The Jefferson County Board of Supervisors reached a consensus Monday to extend the 45 mph speed limit on Libertyville Road southwest of the Highway 34 overpass to house number 1871, a distance of just under a mile. A resolution was not prepared in time for the June 22nd meeting and will be brought back for a formal vote next week.
The recommendation came from Jefferson County Engineer DeWayne Heintz, who said the extension is necessary for safety reasons tied to road geometry and a new state law taking effect July 1st that raises the default speed limit on two-lane roads to 60 mph.
“Right now, it goes from 45 to 55 right after they cross Highway 34, which is still a relatively heavy residential area,” Heintz said. “With the speed limit going up to 60, we’d want traffic to slow down to 45 for the S curves for safety, and also for the hills going out to the next residential area.” He said extending the 45 mph zone to house 1871 — just past the S curves and up over the hill where sight distances are clear — would allow drivers to safely reach 60 mph beyond that point. “I thought the simplest solution, instead of changing the speed limit back and forth in short distances, would be to keep it at 45 miles an hour for just short of a mile,” he said.
Heintz also cited the steepness of roadside ditches in the area as a safety concern. “A lot of the ditches in Jefferson County are one and a half or two-to-one, which is extremely steep,” he said. “Once you go off the road, you really can’t recover from it.” He noted that the Libertyville Road project included a four-foot paved shoulder, edge ruts, and rumble strips to help keep drivers aware when they drift from their travel lane.
Supervisor Susie Drish said she supported keeping the lower speed limit in place, citing the road’s history. “I know in the past there have been several fatalities on that road — people coming from Libertyville starting to make that corner, they just fly off the road,” she said. “Maybe for a little bit, we need to keep it low so we can keep it safe.”
Supervisor Joe Ledger said he agreed. “I agree with you for the safety of the public — we need to go to 45,” he said.
The Libertyville Road discussion is part of a broader pattern of speed limit adjustments on Jefferson County roads. Earlier this month, the Board of Supervisors voted to lower the speed limit on Pleasant Plain Road from 55 mph to 45 mph through September 15th, following a round of road work that included the application of limey chips to address oil and tar oozing up through the chip seal surface in hot weather. The lower speed limit applies to the section of Pleasant Plain Road from the Fairfield city limit to 167th Street and was recommended by Heintz to prevent the freshly applied chips from being thrown into passing vehicles and damaging windshields.
Pleasant Plain Road has had an ongoing challenge with its chip seal, which was first applied in June 2025 and then redone in September 2025 after the initial application did not hold. Heintz noted that the September timing left little time for the material to cure before cold weather set in — unlike other county roads that received chip seal earlier in the summer and had more time to stabilize. The road also drew attention from Cambridge Investment Research, which is located on Pleasant Plain Road. The company’s president of growth and development, Jeff Vivacqua, voiced concerns about the road’s condition and its impact on associates and clients.
Both reductions reflect the county’s ongoing effort to manage road safety as infrastructure projects and new state speed limit laws intersect. The new state law taking effect July 1st, which raises the default speed limit on two-lane roads from 55 to 60 mph, has added complexity to the county’s signage and road management as officials work to ensure that higher speeds are only permitted where sight distances and road conditions can safely accommodate them.
