Site Navigation Connecticut Maine Massachusetts New Hampshire New Jersey New York Pennsylvania Rhode Island Vermont     Interstate 84 Eastbound - Danbury Vicinity Thanks goes to John Boren with help on captions. Interstate 84 Eastbound "Connecticut Welcomes You" sign for Interstate 84 westbound traffic. Upon entering the state from New York, the road is also entering the city of Danbury. The off-ramp for Exit 1 to Sawmill Road actually begins before the state line, which is why the signs for Exit 2 seem rather sudden. Photo taken 06/13/05. The first exit off of Interstate 84 in Connecticut that is wholly in the state is Exit 2 to Mill Plain Road and Old Ridgebury Road. The space next to the U.S. 202 shield should be filled with a US 6 shield as they are both assigned to Mill Plain Road. Union Carbide, a subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company has a large facility just off of this exit as well as Boehringer Ingelheim, a pharmaceutical company based out of Germany. Photo taken 06/13/05. Many highways run into the problem of freight trucks parking on the shoulders of the road near a rest stop when the truck parking lot is full or at weigh stations that are not in use. Here ConnDOT has erected many no parking signs to make to clarify any doubts truckers may have about whether or not they can park there. A weigh station otherwise lies along the rest area access road south of Exit 2. Photo taken 06/13/05. A Connecticut welcome center and rest area are located off of Exit 2. Rest areas are not as common on Interstate 84 as they are on Interstate 95 or the Merritt Parkway because it was never a toll road. Photo taken 06/26/05. Another sign for Exit 2 to Mill Plain Road and Old Ridgebury Road. Unlike the previous one, this has the U.S. 6 shield within it. U.S. 6 & 202 parallel Interstate 84 closely from Brewster east into Danbury. Old Ridgebury Road spurs south from the nearby federal highways to Saw Mill Road. Photo taken 06/26/05. Emergency Services Information as well as the first Connecticut eastbound reassurance shield. Not all states use the same phone number for emergency services so it is a good idea to take note of the number when traveling through different states. Photo taken 06/13/05. A diamond interchange joins Interstate 84 with an access road to Union Carbide and parallel U.S. 6 & 202 (Mill Plain Road). Old Ridgebury Road passes over the freeway nearby, with two additional freeway ramps of its own. Photo taken 06/26/05. After motorists take the off ramp to Exit 2 they are to bear right to go to the CT welcome center/rest area and weigh station or bear left to go to U.S. 6 & 202 (Mill Plain Road). Exit 2 serves interests to the Charles Ives Center and the Western Connecticut State University Westside Campus. Photo taken 06/13/05. An extra lane is gained when traffic from Exit 2 merges on to the freeway. This third lane defaults into an exit only lane for Exit 3 to U.S. 7 south. The Interstate 84 shield is faded in this pull through sign and has probably been replaced since the photo was taken. Rural expressways in Connecticut generally have a 65 mph speed limit, but Interstate 84 only has a 55 mph on this stretch since it is about to pass through the Danbury metro area. Photo taken 06/26/05. Pull through sign for Interstate 84 bearing a new shield. Exit 3 to U.S. 7 south towards Norwalk departs shortly. The newer interstate shield is unique in that it bears the state name in it and that it is much smaller than the shield it replaced. State names in shields have gradually gone away in most states and the likely reason that it exists in this sign is that these are leftover shields made some time ago. Many of the I-84 shields in the vicinity of East Hartford and Manchester are the same as this one. First photo taken 06/26/05, second photo taken 06/13/05. The dashed line for the third lane turns into a solid line as Exit 3 nears. Park Avenue which leads to downtown Danbury and the Danbury Airport are both exits off of the U.S. 7 expressway. Photo taken 06/26/05. The exiting lane for U.S. 7 south joins with another lane originating from Interstate 84 westbound to form two southbound lanes. Traffic continuing on Interstate 84 east continues underneath a ramp from U.S. 7 north to Interstate 84 west. U.S. 7 exists briefly as a freeway to Danbury Municipal Airport before downgrading into a surface roadway to Ridgefield, Wilton, and Norwalk. The routing between Danbury and Interstate 95 was planned as a freeway, but cancelled due to community opposition. Photo taken 06/26/05. First sign for Exit 4 to Lake Avenue, U.S. 6 and 202 west. The road curves sharply to the left as it prepares to merge with lanes from the northbound US 7 expressway. Photo taken 06/26/05. A faded sign reads "shift right 2 lanes" for Exit 4 to Lake Avenue. Due to the merge from U.S. 7 north traffic wishing to take Exit 4 will have to cross over two lanes rather than just be in the current right most lane. Lake Avenue carries U.S. 6 & 202 east from Mill Plain Road at University Boulevard to junction Interstate 84 & U.S. 7. Photo taken 06/13/05. Some weaving can occur at this point as motorists from U.S. 7 north will want to move over into the left three lanes since the right once ends. Other motorists will be attempting to move from the left two lanes to use Exit 4. Lake Avenue continues east from Exit 4, without U.S. 6 & 202, to West Street and downtown Danbury. U.S. 6 east & 202 north follow Interstate 84 east & U.S. 7 around downtown. Photo taken 06/26/05. Westville Avenue crosses overhead. The obscured route in the sign is Connecticut 53. While the sign uses the southern points of Downtown Danbury and Bethel as controls, points north such as New Fairfield can also be reached from Connecticut 37 and 39. All three state highways begin at the partial-cloverleaf interchange, with Connecticut 53 leading south 23.57 miles between Danbury and Norwalk. Exit 5 serves the Metro North Danbury station, which serves many New York bound commuters that live in Danbury because of its relatively low cost of living, and the Western Connecticut State University midtown campus. Photo taken 06/26/05. A more clear view of a sign for Exit 5. Bethel is the corporate headquarters of Cannondale Bicycle Corporation. Connecticut 37 (North Street) and 39 (Clapboard Ridge Road) lead to the north while Connecticut 53 (Main Street) heads south. Connecticut 37 travels 18.66 miles from Danbury to U.S. 7 in New Milford; Connecticut 39 meanders northward near the state line on a 22.76-mile drive to north Sherman. Photo taken 06/13/05. There are many outdoor recreation areas near Danbury and the most well known one is Candlewood Lake which can be reached from Exit 5. Candlewood Lake is man-made and is the largest in the state. Its purpose is to store water during periods of low electrical power demand to be used when electrical power demand is high. Because of its size and proximity to New York, water front property on the lake commands high real estate prices. Photo taken 06/26/05. Interstate 84 is about to lose two U.S. routes that it is overlapped with; U.S. 7 and 202 at Exit 7. The left most lane will become an exit only lane and the mainline will only be two lanes. Photo taken 06/26/05. Older shields for U.S. 7 and 202 as well as I-84. Waterbury and Hartford are now used as control cities since Danbury has been passed through. Photo taken 06/13/05. The exit only lane splits into two lanes as U.S. 7 north departs via a short expressway. U.S. 202 defaults onto Federal Road via the White Turke Road diamond interchange of U.S. 7 (Exit 11). The U.S. 7 expressway ends in Brookfield before merging again with U.S. 202 to form a two lane road. Originally it had been planned for U.S. 7 to be a undivided freeway all the way up into Massachusetts and Vermont, but only a short portion in Connecticut was built due to opposition. Because of anticipated future traffic needs, the expressway is in the process of being extended 3 miles north to the New Milford town line. Construction is anticipated to be complete in 2009. Information regarding the project can be found at the Route 7 Corridor Improvements web site. Photo taken 06/13/05. Now down to two lanes, Interstate 84 continues towards Waterbury. This is one of the few instances where it's actually shown that U.S. 6 is cosigned with Interstate 84. Photo taken 06/26/05. Newtown Road and Bethel can be reached from the Exit 8 diamond interchange. Just as soon as its signed, U.S. 6 leaves Interstate 84 for its original alignment. Old U.S. 6 followed Newtown Road west into Danbury. The road carries no designation now, but connections with Triangle Street lead motorists southward to Connecticut 53 (South Street) for Bethel. The left most lane brings traffic merging from the southbound U.S. 7 expressway. Photo taken 06/26/05. While Exit 9 leads to Connecticut 25 south, its actually faster to stay on Interstate 84 and take Exit 11 as an alternate way of getting to Connecticut 25 when traveling towards Bridgeport. This alternate route is faster because Connecticut 25 south actually meanders east through Newtown before heading south. Photo taken 06/26/05. Secor Road passes over Interstate 84, one mile west of the Exit 9 partial-cloverleaf interchange with Connecticut 25 (Hawleyville Road). Connecticut 25 meets the freeway at Hawleyville, just north of its merge with U.S. 6 (Mt. Pleasant Road) in north Newtown. Photos taken 06/26/05. One half mile west of the Exit 9 off-ramp to Connecticut 25 (Hawleyville Road) at the Old Hawleyville Road over crossing. Connecticut 25 travels 3.5 miles southeast from Brookfield Center to Hawleyville and Interstate 84. Bridgeport was removed as the second control city for Exit 9 in late 2001.1 Photos taken 06/26/05. In this auxiliary sign for Exit 9, Hawleyville and Newtown are used as control points which is more appropriate than Brookfield since westbound travelers on Interstate 84 would be better served to have used Exit 7 for U.S. 7 north. The Newtown town center lies three miles east along U.S. 6 & Connecticut 25. Photo taken 06/26/05. Exit 9 departs Interstate 84 eastbound for Connecticut 25 (Hawleyville Road). Connecticut 25 & U.S. 6 follow Mt. Pleasant Road to their split at Main Street in Newtown. From there Connecticut 25 continues southward to junction Connecticut 302 (Sugar Street) and Monroe. The state highway tallies 28.59-miles between Interstate 95 in Bridgeport and U.S. 7 & 202 at Brookfield. Photo taken 06/26/05. U.S. 6 rejoins Interstate 84 at Exit 10. U.S. 6 west (Church Hill Road) leads one mile into Newtown, while unsigned Connecticut 816 east (Church Hill Road) goes to Sandy Hook and to the Rocky Glen State Park. Connecticut 34 (Washington Street) begins at its intersection with Church Hill Road (old U.S. 6) at Sandy Hook. Photo taken 06/26/05. Merging traffic from Exit 10 add a third lane, but that only lasts until the next exit. Exit 11 constitutes a tri-level stack interchange with a short freeway spur leading south to parallel Connecticut 34 (Berkshire Road). The freeway spur and high-speed interchange were built for the unconstructed Connecticut 25 freeway, a 1960s-80s freeway proposal for a high-speed route between Danbury and Bridgeport. Connecticut 25 exists as a freeway from Interstate 95 northward to Connecticut 111 in Trumbull, but funding issues curtailed any building of the highway northward, with the exception of Interstate 84 Exit 11. Plans to upgrade Connecticut 25 into a freeway were dropped in 1993, and more recent plans call for the dismantling of the stack interchange at Exit 11 to be replaced by a conventional diamond and new surface route to Connecticut 25 south of Newtown.1 Photo taken 06/26/05. Exit 11 still serves interests to Connecticut 34 (Berkshire Road) for its route southeast to Berkshire, Stevenson, and Derby. Interstate 84 meanwhile continues on a northeasterly course to to Waterbury and Hartford. Connecticut 34 travels 24.37 miles miles from its beginning at Sandy Hook to the interchange of Interstates 91 & 95 in New Haven. Photo taken 06/26/05. When U.S./state routes are co-signed with interstates, it is common in Connecticut to only see the U.S./state route reassurance shields on the side of the road and not on any pull through signs. The landscape is rural until Waterbury. Photo taken 06/26/05. Strangely enough, Exit 12 does not exist, so Exit 13 to River Road is the next one. This exit is on the opposite bank of the Housatonic River and joins Interstate 84 with River Road (old U.S. 6). The original routing of U.S. 6 followed Glen Road across the Housatonic River to River Road in Southbury. River Road parallels the waterway northward to Purchase Brook Road near George C. Waldo State Park. Photo taken 06/26/05. This bridge over the Housatonic River was clearly built to accommodate an increase to three lanes of travel each way in the future, but at this time the extra space serves as an extra wide shoulder. Exits 13 through 16 serve the town of Southbury. Photo taken 06/26/05. Sources: Connecticut Route 25 and 25A, Kurumi.com. Page Updated January 9, 2008.