Accommodating a faster flow of traffic led Kyle city leaders to approve increasing the speed limit on a section of Kohler’s Crossing.
The change increases the speed limit from 40 to 45 miles per hour on Kohler’s Crossing from the Union Pacific Railroad to the Interstate 35 frontage road. Alteration of the speed limit was approved 7-0 by the council Jan. 2.
Leon Barba, Kyle city engineer, said plans to increase the speed limit on that section of the road had been in the works since 2011, but had not been enacted by the city.
Barba said as time has passed and more people commuted in the area, it “didn’t make sense” to keep the speed limit at 40 miles per hour. He cited the lack of ingress and egress points along that section of Kohler’s Crossing.
RSI is the only commercial business that has an entrance in that section of Kohler’s Crossing.
However, the city had to enlist the assistance of the Kyle Police Department to conduct a speed study in the area.
According to the study, roughly 8,400 of the 9,616 vehicles that traveled along the roadway during the study stayed above the posted 40 mile per hour speed limit. Roughly 85 percent of drivers on the roadway drove at 54 miles per hour.
Barba said using the 85th percentile is standard with speed studies as most drivers are expected to drive at that speed.
“They’re going to drive based on conditions,” Barba said. “With a curved road with a lot of potholes, they will drive slower.”
However, Barba said the city doesn’t anticipate increasing the speed limit on other area roads.
“It was low hanging fruit because it seemed obvious to me,” Barba said.
