The in basket: It wasn’t more than a couple of months ago I was driving on Highway 16 in Tacoma approaching Nalley Valley when my companion commented on the 40 mile per hour speed limit that had been in place for years while major construction was done just ahead.
No one ever slows to anywhere near that speed, she noted, which certainly has been true when traffic was flowing freely.
The speed limit was raised to 60 mph in the other direction a year or so ago when all the westbound work was completed.
The other day I was back in the same spot and saw that the speed limit heading into the valley had been raised to 50 mph.
I asked if that denotes recognition of the folly of the 40 zone, completion of a milestone in the construction, or if 50 is to be the permanent speed limit there.
The out basket: Doug Adamson of the Olympic Region of state highways, replied, “The speed limits in the area were permanently adjusted following completion of the westbound and eastbound Nalley Valley construction projects. There are no plans at this time to make any additional changes to the speed limits for this section of SR 16.”
Apparently the lower eastbound speed limit recognizes that more complex driver decisions lie ahead than for those going the other way.
That project has been going on for decades, and it still hasn’t improved traffic from Highways 16 into I-5. I’ll bet people have hired on, were assigned to that mess, and retired. It’s spanning generations. I’ll also wager the top brass get bonuses every year.
The speed limit has been changed for awhile now. It was even posted on some of the online news agencies websites. Too bad most of the drivers out there didnt either read the papers online or can even see the new posted speed limit signs out there. Because there are still alot of drivers out there who will still drop down to 40mph. And in some cases thoses drivers out there who always drive 5mph under the speed and still think it is 40mph. So they are doing 35mph in a 50mph zone. Causes major backups at times. Because someone who is doing the posted speed comes up behind someone driving under and that driver thinks they are being tailgated on purpose and so the slow down even more. And then you have alot of road rage now. But it is not only in this spot that this happens. It actually happens all over. Drive Safe People