OUTAGAMIE COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Lowering the speed limit on Interstate 41 is back on the agenda in Outagamie County. Following February’s deadly pileup on the highway in neighboring Winnebago County, the proposal is gaining more steam.
“I’ve talked to a number of people who said they’ll be doing 75-80 miles per hour, and they feel like they’re standing still,” said Outagamie County Board Chairman Jeff Nooyen.
The February 24th pileup that killed 30-year-old Andrew Schefelker and injured dozens of people stands as the largest pileup in state history.
The chain reaction crash, along with more than a hundred other crashes that same day, is the reason why the Outagamie County Public Safety Committee is revisiting the idea of reducing the speed limit from 70 mph down to 55.
“There’s been a lot of concern again about the speed, and the fact that it’s difficult to enforce out there, so I think that makes the speed go ever higher,” Nooyen said.
Some drivers tell FOX 11 they wouldn’t mind seeing the speed limit drop.
“People are speeding way too much in the very congested area of the, I think it’s the six Appleton exits, and I don’t really realize why people should be driving that fast between the exits,” said Joe Pena of Appleton.
“I don’t think it should be that excessive like 55 should be fine.”
Appleton resident Amy Robinson says higher speed limits may be the cause of a lot of crashes.
“If the speed limit was lower, it would be reducing a lot of accidents and things like that.”
But Robinson and other drivers say speed isn’t solely to blame. On and off-ramps can also bear some brunt of the blame.
“It can be quite dangerous because you have to accelerate really fast to get on there.”
The Outagamie County Sheriff’s Office said the way the on-ramps are designed doesn’t give cars enough room to merge into the 70 mph-traffic.
“You kind of have to basically swerve all the way into the other lanes to make sure you get on,” Pena explained.
This isn’t the first time a speed limit change on I-41 has been brought up. It was proposed last fall when the state considered expanding a stretch highway from four lanes to six.
And, although the reduction would once again require state action, the committee says, this time around, the safety concern is too great to ignore.
“Something needs to be done,” Nooyen said.
“I’m not sure whether that be reducing the speed limit, making the changes to the entrance ramps, enforcing it through some other means – other than squad cars, whether it be traffic cameras but it’s a safety issue and it’s gotta be addressed.”
Other areas that dropped speed limits from 70 mph to 55 include Washington, Waukesha, and Milwaukee Counties.
