State legislators are responsible for setting speed limits, and that means that speed limits can vary considerably across the country. The lowest maximum speed limits can be found in Hawaii, where rural interstates are limited to 60 mph, and several other states set 65 mph limits on their highways. At the other end of the scale, states like Montana and South Dakota have set their highest speed limits at 80 mph.
Many rural interstates in Texas are limited to 75 mph, some carry 80-mph limits, but one road in particular has an even higher posted limit. State Highway 130 is a toll road that runs between Austin and San Antonio, and since it opened in 2012, it’s been subject to an 85-mph speed limit. That makes it the road with the fastest speed limit in America.
The road was designed to help reduce traffic on Interstate 35, giving drivers a faster and easier way to travel between the two cities. It was built by a joint venture between the Spanish infrastructure developer Cintra and Texas-based Zachry Construction Corporation and reportedly cost around $1.3 billion to build. Although the Texas Department of Transportation owns the road, the company that constructed it has a 50-year contract to collect a portion of the toll fees paid by drivers. When it opened, it became the first privately operated open toll road in Texas.
Why does State Highway 130 have an 85 mph limit?
When construction of the road first began in 2009, it wasn’t possible for Texas officials to approve an 85-mph speed limit. However, new state legislation in 2011 saw the maximum allowed speed limit increased to 85 mph, assuming the road in question had been built specifically to handle cars travelling that fast. This legal change came only a year before the opening of the new toll road.
The Texas Department of Transportation also reportedly had a financial incentive for allowing a higher limit. According to documents reviewed by the Texas Tribune, the department would be given an extra $33 million bonus by the toll road builders if the speed limit was increased from 80 mph to 85 mph.
Despite the higher speed limit, traffic on the road over its first few years of operation proved to be less than its makers expected. SH 130 Concession Company, the venture in charge of the road’s operation, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2016, emerging from the process a year later.
There’s no sign that Texas officials will be changing the highway’s 85 mph speed limit any time soon, but in other parts of the country, some states are considering revising their speed limits. New York in particular has seen multiple proposals to change the posted limits on various roads, including the announcement of a new set of 15 mph school zones in New York City in March 2026. Meanwhile, a different proposal aims to raise the state’s low highway speeds.
Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.
