Texas is preparing to open state highway 130, a limited access toll road between Austin and San Antonio that will carry traffic at speeds up to (and likely over) 85 miles-per-hour. The road comes with some pros and cons.

Insurance companies are balking over safety issues that come with higher speed limits. Since the national 55 mph speed limit was abolished in 1995, there haven't necessarily been more crashes, but the number of accidents resulting in death, severe injury and the destruction of property has gone up.

Another concern is fuel economy. When congress passed the national speed limit, it was to reduce fuel demand amidst skyrocketing gas prices. Statistically, speed is a gas guzzler - we've always known that, but recent tests by consumer reports show that high-speed driving negates much of the advantage that today's new high-mileage vehicles allow. Perhaps it is time to consider another nationwide speed limit.

That is not to say that this road is a bad thing. It is being built to reduce congestion on Interstate 35, a key north-south corridor for trade between Mexico, the United States and Canada. The road's very presence suggests that NAFTA, the controversial free trade agreement signed under the Clinton administration, is actually working. Mexico and Canada are the U.S.'s main trading partners, and as the economy recovers, trade between the three main North American nations is especially robust.