The final southern portion of SH130 toll road from Georgetown, TX north of Austin to Seguin near San Antonio opens in central Texas with the fastest speed limit in the country at 85 miles per hour. Texas Governor Rick Perry helped with the ribbon cut …
FORT WORTH, Texas - Electronic signs displaying variable speed limits are starting to show up on highways in Texas.
The new additions are the result of legislation that was put in place largely due to a massive pileup during inclement weather in Fort Worth in 2021.
Texas variable speed limits
What we know:
The signs were allowed by a 2023 Texas law, House Bill 1885, which was written by State Rep. Terry Canales (D-Edinburg) after the 133-car pileup on I-35W in Fort Worth during 2021's infamous winter storm. Canales told the Texas Tribune in 2023 that he believed his law could have prevented the incident.
The law allowed for the Texas Transportation Commission to establish variable speed limits, which can be lowered temporarily to address weather, construction, heavy traffic or other potentially dangerous driving conditions.
Last year, the commission amended the Texas Administrative Code to create a Variable Speed Limits Program. That program started by testing TxDOT road cameras for accuracy in conditions that might change speed limits, and identifying areas of concern.
Now, variable signs are starting to appear on Texas highways. The Fort Worth Star Telegram reports that the electronic signals are being installed on I-35W, and drivers have begun to notice similar signs on U.S. 54 in El Paso.
Speed limit testing history
The backstory:
The roots of the program go back to 2013, when the Texas legislature signed off on a TxDOT program to start testing the effectiveness of changing speed limits.
House Bill 2204 led to such signs being tested in Temple, San Antonio and Eastland County, the Texas Tribune reports, which collected data that was analyzed by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute.
Fort Worth deadly pileup
Dig deeper:
Six people were killed on Feb. 11, 2021, when 135 vehicles were involved in a massive ice-related wreck on I-35W. Dozens of others were injured in the crash.
The pileup appeared to have started about 6:15 a.m. as motorists ventured onto slick roads coated in a thin sheet of ice from freezing rain that had fallen overnight and into the early morning hours.
Family of man killed in deadly 2021 I-35 pileup during winter storm awarded $44M
A Dallas County jury decided a Missouri trucking company and one of its drivers were liable for a deadly crash on Interstate 35 during the 2021 winter storm that killed a 49-year-old man.
Multiple cell phone videos show cars traveling at a high rate of speed, then sliding and crashing into each other. Multiple 18-wheelers were involved in the pileup and crashed violently into other passenger vehicles.
The incident happened during the 2021 snowstorm, which was one of the most dangerous weather events in Texas history, causing 246 deaths and leaving millions without power for days.
The Source: Information in this article came from Texas Legislature Online, the Texas Tribune, the Fort Worth Star Telegram, KFOX 14, TxDOT, and previous FOX Local reporting.