Speed limit boosts on some Oregon highways

West of The Dalles, speed limits on I-84 will stay the same — 65 mph for passenger vehicles and 55 mph for commercial trucks.

The new speed limits will apply for much of central and eastern Oregon highways, such as US 95 that runs through southeast Oregon between the Nevada and Idaho borders.

In addition, sections of eight other highways will have speed limits increased to 65 mph for passenger vehicles and 60 mph for trucks. These include stretches of US 20, US 26, US 97, US 197, US 395, OR 31, OR 78, and OR 205.

The speed increase comes with the passage of Oregon House Bill 3402. The bill, enacted by the 2015 Legislature, lifts the speed limit on I-84 and some other routes east of the Cascades.

The Legislature set aside $735,000 to cover the costs of changing the 275 signs on hundreds of rural highway miles.

The exceptions under the law include trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating of more than 10,000 pounds, or a truck with a gross vehicle weight rating of more than 8,000 pounds, a school bus, a school activity vehicle, a worker transport bus, a church bus and any vehicle used in transportation for hire. Speed limits for those vehicles are 5 mph less than the other vehicles.

Oregon Department of Transportation said in a news release the hiked speed limits will more closely match those of neighboring states.

The project kept ODOT crews busy this winter. Some of the highway work included modifying passing zones to reflect the higher legal speed and new sign posts.

ODOT urges drivers to obey speed limit signs and other traffic control devices, and to adjust travel when weather, road conditions or other situations require extra caution.

More information, including a map showing the specific highway segments that will see the changes, a copy of HB 3402, update news and information, plus links to related photos and video is available on at www.tinyurl.com/OR-speed2016.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.