” the FDOT statement said.

“This method is based on extensive nationally accepted studies and observations. By measuring the speed of hundreds of vehicles at various points along the roadway, traffic engineers are able to use data to determine a reasonable and safe maximum speed to post for all vehicles to travel.”

Though the FDOT statement did not mention a link between the speed increase and Express Lanes on I-95, the stretch where the change took place coincides with the location of toll lanes on the expressway in Miami-Dade County.

Recent FDOT reports indicate that as a result of express lanes speeds on all lanes of I-95 in the stretch have increased.

“Customers, including transit riders, choosing to use the express lanes have significantly increased their travel speed during the AM peak (6 a.m.-9 a.m. southbound) and PM peak (4 p.m.- 7 p.m. northbound) periods —from an average speed…of approximately 20 mph (prior to program implementation) to a monthly average of 63 mph and 56 mph in the southbound and northbound directions, respectively.

“Drivers travelling via the general purpose lanes have also experienced a significant peak period increase in average travel speed since implementation of 95 Express — from an average of approximately 15 mph (southbound) and 20 mph (northbound) to a monthly average of 50 mph and 42 mph, respectively.”

This story was originally published September 2, 2013 at 9:24 PM.