As we recently reported, all four lanes on the newly rebuilt and widened section of Route 34 between Orchard Road in Oswego and Route 47 in Yorkville should be open to traffic sometime next month, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation.

That's real good news for Kendall County area motorists who have endured roughly two years of construction and been waiting in recent weeks for contractors to finally take down the remaining barricades.

Once opened, traffic should move smoothly and efficiently on Route 34's new four concrete lanes. It should be a vast improvement over the crumbling two-lane blacktop that motorists had to endure in the years prior to construction.

But--and there is a but here--an IDOT spokesman told our reporter, Shea Lazansky, that the agency has decided to post a 45 mph speed limit along much of the improved highway. Prior to construction the rural stretch of highway east of McHugh Road in Yorkville was posted at 55 mph.

We aren't traffic engineers here at the Record Newspapers, but we have done our fair share of driving over the years and we believe the 45 mph speed limit is unrealistic to real world driving in Kendall County.

We understand that speed kills and motorists need to slowdown. We also believe the speed limit along Route 34 should be 35 or less through the commercial areas near Orchard Road in Oswego and Route 47 in Yorkville. But we fully expect most motorists will feel a powerful urge to press the accelerator a little closer to the floorboard when they encounter those four wide concrete lanes with protected turn lanes in the more rural area along the highway east of East Countryside Parkway. We strongly expect it will be especially tempting to speed during non-rush hour periods when traffic volume is light.

IDOT engineers need look no further than nearby Orchard Road north of Route 30 in Montgomery to see what will soon happen with motorists on Route 34. Prior to the widening of Orchard Road from two to four lanes nearly a decade ago the posted speed limit was 55 mph. But the Kane County Division of Transportation lowered the speed limit to 45 following construction and today any motorist who attempts to stay within that speed limit between Jericho Road and Route 30 will watch his or her fellow motorists streak past them in a blur. Clearly, the improved highway is an open invitation to speed in excess of 45 mph.

We are not asking for the return of a 55 mph speed limit on Route 34, but we do believe a 50 mph limit would be both more reasonable and realistic. IDOT could then, in turn, lower the speed limit to 45 mph as development occurs in the coming years on the current farm parcels adjoining the highway.