Gov. Steve Beshear, joined by area

legislators and state and local officials, Tuesday  unveiled new highway

signs announcing a higher speed limit of 65 mph on Highways 68-80

from Bowling Green all the way to Cadiz

Governor  Steve Beshear told a crowd gathered that the  well-designed,

well-built highway  is a tremendous asset

as a four-lane connector between Interstate 24 and Interstate 65 across

southwestern Kentucky. "Companies and motorists

increasingly rely on Global Positioning System technology to plan travel

routes, and those systems favor routes with higher speed limits. So, for

its economic development value, it's important for U.S. 68 to stand out

from other routes that have a speed limit of 55."

At the same time, the Governor said, it was equally important to ensure

that a higher speed limit did not create a safety hazard. The decision

to raise the speed limit was made only after speed studies and analysis

of traffic data by engineers of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet

(KYTC), he said.

The speed limit is being increased by order of Transportation Secretary

Mike Hancock. The speed limit will be raised to 65 from 55 on 58.75

miles of U.S. 68/KY 80. From west to east, the new speed zone will

stretch from a point just east of U.S. 68 Business in Cadiz, through

Christian, Todd and Logan counties to an existing 45 mph zone to the

west of Bowling Green at Rockfield.

The speed limit will not be raised on a short, undivided, five-lane

section near the I-24 interchange at Cadiz or on sections of the highway

that pass through Hopkinsville and Russellville.