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HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation today announced additional stretches of the interstate network that will be posted with 70 mph speed limits.

Starting tomorrow, 396 additional miles of the Turnpike and 400 additional miles of certain PennDOT highways will be converted to 70 mph.

Combined with the 201 combined miles of Turnpike and PennDOT roadways already at 70 mph since July 2014, motorists will see the higher speed limit on 997 miles of roadway in the Commonwealth.

“Before moving ahead, we looked very closely at a number of factors, such as speed and traffic data and the physical characteristics of the highways, in deciding where 70 mph limits could be safely permitted,” said PennDOT secretary Leslie S. Richards.

Tomorrow morning, PennDOT and Turnpike crews will start installing new 70 mph signs, posts and foundations at some locations and replacing 65 mph signs with 70 mph signs at other locations. They also will be installing curve warning signs where warranted and new speed reduction warning signs in advance of areas where the limit drops from 70 mph to 55 mph.

PennDOT roadways that are being posted with the new limit over the next few days (including current pilot areas) are:

• I-79 from I-90 in Erie County south to a point just north of the PA 228 interchange in Butler County (97 miles)

• I-79 from I-70 in Washington County south to the West Virginia border (33 miles)

• I-80 from the Ohio State border east to a point near mile marker 190 in Clinton County (190 miles)

• I-80 from a point near mile marker 195 in Union County to a point near mile marker 247 in Columbia County (52 miles)

• Route 15 from the interchange with PA 14 in Lycoming County north to the New York State border (49 miles)

• I-99 from Exit No. 68 in Centre County south to a point near mile marker 34 in Blair County (34 miles)

• I-99 from Exit No. 28 in Blair County south to mile marker 0 (PA Turnpike) in Bedford County (28 miles)

• I-380 from I-84 in Lackawanna County south to Exit No. 3 in Monroe County (21 miles)

Turnpike travelers will encounter a higher speed limit on virtually the entire toll highway.

“After we convert the remaining segments of our system, we will have 493 miles posted at 70 mph,” said Pennsylvania Turnpike CEO Mark Compton. “As a result, Turnpike motorists will see a 70 mph speed limit on almost 90 percent of our 552-mile system.”

Areas that didn’t qualify for the increase had crash histories, heavy, weaving traffic or characteristics that did not lend themselves to safe conversion to the higher limit. PennDOT will continue to review crash statistics for the newly posted areas and will consider information generated from ongoing studies before deciding on other areas that could see the higher limit.

Act 89, the transportation funding plan adopted in November 2013, permitted the increase to 70 mph once appropriate safety studies were reviewed. PennDOT and the Turnpike raised the limit in three pilot areas on the Turnpike, Interstate 80 and Interstate 380 in August 2014.

The studies did not see a significant increase in speed or spike in crashes in the pilot areas.

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By Travis Kellar

[email protected]

Reach Travis Kellar at 570-991-6389 or on Twitter @TLNews