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Speed Limit Speeding Up on Turnpike

Drivers who travel parts of the Pennsylvania Turnpike will be able to go a little faster starting Wednesday. A 100-mile stretch between the Shippensburg and Rea...

Drivers who travel parts of the Pennsylvania Turnpike will be able to go a little faster starting Wednesday.

A 100-mile stretch between the Shippensburg and Reading area will go from 65 to 70 miles an hour and that may be only the beginning,

Turnpike and PennDOT officials are scheduled to explain plans for other 70 mile an hour zones on Pennsylvania interstates on Wednesday.

But many drivers along the turnpike's northeast extension say speeding up to 70 has them pumping the brakes.

When you pass through toll booths at certain points along the turnpike, officials are now cranking up the speed limit from 65 to 70 miles an hour.

It's happening along the 100-mile stretch between Reading and Shippensburg.

Jim Russo, an E-ZPass user, says especially with his boat, he won't push those limits.

"At my age I do the speed limit anyway and then watch everybody breeze by. I hope they enforce it more if they bring it up to 70."

Just off the turnpike northeast extension in Carbon County, drivers on their way to Philadelphia say this increase will speed up their trip.

"I think it's good if you're an experienced driver but if you're a little nervous behind the wheel, it might create more congestion in the slow lane," said Stuart Sheldrick of Ontario.

Many of the truck drivers we talked to just off the Pennsylvania Turnpike say raising the speed limit to 70 miles an hour has them raising a lot of concerns.

Truck driver Ron Sanders travels all 48 states and says more than half of these big rigs have a governor -- a device that limits how fast the truck can travel.  He has some advice for other drivers.

"People are going to have to be a little more careful before they start changing lanes."

Other interstate highways in Pennsylvania may also be raising the speed limit to 70 miles an hour.

PennDOT and turnpike officials are expected to reveal those plans Wednesday.

"I've driven through Texas where the speed limit's 80 and all across I-80 through the western states where the speed limit's 70 and 75, it's no difference," Sanders said.

While truckers may not mind, others who live near major highways say they're not so sure speeding up is a good idea.

"There's been enough accidents recently on I-80 and so on, it makes you nervous," said Steve Loewenstein of Peckville.

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