© 2026 WGCU News
News for all of Southwest Florida
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Florida legislature eyeing bills to boost interstate speed to 75, other state roads to 65 or 70

Interstate 75 in Southwest Florida
File
/
WGCU

A proposal to increase maximum speeds on Florida highways is moving forward in both legislative chambers, with the House adding it Tuesday to a wide-ranging transportation bill.

The House Economic Infrastructure Subcommittee unanimously backed the measure (HB 567). It and a Senate bill (SB 462) call for increasing the maximum speed on interstates and Florida’s Turnpike from 70 mph to 75 mph.

The bill also would require the Department of Transportation to increase the maximum speed on four-lane divided highways in rural areas from 65 mph to 70 mph.

Other roads with 60 mph speed limits could be raised to 65 mph where deemed “safe and advisable.”

Then-Gov. Rick Scott in 2014 vetoed a similar proposal about speed limits, pointing to concerns raised by law-enforcement officers.

Trusted by over 30,000 local subscribers

Local News, Right Sized for Your Morning

Quick briefs when you are busy, deeper explainers when it matters, delivered early morning and curated by WGCU editors.

  • Environment
  • Local politics
  • Health
  • And more

Free and local. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

More from WGCU
  • Suncoast Searchlight reviewed water-restriction complaints and enforcement records across Sarasota County during Southwest Florida’s most severe drought in nearly a decade and found municipalities are taking sharply different approaches to enforcement. While some jurisdictions actively patrol for violations and issue citations, others rely primarily on education and warnings and provide few clear ways for residents to report violations. We also examine how the drought has heightened public scrutiny over water use, with hundreds of residents filing complaints about sprinklers, lush lawns and suspected overwatering during the regional shortage.
  • Local officials thought a dispute over who would pay to collect a voter-approved school tax had been settled when Sarasota County commissioners agreed in a surprise vote this week to resume covering the millions of dollars withheld by Tax Collector Mike Moran. Turns out, the fight isn’t over. Behind the scenes, county, school and tax officials spent the next few days sparring over whether Tuesday’s commission vote actually restored the decades-old practice — or whether another formal vote would be required before the money could be released to the school district, according to emails obtained by Suncoast Searchlight.
  • A study shows that short movement breaks can offset damage done by sitting and looking at screens all day.