Photo: FREDERIC J. BROWN / AFP / Getty Images
A proposal to increase maximum speeds on Florida highways is moving forward in both legislative chambers, with the House adding it Tuesday to a wide-ranging transportation bill.
The House Economic Infrastructure Subcommittee unanimously backed the measure (HB 567). It and a Senate bill (SB 462) call for increasing the maximum speed on interstates and Florida’s Turnpike from 70 mph to 75 mph.
The bill also would require the Department of Transportation to increase the maximum speed on four-lane divided highways in rural areas from 65 mph to 70 mph. Other roads with 60 mph speed limits could be raised to 65 mph where deemed “safe and advisable.”
Then-Gov. Rick Scott in 2014 vetoed a similar proposal about speed limits, pointing to concerns raised by law-enforcement officers.