With variable speed limit signs now operating on the full length of the section, the seasonal 65-mph speed limit will not resume this year on the 52-mile section of I-80 in Wyoming between Laramie and Rawlins, where it had been enforced for the past two severe weather seasons.

"The variable speed limit signs allow us to set the speed as the actual situation and conditions on the road dictate," District Engineer Jay Gould explained. "Since we have complete variable speed limit coverage now in the area that was previously covered by the seasonal speed limit, we feel we can better respond to the conditions, creating a safer environment for motorists."

The variable signs allow the Transportation Management Center to reduce the speed limit in 5 mph increments to as low as 35 mph as weather and road conditions warrant between the Quealy Dome Interchange 20 miles west of Laramie and the Peterson Interchange 22 miles east of Rawlins.

The first of the signs began operating on a 35-mile portion of the seasonal speed limit section in February 2009. By the end of the year additional signs had been brought online to cover the rest of the section.

Data from speed sensors in the highway showed drivers complied at a higher rate with speed limits set on the variable signs than with the 65 mph seasonal limit.

Crash numbers for the section had peaked during the year prior to the first seasonal speed limit enforcement, with 402 crashes, 91 of them resulting in injuries and three resulting in fatalities. The following year, with the seasonal speed limit and later variable speed limits in effect, total crashes dropped to 248, with 59 resulting in injuries and no fatalities. During the 12-month period that included last winter, when the seasonal limit was again in effect and the variable speed limit section expanded, total crashes dropped to 181, 39 causing injuries and four resulting in fatalities.

When the data is narrowed to only crashes involving commercial vehicles, the number dropped from 183 during the severe weather season of 2007-2008, to 91 the following season and 51 last season.

Highway closures on the section also dropped.