Those who would like to drive a little faster on Illinois interstates and highways soon may get their wish.

State Sen. Jim Oberweis (R-North Aurora) introduced a bill earlier this month that would push the speed limit to 75 mph on many of the state’s interstates as well as make 60 the maxium speed limit on rural highways. Oberweis was one of the driving factors behind a bill that helped Illinois become the 37th state to push its speed limit to 70 when that law took effect on Jan. 1, 2014. Now, he’s looking to bump that maximum speed up a bit.

“The smart place to put the limit is at the 85th percentile of how fast traffic moves, and 75 mph is just right,” Oberweis told the Chicago Tribune.

Senate Bill 2036, which was filed and had its first reading on Feb. 10, would increase the speed limit to 75 on Interstate 355, Interstate 80 and every interstate west of Interstate 355 and south of Interstate 80. It would also push the maximum speed outside an urban district to 60 on all highways, roads and streets that do not have four or more lands of traffic and are not interstate highways.

On Thursday, the bill picked up bi-partisan support of 14 state senators in the way of co-sponsors. Sen. Paul Schimpf (R-Murphysboro) was among those who are co-sponsoring the bill.

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