diff --git a/features/support/env.rb b/features/support/env.rb
index 146838f38..2cbc4e46d 100644
--- a/features/support/env.rb
+++ b/features/support/env.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 require 'rspec/expectations'
 
 DEFAULT_PORT = 5000
-
+DEFAULT_TIMEOUT = 2
 
 puts "Ruby version #{RUBY_VERSION}"
 unless RUBY_VERSION.to_f >= 1.9
@@ -16,6 +16,14 @@ else
   puts "Using default port #{OSRM_PORT}"
 end
 
+if ENV["OSRM_TIMEOUT"]
+  OSRM_TIMEOUT = ENV["OSRM_TIMEOUT"].to_i
+  puts "Timeout set to #{OSRM_TIMEOUT}"
+else
+  OSRM_TIMEOUT = DEFAULT_TIMEOUT
+  puts "Using default timeout #{OSRM_TIMEOUT}"
+end
+
 
 AfterConfiguration do |config|
   clear_log_files
diff --git a/features/support/launch.rb b/features/support/launch.rb
index 7dbaee168..6699fb947 100644
--- a/features/support/launch.rb
+++ b/features/support/launch.rb
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
 require 'socket'
 require 'open3'
 
-LAUNCH_TIMEOUT = 20
-SHUTDOWN_TIMEOUT = 20
 OSRM_ROUTED_LOG_FILE = 'osrm-routed.log'
 
 class OSRMBackgroundLauncher
@@ -21,7 +19,7 @@ class OSRMBackgroundLauncher
   private
 
   def launch
-    Timeout.timeout(LAUNCH_TIMEOUT) do
+    Timeout.timeout(OSRM_TIMEOUT) do
       osrm_up
       wait_for_connection
     end
@@ -30,7 +28,7 @@ class OSRMBackgroundLauncher
   end
 
   def shutdown
-    Timeout.timeout(SHUTDOWN_TIMEOUT) do
+    Timeout.timeout(OSRM_TIMEOUT) do
       osrm_down
     end
   rescue Timeout::Error
diff --git a/features/support/locate.rb b/features/support/locate.rb
index b7dc55f6d..900724703 100644
--- a/features/support/locate.rb
+++ b/features/support/locate.rb
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ require 'net/http'
 def request_locate_url path
   @query = path
   uri = URI.parse "#{HOST}/#{path}"
-  Timeout.timeout(REQUEST_TIMEOUT) do
+  Timeout.timeout(OSRM_TIMEOUT) do
     Net::HTTP.get_response uri
   end
 rescue Errno::ECONNREFUSED => e
diff --git a/features/support/nearest.rb b/features/support/nearest.rb
index e37130735..77fc351a9 100644
--- a/features/support/nearest.rb
+++ b/features/support/nearest.rb
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ require 'net/http'
 def request_nearest_url path
   @query = path
   uri = URI.parse "#{HOST}/#{path}"
-  Timeout.timeout(REQUEST_TIMEOUT) do
+  Timeout.timeout(OSRM_TIMEOUT) do
     Net::HTTP.get_response uri
   end
 rescue Errno::ECONNREFUSED => e
diff --git a/features/support/route.rb b/features/support/route.rb
index 417ba0d49..15dbf77a4 100644
--- a/features/support/route.rb
+++ b/features/support/route.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 require 'net/http'
 
 HOST = "http://localhost:#{OSRM_PORT}"
-REQUEST_TIMEOUT = 1
 DESTINATION_REACHED = 15      #OSRM instruction code
 
 class Hash
@@ -18,7 +17,7 @@ def request_path path, waypoints=[], options={}
   params = nil if params==""
   uri = URI.parse ["#{HOST}/#{path}", params].compact.join('?')
   @query = uri.to_s
-  Timeout.timeout(REQUEST_TIMEOUT) do
+  Timeout.timeout(OSRM_TIMEOUT) do
     Net::HTTP.get_response uri
   end
 rescue Errno::ECONNREFUSED => e