First to Go Faster : State to Post 65 M.P.H. Zone Friday on Short Span of Rural Interstate 8

A quirk in a state bureaucrat’s schedule will give San Diego County the distinction of having the first stretch of California highway with a 65 m.p.h. speed limit since the limit was lowered to 55 m.p.h. in 1974.

Leo Trombatore, director of the state Transportation Department, will unveil the state’s first new 65 m.p.h sign at 8 a.m. Friday on eastbound Interstate 8 just east of Lake Jennings Road in the Flinn Springs area.

Chuck Mastin, a Caltrans spokesman here, said Trombatore was scheduled to be in Southern California for a California Transportation Commission meeting so he chose San Diego County as a convenient place to unveil the first new sign.

The higher speed limit will cover both sides of I-8 between Flinn Springs and the Mica Gem undercrossing near the Mountain Springs grade. The limit will return to 55 m.p.h. there heading east. Interstate 15 will also have the 65 m.p.h. limit on a stretch from Deer Springs Road to the Riverside County line.

1,172 Miles of Rural Roads

Altogether, 1,172 miles of rural interstate freeway in California will get the new speed limit. In addition to Interstates 8 and 15, Interstates 5, 10, 40, 205, 505 and 580 will have stretches on which cars will be able to drive legally at 65 m.p.h., Mastin said. Trucks and cars pulling trailers will still be subject to the 55 m.p.h. limit, however.

Gov. George Deukmejian intends to sign the state legislation enacting the new speed limit at a ceremony in his Capitol office today. But Mastin said the law will only go into effect as each new sign is posted, a process that won’t be complete for another 10 days or so.

“If the sign isn’t up and drivers go 65, they will be cited,” Mastin said.

Mastin said the state will need 600 signs to cover the 1,172 miles, 300 of them being new and 300 old signs with a “6” painted over the first “5” in “55.” He said the new signs cost about $75 each and last about five years.

The speed limit was lowered to 55 m.p.h. in 1974 by Congress as a fuel-saving measure during the Arab oil embargo. Congress earlier this year passed legislation enabling states to raise the limit in rural areas.