Three counties seek speed study to raise speed limits on connected highways

by April Scheinoha
Editor

Three local counties think the Minnesota Department of Transportation should raise the speed limit on highways connecting Grygla to Gully.

At its meeting Tuesday, Feb. 24, the Pennington County Board approved a resolution, stating its belief that the speeds should be increased to 60 mph on County State Aid Highways 27 and 28 on the east side of the county.

Commissioners in Marshall and Polk counties have already approved similar resolutions for their highways, CSAHs 54 and 2, respectively, that connect with CSAHs 27 and 28. In Marshall County’s case, it is seeking an increase to 60 mph outside the city limits of Grygla from Highway 89 to the Marshall/Pennington County line. Polk County is seeking the increase from Gully north to the Polk/Pennington County line.

According to the Minnesota Department of Transportation, speed limits are set based on such things as road type and condition, location and type of access points, existing traffic control devices, crash history, traffic volume, sight distances, and travel speed samples.

This isn’t the first time that Pennington County has sought a speed limit increase. In 2018, it sought a speed study for CSAH 3, which is commonly referred to as the cut-across. MnDOT conducted that study and later raised the speed limit to 60 mph.