The brand new SouthEast Connector is already popular with drivers going between Sparks and South Reno, but the 45 mile-per-hour speed limit hasn't been quite so popular.
Reno Police officers said they're seeing rampant speeding on the new road, upwards of 70 miles per hour. They're trying to be lenient at first, giving warnings instead of tickets since it's a new road, but that won't last forever.
"The most important thing for us to do is to educate the public on how to properly drive within the speed limit in a safe manner as they go down this new section of roadway," RPD Lieutenant Scott Dugan said, "but there comes a point when warnings only go so far."
The speed limit is 45 miles an hour for the whole 5.5-mile stretch of the SouthEast Connector, and there are a lot of reasons for that.
Officials with the Regional Transportation Commission said it's a continuation of Veterans Parkway, which was already 45 miles an hour. They also did traffic and environmental studies to find a speed that would keep everyone safe on a road that has drivers, cyclists, pedestrians, and traffic controls. They also wanted to slow traffic a bit in case animals from the nearby wetlands try to cross the road.
"This is not a highway," RTC Public Information Officer Lauren Ball said. "We are not treating it like a highway. It's a parkway, and the speed limit is 45 miles an hour. Our number one priority is safety, and so that was determined as the safest speed limit for this road."
Ball said there are no plans at this point to change that speed limit.
