If you've traveled Old Jacksonville Hwy. (FM 2493) in Tyler, especially during peak hours, you know how congested that stretch of highway has become and its about to get a new lower speed limit. Traffic on this road has increased dramatically since it was widened from a little two lane farm road to a five lane road because of the explosive growth in residential and commercial buildings and businesses along this stretch of road.

At the December 11th Tyler City Council meeting, the council approved the traffic department's suggested speed limit reduction from 55 mph to 50 mph. The decision came as a result of traffic accident data and a speed study along FM 2493. City Manager Mark McDaniel says,

Old Jacksonville Highway has seen a lot of intense development in the last several years and the speed limit needs to be adjusted to account for the additional traffic. From the analysis of the study we believe reducing the speed on this road will improve driver safety."

No specific date has been announced on when the new speed limit will go into effect, so the next time you're on Old Jacksonville you'll need to pay attention to those big white and black lettered speed limit signs!

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