“New Bill May Raise Speed Limit On 4-Lanes,” by Randy Dockendorf, Yankton Press & Dakotan, http://www.yankton.net/stories/021805/community_20050218025.shtml, 18 February 2005 (from Clean Cut Kid).

Great news. And for once I agree with CCK.

Highway 50 motorists will be able to kick up their legal speed to 70 miles per hour between Yankton and Vermillion under a legislative bill headed to Gov. Mike Rounds’ desk.

Senate Bill 208, which passed the Senate 29-3, received House approval Wednesday by a 66-2 vote. The bill raises the current 65 mph speed limit to 70 miles an hour where posted for divided four-lane rural highways on the state trunk system.

The governor’s office has not received the bill and does not comment on legislation before receiving and acting upon it, said Rounds spokesman Mark Johnston. The bill, if passed, takes effect July 1.

“Usually, it takes two days for it to come down to the governor’s desk. He will consider it next week sometime,” Johnston said. “He has five (working) days once it is delivered to sign the bill or return it for further action.”

Five stretches which meet the bill’s criteria include:

* Highway 50 between Yankton and Vermillion
* Highway 12 from Aberdeen to I-29
* Highway 37 from Huron to Mitchell
* Highway 79 from Rapid City to the Nebraska border
* Highway 83 from Pierre to Vivian (I-90)

The article continues on with talk of the (non) issue of safety. These rural four lanes are basically abandoned. South Dakota’s highway construction bills are 80% picked up by the federal government, so we’ve had a lot of overbuilding. Some of this is crooken politics (Aberdeen is Daschle’s hometown), part is vote buying (the Rapid City road is technically the “NAFTA Highway”), part are just roads that seemed like a good idea.

On most South Dakota highways the speed limit is a joke, and it is good the laws are being liberalized once again.