55 mph speed limit on the Lodge

[Lowell]

55 ha! The Lodge is the most anarchistic expressway in the D. I drive the Lodge often but almost always in none-rush. First off it is 70 from its northern end to the Southfield exchange.

After that I would describe it as 60 in the inner lane, 67 in the center lane, and 75 in the outer lane. Then there are the famous Lodge-dodgers weaving in and out at 80 and higher. There are very few trucks which makes visiblity and safety a bit better. It is extremely rare to see a traffic cop, state or local, and few safe places for them to sit.

[Zacha341]

Exactly. Veer to the left before Telly and then your getting on 696 West! There's a joyful 'round-about' at 14 mile end. Took me a while to be able to deal with it when I go that far on NW. Hah!!

No...Northwestern is the Lodge above 8 Mile technically all the way to 14 Mile when it ends. Though I think a lot of people, and I hear this on traffic reports all the time, use the Lodge for the portion below the Reuther and Northwestern above it.

[Gistok]

I-94 has a speed limit of 55 mainly in Detroit. Once you pass the 8 Mile curve it turns to 70 MPH at 9 1/2 Mile [[Stephens Rd), and on the west side it turns to 70 MPG once you pass Michigan Ave. There are only 2 points where I-94 has a semi-dangerous curve warranting the 55 MPH... by the Packard plant near Mt. Elliott, and at the 8 Mile Curve.

[Jimaz]

If an officer were to pull me over for speeding and ask me how fast I was going, I would hope I could resist the urge to tell him 872,405 MPH, give or take a thousand.

From How fast is the earth moving?

Alas, I lack that willpower.

LOCK 'IM UP!

[Ray1936]

If an officer were to pull me over for speeding and ask me how fast I was going, I would hope I could resist the urge to tell him 872,405 MPH, give or take a thousand.

LOCK 'IM UP!

For the sake of discussion, Jim, and as a retired Detroit PO who worked traffic for six years, a properly schooled police officer should NEVER ask a question during a traffic stop. You make statements only. "Sir, you were paced [[or clocked, if radar) at XX in a XX zone. Your license, registration, and proof of insurance, please." Any officer who asks "Do you know how fast you were moving?" should have Jim's response.

Also, you never ask "Where were you going?" That's none of his business.

If dubius registration/insurance/license then turns up, then asking questions about the validity is warranted.

Just sayin'. Bringing back memories from fifty years ago, when Northwestern Highway was just the extention of James Couzens.

[Jimaz]

... a properly schooled police officer should NEVER ask a question during a traffic stop. You make statements only....

Thanks! I learned something.

It just occurred to me that a normal speed of 872,405 MPH makes the whole idea of thrill rides pointless. Life itself is a thrill! LOL!

Plan? There ain't no plan!

[mtburb]

I-75 has a speed limit of 55 MPH from just north of I-94 to the Rouge River Bridge. Then it rises to 70 MPH from the Rouge River Bridge to the Ohio border, where it falls to 65 MPH.

[softailrider]

Sometimes you just feel like putting your foot down. Got to pick your spots.
[[rider) [[0 points)

[archfan]

For the sake of discussion, Jim, and as a retired Detroit PO who worked traffic for six years, a properly schooled police officer should NEVER ask a question during a traffic stop. You make statements only. "Sir, you were paced [[or clocked, if radar) at XX in a XX zone. Your license, registration, and proof of insurance, please." Any officer who asks "Do you know how fast you were moving?" should have Jim's response.

Also, you never ask "Where were you going?" That's none of his business.

If dubius registration/insurance/license then turns up, then asking questions about the validity is warranted.

Just sayin'. Bringing back memories from fifty years ago, when Northwestern Highway was just the extention of James Couzens.

I think every time I've been pulled over, the officer has asked, "Do you know why I stopped you?" or "Do you know how fast you were going?". Standards must have slipped since you left, Ray.

[Bigdd]

I always thought that the reduction to 65 & 55 was mandated federally. And that it had to do with being inside certain kinds of urban environments.

It kind of was. The fed gov't doesn't actually have the power to institute a nat'l speed limit [[just like they can't force a drinking age, or outlaw pot),... so what they did was illegally extort states into doing it by threatening to withhold funds for roads, or the like if the states din't "volunteer" to go to 55.

And the reaason for 55 wasn't safety,.. but rather to reduce fuel consumption in response to the 70's fuel crisis.

In fact it actually decreased safety as there was now a bigger disparity in speeds on the freeways [[some people actually doing 55,.. others still going 72). Freeways are usually the safest roads, as there are no intersections,.. and everyone is going the same direction at about the same speed. The 55 limit was proven to cause more fatalities.

The National Motorist Association [[A sort of NRA for drivers) began fighting the 55 using data, and finally got it repealed back in 1995.

[Ray1936]

I think every time I've been pulled over, the officer has asked, "Do you know why I stopped you?" or "Do you know how fast you were going?". Standards must have slipped since you left, Ray.

Sigh, yeah. And today's police officers, for the most part, look awfully sloppy with their baseball caps and all that bullshit. I was looking at an old photo on Facebook yesterday of a moment at Briggs Stadium during the 1945 World Series. What struck me was all the men in the stands were wearing suits, and all the ladies were dressed to the nines. Sigh again.

[Meddle]

I had a white car, boots and leather bowtie guy stop me W/B Outer Drive E/O Southfield near Mercy in the early 80s. First question was 'Who do you work for ... who are you with ...? '

[swingline]

I don't think there is a speed limit on the southbound Lodge on Fridays and Saturdays after 11pm. I've lost track of how many times I've been passed by folks doing 95mph heading to the casinos or the club.

[Ray1936]

I had a white car, boots and leather bowtie guy stop me W/B Outer Drive E/O Southfield near Mercy in the early 80s. First question was 'Who do you work for ... who are you with ...? '

When I was a supervisor at the Motorcycle Traffic Section I'd have written that officer up for reprimand if I could verify it. For what it's worth, it wasn't me. I was in plain clothes administration in the early 80's until I retired in 1984. Just sayin'.

[Atticus]

For those wondering why the speed limit is posted at 55 and not 70, it is because should the limit be raised, next time the road is reconstructed MDOT would have to:

1-Bring the design up to 70/75 mph design standards, which would require a ton of expensive eminent domain to acquire neighborhoods to smooth curves. [[Cost prohibitive even if they wanted too). Or...

2-Sign a bunch of design waivers stating they were essentially building a freeway that couldnt be safely driven at the posted speed limit, and thus open themselves up to significant liability anytime someone was involved in a crash. Or...

3-Just keep it posted at 55mph, and let the motorists speed at their own risk.

[Lowell]

I think every time I've been pulled over, the officer has asked, "Do you know why I stopped you?" or "Do you know how fast you were going?". Standards must have slipped since you left, Ray.

BTW the correct answer is said to be, "I hope it was for obstruction of traffic or 1-5 over." [Non-point violations that don't get reported to insurance companies.]

[Gistok]

One thing some of you may have or have not noticed.... when they replaced James Couzens with the Lodge Fwy, they used the cement walls instead of grass slopes, so they could keep the commercial space along the [[later) service drive. However those "canyons" require trucks carrying flammable or explosive material to exit the freeway and not use that stretch of the freeway. Signage at either end of that stretch mention that.

[softailrider]

I think the expressway system in Detroit is really good. No matter where you are, you can get from one side of town to the other in 15 -20 minutes tops, if there’s no road closures. The Lodge, 94, I-96, I-75 pretty much take you anywhere you want to go.

[Meddle]

One thing some of you may have or have not noticed.... when they replaced James Couzens with the Lodge Fwy, they used the cement walls instead of grass slopes, ...

OK, now that you went there, Engine 30 carried a special set of ladders just for those walls. Can't remember for sure, but a couple of other companies may have also. I seem to remember them on 53, but can't recall for sure. The others would have been 59 and 51. Those four engine companies would have been the first on scene for incidents in the walled area.

I seem to remember a walled section at the north end of the Southfield too.