Trucking Laws · Missouri · October 24, 2026

Missouri Plans 75 MPH Limits on Eight Rural Interstate Stretches

Semi trucks traveling a four lane rural interstate through green Missouri farmland and tree lines on a sunny day — Illustration for this story. Not a photo of a specific location.

Missouri is raising the speed limit to 75 mph on parts of its rural interstates. The Missouri Department of Transportation announced the locations on Oct. 21, after a new state law allowed the department to raise the maximum rural highway speed limit to 75 mph. Overdrive covered the change in its Oct. 23 briefs.

The higher limit is not in effect yet. MoDOT crews will update the posted signs this fall, and the department says drivers should continue to follow the posted speed limit until then. No exact date was given.

The eight stretches

According to MoDOT, these are the interstate segments chosen for 75 mph:

I-29: From Exit 56 in Andrew County to about 2.5 miles south of the Iowa border (64 miles).
I-35: From the northern Cameron city limit to about 4 miles south of the Iowa border (55 miles).
I-49: From the Arkansas border to Exit 24 (24 miles), and from Exit 56 to just south of Exit 101 in Nevada, Missouri (45 miles).
I-55: From the Arkansas border to mile marker 16.6 just south of the I-155 interchange (17 miles); from mile marker 19.8 just north of the MO 84 interchange to mile marker 64.9 at the Route AA bridge (45 miles); from mile marker 70.5 just north of the Route HH interchange to mile marker 86.6 just south of the Route PP interchange (16 miles); and from mile marker 106.4 just north of Exit 105 to mile marker 164.9 at the Jefferson County line (59 miles).

Adding up MoDOT's segment lengths gives about 325 miles. That total is simple arithmetic from the department's figures, not a number MoDOT published. The department also posted a map of the approximate segment locations.

How MoDOT chose them

MoDOT says it reviewed each eligible location and considered:

Current traffic volumes
Truck traffic volumes
Current speed data
Crash history
Terrain
Road design, including safety countermeasures
Speed limits in border states near the state line
Active construction

"This decision is not made lightly and comes after a detailed study into each of those factors to determine where we can move people and traffic efficiently at higher speeds without sacrificing safety," MoDOT Director Ed Hassinger said.

A warning about the word limit

Hassinger also had a message for anyone tempted to treat 75 as a starting point. "Let me emphasize the word 'limit' here," he said. "The highways across our state were not built for 80+ mph traffic."

Missouri State Highway Patrol Col. Michael A. Turner added that "even with an increase in speed, drivers must stay aware and reduce their speed on rural interstates when necessary."

MoDOT says it will monitor and evaluate the crash data at these locations, as it does for all highways, and "may adjust the speed limit back to 70 mph as necessary."