Motorists who travel Interstate 79 between Erie and Cranberry Township now will reach their destinations a little sooner, thanks to a bump in the speed limit.

The state Department of Transportation on Monday announced that speed limits on nearly 1,000 miles of Pennsylvania highway will increase to 70 mph, including that stretch of I-79.

The portion of I-79 that will affect Butler County motorists is from I-90 in Erie County, 97 miles south to just north of the Route 228 interchange in Cranberry Township, a PennDOT press release said.

Transportation Secretary Leslie Richards said agency officials studied factors such as speed, traffic data and the physical characteristics of the highways before deciding on safe areas to raise the speed limit.

Areas that did not qualify for the increase had crash histories, work zones, heavy or weaving traffic or other characteristics that made a higher limit less safe, officials said.

PennDOT in 2014 increased the speed limit to 70 mph for 200 miles of highway in the state, the release said.Once the new speed limit signs are in place, 90 percent of the Turnpike will be posted at 70 mph.