If you can’t drive 55, you might soon be able to go faster over the Saddle than anywhere else in the state.
State Sen. Lorraine Inouye is pushing a bill that would raise the speed limit on the Daniel K. Inouye Highway, commonly called Saddle Road, from 55 mph to 65 mph — 5 mph faster than the state’s highest-speed roads currently allow.
Inouye said she’s recommending the speed change start at mile marker 19 but would exclude sections of the road where the speed is 45 mph, such as the Mauna Kea State Recreation Area.
The idea, Inouye said, came about after hearing complaints from people who’ve unknowingly traveled above the limit and were ticketed. The road is engineered for speeds up to 65 mph, she added.
“I chair (the Senate Committee on Transportation and Energy) so I kind of know what’s going on in the state, on the highways,” said Inouye, a Democrat who represents Hilo, Hamakua, Kohala, Waimea, Waikoloa and Kona. “People were complaining because they get tickets, or, (they’re) traveling and don’t realize (they’re) going 5 miles or 10 miles per hour over (the speed limit) and (they’re) getting tickets. I heard those complaints as well, and I thought, ‘Hmm, what can we do for Hawaii (Island)?’”
The Hawaii Police Department did not respond to a request for comment by late Wednesday, but members of the public have complained law enforcement operates a “speed trap” on the road.
The department issued 2,219 speeding citations on the road in 2015, up from 1,535 in 2014. Speeding ticket fines start at $75 and can run up to $200 for multiple offenses in the same year. There are additional penalties for going more than 10 mph over the posted limit.
Inouye said her proposal already has gleaned positive response from the community. The measure, filed as Senate Bill 2375, is scheduled for a public hearing today by the Senate Committee on Transportation and Energy.
The state Department of Transportation reportedly isn’t as keen on the speed limit increase. Inouye said the DOT told her it plans to testify against the bill. A request for comment from the DOT was not met by late Wednesday.
As a compromise, Inouye said she might recommend a more modest speed limit of 60 mph. Two roads on Oahu — stretches of the H-3 and the H-1 — raised limits to 60 mph in 2002 and would serve as a precedent, Inouye said.
“Sixty miles per hour is a good compromise,” she said. “I think our (drivers) are going to be very happy with that.”
A handful of Hilo residents Wednesday enthusiastically supported raising the limit.
Zachary Krauss, 23, drives the Saddle at least once a week for business in Kona. He said a higher speed limit would benefit him by helping cut his time spent driving.
“I would love it,” Krauss said. “I know as a local myself, going just 55 takes a lot longer, and I feel like the main point (of Saddle Road) was to make a road that would be safer but faster, (and) it just seems like it’s taking the same amount of time as before. If they took a poll of how many people are going past the speed limit of 55, it’d be way over the majority, I believe.”
Information from the Governors Highway Safety Association shows Hawaii has one of the lowest maximum speed limits in the country for rural interstates. Hawaii’s 60 mph limit for cars and trucks is above only Delaware and Alaska, both of which cap default max speeds at 55 mph.
Email Kirsten Johnson at kjohnson@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
