Keeping Up on the Highway

According to a Yahoo! news report, a stretch of highway between Austin and San Antonio may soon have an 85 mile-per-hour speed limit.  (See the article at http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/texas-highway-first-allow-85-mph-speed-limit-154924311.html.)  When I first saw the headline, I was expecting it to be reporting on an area out in west Texas, along I-10 or I-20.  For this to be implemented in the Austin/San Antonio corridor is surprising.

The reported reason for the experiment has to do with helping to clear congestion on one of the busiest interstate highways in the nation.  These speed limits will be tested, apparently, on a toll road -- not on the interstate itself -- hoping that the ability to travel faster (saving time -- and getting some high speed thrills along the way, perhaps?) will lead more people to use the tollway.

Will that congestion be eased if lanes are repeatedly closed to clean up after accidents?  Or will there be congestion on two roadways at that point?  That is what everyone will be waiting to find out.  It seems to me that there is a fine line somewhere ... a speed which keeps traffic flowing, but not so fast that more accidents occur.

It seems like a risky experiment to me.  I generally drive within the speed limit, so I don't have a lot of experience with high-speed maneuvers.  It seems to me, though, that something that causes a driver to weave -- someone pulling into your lane suddenly -- and which can be handled fairly easily at speeds which are more tame could easily lead to problems at higher speeds.  People aren't used to controlling vehicles at that speeds if something goes amiss.  And if someone blows out a front tire?  I wonder whether odds-makers in Vegas are taking bets on how long it will take before the first big pile-up occurs.

I don't live in that area, so I'm not sure whether I'll find myself on that road during the experimental period.  My greatest fear would be that my little 4-cylinder would never get up to speed.  I honestly don't know whether I've ever driven it that fast ... even when accelerating to get around a slower-moving vehicle, going downhill with a tailwind.  If I do happen to be in the area, I think I'll risk the congestion on the interstate.