A stretch of US 68/KY 80 through Auburn will have the speed limit decreased beginning this week.

The speed limit will be reduced from 65 mph to 55 mph from a point 500 feet west of US 68X at the traffic light in Auburn to a point 660 feet east of KY 103.

The reduced speed area will encompass the signal at KY 103, the RJ Corman railroad crossing, as well as the connection with old US 68 on the west side of Auburn.

Signs will be installed on Wednesday, Feb. 13.

“RJ Corman had some concerns about the speed limit around the railroad crossing,” said Keirsten Jaggers, the Public Information Officer for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. “This has been a collaborative process to make that area as safe as possible.”

In all, the stretch of 55 mph will be about 2.2 miles from one end to the other.

The area around the traffic signal in Auburn was also a concern - and one that Logan County Judge/Executive Logan Chick is glad to see fixed.

“I’m 100 percent for this change,” Chick said. “I never thought about the speed limit at the railroad crossing, but I am glad they are including it.”

Chick said that when Logan County originally went to the state highway department asking for the speed limit to be increased that the proposal called for a lower speed limit through Auburn around the traffic signal.

“When we asked for that speed limit to be raised, I brought it to their attention that it may be an unsafe situation around that stoplight,” Chick said. “I didn’t understand having the speed limit around the stoplight at 55 mph. Our suggestion was to slow that traffic around there as a good safety measure.”

The speed limit was raised to 65 mph in October with the primary reason being for economic development.

“This is a well-designed, well-built highway that is a tremendous asset as a four-lane connector between Interstate 24 and Interstate 65 across southwestern Kentucky,” Gov. Steve Beshear said when he announced the increase in October. “Companies and motorists increasingly rely on Global Positioning System technology to plan travel routes, and those systems favor routes with higher speed limits. So, for its economic development value, it’s important for U.S. 68 to stand out from other routes that have a speed limit of 55.”