Speed limit on stretch of busy Massachusetts highway raised by 10 mph

BURLINGTON - There's been a change to how fast drivers can legally travel on part of a Massachusetts highway. MassDOT this week officially raised the speed limit on Route 3 between I-95 and the New Hampshire border from 55 mph to 65 mph.

Highway crews have already replaced signs to show the new 65 mph speed limit from Burlington to Tyngsboro.

Why did the speed limit on Route 3 change?

The affected portion of Route 3 was previously the only three-lane freeway in Massachusetts that did not have a 65 mph speed limit. The roadway is designed to Federal Highway Administration standards that allow for drivers to go 65 mph.

One of the reasons cited for the change is that drivers have been observed going faster than the posted 55 mph limit on Route 3, and the speed differential was creating a safety issue.

Some drivers reacting to the decision on social media didn't think the change would make much of a difference.

"Everyone is already doing 80 mph as there is no enforcement," one person said in response to a Facebook post about the news from the town of Tyngsboro.

Speed limits being lowered elsewhere in Massachusetts

Once you get off the highways, there's been a push in cities and highways across Massachusetts to lower the speed limit.

Lowell this year joined 79 other communities in the state to bring the speed limit down to 25 mph on all downtown streets and in dense neighborhoods. And in Boston, where the default speed limit is already 25 mph, City Councilor Ed Flynn said back in April that he wants to discuss bringing it down to 20 mph or even 15 mph to keep pedestrians safe.