Drivers hoping to be cleared for faster travel on Oregon’s rural interstates will have to wait.

A state plan to increase the speed limit on certain rural stretches to 65 mph for trucks and 70 mph for cars has been put on hold while officials do a more detailed analysis.

Jay Remy, a spokesman for the Oregon Department of Transportation, told The Bend Bulletin the state is mapping trauma care locations and looking at the potential impact on air quality and fuel efficiency.

He said those additional criteria were added after public hearings earlier this year.

Rep. Randy Miller, R-West Linn, who co-sponsored the 2003 legislation to allow increased rural speeds, told the newspaper the delay in changing the limits is frustrating and suspicious.

For instance, any requirement that trauma services are nearby would seem to undercut the prime purpose of the bill: to raise speeds along rural stretches of roadway.

“I think there is no doubt that some of the active staff members at the department don’t want to raise the speed limit,” Miller said.

“The evidence is mounting on the highway, and people are voting with their feet on the pedal that they want a faster speed limit, and this doesn’t help government because it shows once again that the bureaucracy does not give a rip what people think.”

When lawmakers authorized the higher speeds, they put the transportation agency in charge of deciding where it was appropriate for faster travel. That process was to include a detailed safety analysis.

The legislation also allows officials to reduce car and truck speeds from their current limits in places where studies show risk.

Additional public meetings to discuss rural interstate speeds are planned. For more information, contact Oregon Transportation Commission Secretary Jill Pearson at (503) 986-3450 or send e-mail to jill.l.pearson@odot.state.or.us. To provide comments online, visit www.odot.state.or.us/traffic/commentsspeed.htm.