The U.S. 54 speed limit through Linn Creek should be raised from 55 to 60 miles per hour within the next few weeks, according to Linn Creek Mayor Jenny Mueller and the Missouri Department of Transportation.
"We are having an ordinance raising the speed limit drawn up as we speak," Mueller said. "And, we'll handle both readings and approval of that ordinance during our next meeting."
MoDOT Engineer Bob Lynch, said once the Board of Aldermen has passed the ordinance and sent notification of its passage to MoDOT, new speed limit signs will be erected along the highway.
"MoDOT has already done a traffic survey in preparation for the increase," Lynch said. "So, we can go out and change the signs as soon as we get official word from the city."
Mueller said the town's former police chief petitioned MoDOT to have the speed limit raised after studies showed the number of injury accidents in that area to be at the lowest occurrence in years.
Several years ago, MoDOT added exit and entrance ramps in that area where U.S. 54 intersects with three side roads. The addition of the exit and entrance ramps was prompted by a number of fatality accidents and a traffic study that proved the roadway to be one of the most dangerous stretches of four-lane highway in the state.
When the U.S. 54 Expressway through Osage Beach opened two years ago, MoDOT increased the speed limit between Osage Beach and Linn Creek to 60 mph, but left the speed limit through Linn Creek at 55.
Mueller said, since reconfiguring the intersections have proven a successful safety measure, city officials felt it was in the best interest of travelers to keep the speed limit consistent all the way from Osage Beach to the Camdenton city limits.