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70 MPH Speed Limit Rolling Out On Hundreds Of Miles Of Pennsylvania Highways

HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) -- The speed limit will be raised to 70 miles an hour across hundreds of miles of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and sections of other state highways in the coming days.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike had already announced plans to expand the 70 mile an hour speed limit to nearly 90-percent of its system. But now PennDOT has also announced it will raise the speed limit to 70 MPH on some of its roads, including two sections of I-80 totaling more than 240 miles.

But while the higher speed limit will include sections of the Turnpike in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh areas, PennDOT Secretary Leslie Richards says it will not be expanded to other Interstates in those metro areas anytime soon.

"We are continuing to collect data," Richards said, "and where we see corridors where it makes sense, and 85-percent of the traffic is traveling safely at a higher speed zone, we would consider it."

But Richards says a 70 mile an hour speed limit in major metro areas on highways other than the Turnpike is not currently under active consideration.

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