Connecticut News

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Is there a new state maintained road in Danbury? 

Look at page 3 under DANBURY

http://www.ct.gov/dot/lib/dot/documents/dstc/180days.pdf

[kurumi]

Is there a new state maintained road in Danbury? 

Look at page 3 under DANBURY

http://www.ct.gov/dot/lib/dot/documents/dstc/180days.pdf

Nah, SR 824 was created in 1984. "New State Road" is just the road's name, as far as ConnDOT is concerned. It shows up as Woodland Rd on Google Maps.

There's also a New State Road in Manchester, CT, that has kept that name, and was state maintained (SR 806, then SR 437) until 1962. But now that's a former state road.

[Pete from Boston]

"New/Old State Rd" is common parlance in many areas for superseded/superseding state highways.  Lots of "Old State Roads" around here are short segments that have a curve and/or houses that were bypassed for a better through route.

[Mergingtraffic]

another example of CT being late to the party:

CT DOT started doing time travel updates on the VMSs.

"To Rte 7, 8 miles, 10 minutes" I saw that on I-95.  Also checked the travel map where is displays the VMS text and they're doing it across the state.   

[wytout]

I Think these got the switch turned on statewide today.  I was heading down 91 south from Windsor to Hartford and the VMS's were updated with travel times to 84, Route 15, Route 3, Route 9, etc.

Late to the party, but nice just the same.  I got sick of the same message every day "Delay 8 Miles Exit 37 - 32" etc. etc.


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Regarding CT state 3Di Route Shields, yup.  Hadn't looked at the Sign Catalog in a while. it was updated March of this year, and it surely does have specific sign panels for 24x24 / 36x36 1&2 digit shields and 24X30 / 45X36 3Di state route shields.

[JakeFromNewEngland]

Today I saw two travel time VMS' in Milford along I-95. Heading northbound, there was a sign saying "I-91 10 Miles 13 Minutes". Heading southbound, there was a VMS for the Route 8 interchange in Bridgeport, but I don't remember the exact mileage/time. I'm glad to see CT is finally doing this, now if we could only get some mileage signs...

[shadyjay]

.....now if we could only get some mileage signs...

CT has never been that big on mileage signs.   Only a handful exist.  I do recall many years ago seeing one on I-91 SB with distances to Meriden and New Haven given in both miles and km.  And then there were the "Next Exit xx Miles" signs on the turnpike in Branford.  They were funny since the exits were only 1-3 miles apart.   Now where I live, next exit signs are much more useful since our exits are much farther apart than even the infamous Merritt Parkway's 'no exit zone'!

[KEVIN_224]

There's a distance sign on I-84 West in Union, not too long after the Massachusetts border. before you pass the weigh station. It shows the distance to Hartford and Waterbury.

[shadyjay]

There's a distance sign on I-84 West in Union, not too long after the Massachusetts border. before you pass the weigh station. It shows the distance to Hartford and Waterbury.

And that's the only one on I-84 if I recall. 
I-95 NB has two:  one in Greenwich for Stamford & Bridgeport and one in Stonington for N. Stonington and Providence
I-95 SB has two:  one in Stonington for New London & New Haven and one in Groton for New Haven & Bridgeport.  I think there is one for Stamford & New York City somewhere in lower Fairfield Cty as well.
CT 9 has one in each direction:  between Exits 8 & 9 in Haddam
CT 2 has several between Marlborough and Norwich
CT 8 I think has one SB near the exp'y start, for Waterbury and Bridgeport. 

And I think that's it. 

I would definitely add more to I-84 and I-95, and definitely add some on I-91. 

[KEVIN_224]

Massachusetts has one on their portion of I-84 west, mentioning at least Union and Hartford. Not sure about Waterbury.

As for I-91, I don't see a mileage sign until the first overpass in Longmeadow, MA, nearly a mile north of the CT state line. I know it mentions Brattleboro, VT being about 63 miles away.

[JakeFromNewEngland]

If I recall correctly, there is a button copy mileage sign on CT 15/Wilbur Cross Parkway southbound in Meriden just past the I-91 interchange. It mentions the distances to New Haven, Bridgeport, and NYC.

[shadyjay]

Forgot about that one, and apparently so did ConnDOT as its in that "no-man's land" of forgotten button-copy signage... right up there with the NB BGSs for Exit 67/East Main St and the signage for Exits 55/54 on the east side of the Sikorsky Bridge.  And that even older non-reflective button copy for SB Exit 55 1/2 mile, which still has the text services listing below it that used to be common in the NRBC era.

[southshore720]

It always bothered me that the orphan button copy signs on Wilbur Cross at Exits 55/54 were never replaced...and I doubt we'll see replacements anytime within this decade.

[shadyjay]

If those signs are replaced anytime in the next couple of years, they will be orphans as well, being the only signs on the WCP/Merritt with "aligned" exit tabs.  Maybe they will get replacement as part of a "spot" overhead replacement project, but highly unlikely for the NB signs, since that gantry was put in when the bridge was replaced.  So we're looking at either a replacement as part of a WCP or a Merritt replacement.  Given both these roads had some of the oldest signs in the state when they were replaced in the early 2000s, we're looking at replacement sometime in the 2040 time frame.  Unless the Feds force ConnDOT's hand to make the Merritt signs MUTCD compliant, and convert exit numbers to mileage, in which case the Merritt may get new signs in the 2020-2030 timeframe.   

When the time comes, however, I can see most of the SB signage going "ground-based".  The present overheads just don't fit in with the character of the tree-lined median of the WCP.  And NB, why do we need two exits accessing the same road?  You can go straight off the Wheelers Farm Road offramp and still get to Wolf Harbor Road.  And does the NB onramp still have the old NRBC signage?  Sure does, in the GSV:
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.2520996,-73.0737311,3a,75y,32.79h,74.34t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sKg92BpZjtAtr23J3fgn0rA!2e0

[JakeFromNewEngland]

I find it very interesting actually. All of the signs along the Milford Parkway as well as the ground based signs for the onramps onto CT 15 have been replaced within the last two years, except for the signs on the Wilbur Cross. They're the only button copy signs left in Milford!

[shadyjay]

Here's what I have for Milford sign phases:

Phase I signage (1970s-vintage - non-reflective button copy):  WCP SB Exit 55 1/2 mile & Wolf Harbor Rd NB WCP onramp
Phase II signage (1980s-vintage):  n/a   - closest to Milford is on CT 25
Phase III signage (reflective button copy):  WCP NB/SB Exit 55, WCP SB Exit 54
Phase IV signage (Merritt Pkwy version)  WCP SB advance for Exit 53 and NB Exit 54
Phase IV signage (aligned exit tabs, no borders):  Conn Tpke
Phase IV signage (aligned exit tabs, with borders, current standard):  Milford Pkwy

[Mergingtraffic]

Here's what I have for Milford sign phases:

Phase I signage (1970s-vintage - non-reflective button copy):  WCP SB Exit 55 1/2 mile & Wolf Harbor Rd NB WCP onramp

I think the Exit 55 SB half mile sign with the "FOOD PHONE GAS LODGING etc is reflective.  I could've sworn they were when I drove by.  Very early reflective but reflective.

The Wolf Pit Road signs have all been replaced unless I missed one.

[connroadgeek]

One other new trend spreading across the state is the new larger mixed-case FHWA font small guidance signs that tell you which way a town is at the end of a ramp or junction. Previously the long rectangular green signs used all caps that for some reason were pretty small and might give a distance and would generally have an arrow - those were harder to read than these new ones. These new ones are definitely an improvement from a readability standpoint.

[KEVIN_224]

Yes, that distance sign mentioned above is just after CT Route 15 splits away from I-91 in Meriden, right as the NO COMMERCIAL VEHICLES portion begins.

Also noticed a new sign on I-95 North tonight in Darien. There's now a big yellow sign warning about a bridge height restriction along US Route 1 nearby. It reminds drivers to take Exit 13 instead of the upcoming Exit 11.

[Mergingtraffic]

I-84 Hartford Viaduct replacement: There have been enough comments to transportation officials about completing I-291 that the Hartford Courant even did an article on it.

http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-hartford-viaduct-no-new-ring-highway-1013-20141013-story.html

But do you see?  Because of road cut backs a generation ago, it still affects us today. 

[JakeFromNewEngland]

I-84 Hartford Viaduct replacement: There have been enough comments to transportation officials about completing I-291 that the Hartford Courant even did an article on it.

http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-hartford-viaduct-no-new-ring-highway-1013-20141013-story.html

But do you see?  Because of road cut backs a generation ago, it still affects us today.

I totally agree. Hartford needs a beltway or some sort of bypass badly. All traffic that's heading northbound towards the airport, Springfield, etc has to take I-91 north which causes lots of backups in Downtown Hartford. As for I-84, I think they should have it tunnel under downtown. The only thing is this would cost lots of $$$ which I'm sure the state either doesn't have or doesn't want to cough up.

[bob7374]

As for the second picture, it looks like the gantry sign for CT Route 10 was never replaced.

Yet... they made the effort to align the exit tab.  They did that on the pipe gantry assembly at Exit 45, SB, too. 

Those are some beefy looking gantries.  Weird how the pipe gantries have been phased out already, at least at this location.

Going from the traffic cameras to the traffic incident report, one of the listings is for 'Road Work on I-395 Southbound between Exits 79 and 78 in effect today until 3:00 pm.' Could this be related to the exit sign replacement/renumbering project?

The travel map shows a project to rehabilitate a culvert near Exit 78.  That could be why as well. 

I was down in CT this past weekend, though time didn't permit me to take a drive around to check the progress on that project.  Vehicle repairs were a higher priority, and it kept me at bay until about 15 minutes before I retracted back to VT.  At least I beat rush hour in Hartford, though the area between Exits 28-29 on 91NB had its usual delays. 

I drove down I-395 South to attend the Merritt Parkway Meet on Saturday. I spotted one new exit sign going the other direction, it was at the CT 2A exit and from my quick glance backwards it had a 2A shield and a right mounted exit tab, with the current exit number, 79A. It may be that they are changing the signs along 2A first, including at I-395, then moving on to the interstate signs. Guess it wouldn't make any sense to change the exit number on that one sign, when all the other older signs remain. The only other new signs spotted, as has been posted, were the blue service area signs.

[jp the roadgeek]

There's also a mileage sign on I-84 east just past I-684 in Brewster with mileages to Danbury (8) and Hartford (65).

[KEVIN_224]

http://wtnh.com/2014/10/28/truck-catches-fire-on-merritt-parkway/

And this is what cellphone guidance gives truckers! This happened on the Merritt Parkway (CT Route 15) in Greenwich...barely! The driver's trailer, which obviously should never have been on this road, struck the King Street overpass on the state line.

[shadyjay]

http://wtnh.com/2014/10/28/truck-catches-fire-on-merritt-parkway/

And this is what cellphone guidance gives truckers! This happened on the Merritt Parkway (CT Route 15) in Greenwich...barely! The driver's trailer, which obviously should never have been on this road, struck the King Street overpass on the state line.

Reminds me of seeing tractor trailers on the WCP stopped on the shoulder not far from the West Rock Tunnel.  Guess that's why the u-turns on either side of the tunnel are extra long.... so that a wayward trucker can be u-turned, requiring traffic stops in both directions.