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Just five miles separate state House, Senate on speed limit

The Senate has approved limits of up to 70 mph. Yesterday, a House committee capped the limit at 65 mph -- setting up a future clash that is about more than just a 5-mph difference.

The House Transportation Committee, on a 12-1 vote, approved a bill to allow the state to nearly immediately raise speed limits on 60 percent -- 258 miles -- of urban freeways to 65 mph from the current 55 mph.

Those changes would apply to freeways in outlying areas around Grand Rapids, Muskegon, Ann Arbor and Detroit and some in Flint, Jackson and Kalamazoo.

The remaining 175 miles of Michigan freeways still limited to 55 mph would be studied extensively to see if raising the limit to 65 would be safe, and may remain at 55 mph. They include some of the state's most congested freeways -- in Detroit and suburbs, Highway 131 in Grand Rapids, Interstate 496 in Lansing, Interstate 675 in Saginaw and Interstate 475 around Flint.

AAA Michigan, the Michigan State Police and the Michigan Department of Transportation opt for what they call the safer House version. But the National Motorists Association and other groups say a low 65-mph speed limit ignores reality.