TOFTE, Minn. – Speed limits on Minnesota’s Highway 61 have been revisited.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation announced sweeping changes to highway speed limits throughout the state, including upping the legal rate on most of the highway between the Canadian border and Tofte, Minn. from 55 miles an hour to 60 miles an hour.
The state increased speed limits to 60 miles an hour on 77 per cent of its approximately 7,000 miles of two-lane, two-way roadways as a result of a five-year study. Between Two Harbours and Beaver Bay the speed will remain 55 miles per hour, as will a short stretch between Schroeder and Tofte.
According to the study, 85 per cent of drivers travelled below 65 miles per hour before the speed limit change, identical to the percentage who do so after the change.
Average speed is expected to increase from 59 miles an hour to 60 miles an hour.
Correction: The initial story indicated speeds along the entirety Highway 61 have been increased between the U.S border and Two Harbours. The increase does not apply to 23 miles of highway between Two Harbours and Beaver Bay and Schroeder and Tofte, a 2.5-mile stretch. Speed limits are also reduced in communities along the route.
