Connecticut News

[kernals12]

If I-291 had been built, Hartford residents would be left with rusty pipes what with all the road salt running into their water supplies.

I wonder why nobody has suggested utilizing the Whitehead Highway. You'd need a very short tunnel under Bushnell Park. It would allow them to close off the I-84 viaduct during construction.

1. You have no way to prove that would happen

2. Bushnell Park is America's oldest public park. If they actually did construct I-484 the tunnel would have been buried with cut-and-cover, tearing up the park for months. Maybe now, they could do it with a TBM.

The EPA said that's what would've happened.

** I-190 (Massachusetts edition) around the salt-free Wachusett Reservoir enters the chat **

MassDOT used a lot of costly mitigation measures, most importantly those very wide shoulders. Fitting 8 lanes (vs 4 for 190) and extra wide shoulders probably would've been prohibitively expensive.

I'm sure Connecticut considered all the ideas we can think of and probably more to get the highway built and finally gave up because none of them were practical

[The Ghostbuster]

Couldn't an Interstate 84 tunnel be built more or less following the existing alignment of Interstate 84? The Big Dig tunnel was mostly built beneath the pre-existing Interstate 93 Central Artery.

[kernals12]

Couldn't an Interstate 84 tunnel be built more or less following the existing alignment of Interstate 84? The Big Dig tunnel was mostly built beneath the pre-existing Interstate 93 Central Artery.

If we're going to ignore costs, why not go the whole way and give every Hartford resident a helicopter?

[jp the roadgeek]

Also, drove on I-84 and it seems like the Farmington to Hartford signing project is going as I see the ramp BGS signs being replaced with new GOD AWFUL BGSs.  I hope it's not one of those projects where the signs look "off."  It's Highway gothic font but the control cities FONt is too thin and too closely spaced together.  Ugh. 

I believe Exit 43 or 44, Exit 48 to I-84 WB has these new ones

Here's the one from Exit 49 WB.

[RobbieL2415]

Foundations have been installed for new ground BGSs at the I-91 on-ramp at Great Meadow road and for the Exit 25N supplemental signage.

GMaps links to locations:

On-ramp: https://maps.app.goo.gl/4PwNEWQLi5kjPwPw9

Putnam Bridge sign: I-91
https://maps.app.goo.gl/ySSqs9XgMqh1xtRs8

[connroadgeek]

How do signs get messed up? Isn't it all standardized and done by a computer? I've never seen the place where the signs are made.

[Alps]

How do signs get messed up? Isn't it all standardized and done by a computer? I've never seen the place where the signs are made.

Computers still have humans inputting the info. It's only as good as the quality control.

[connroadgeek]

How do signs get messed up? Isn't it all standardized and done by a computer? I've never seen the place where the signs are made.

Computers still have humans inputting the info. It's only as good as the quality control.

But wouldn't the computer know all of the rules and formats for the signs? I assumed like a lot of things it's just all templated so the human just plugs in text or highway numbers and the computer does the rest.

[Alps]

How do signs get messed up? Isn't it all standardized and done by a computer? I've never seen the place where the signs are made.

Computers still have humans inputting the info. It's only as good as the quality control.

But wouldn't the computer know all of the rules and formats for the signs? I assumed like a lot of things it's just all templated so the human just plugs in text or highway numbers and the computer does the rest.

Nope. The human has to manually check all spacings.

[kernals12]

What was really funny about the "Token War" is that the press covered it like a war.

When 10 people were arrested for trying to use the turnpike tokens, the New York Times Headline read:

CITY TAKES FIRST PRISONERS IN 17 1/2¦ TOKEN WAR

The first prisoners were taken in the war of the tokens yesterday morning, and hours later, Mayor Koch called Gov. William A. O'Neill of Connecticut in an effort to resolve the six-day dispute. But the diplomatic efforts failed.

And in 1985, after Connecticut abolished tolls and agreed to pay New York 17 ½ cents for each token, the AP said:
Peace at Last in the Great Token War
NEW YORK (AP) _ New York City and Connecticut have agreed to beat their tokens into ploughshares, ending hostilities over a 17 ½ -cent Connecticut Turnpike token that just happened to fit the city's 90-cent subway turnstiles.

[bluecountry]

Whats going on with I-91 construction now just south of Hartford?

Are there any plans to finally take care of that awful merge with 15 in Hartford?

[kurumi]

Whats going on with I-91 construction now just south of Hartford?

Are there any plans to finally take care of that awful merge with 15 in Hartford?

Yup. https://i-91charteroakbridge.com/en

[jp the roadgeek]

Speaking of I-91, the ramp from I-84 East to I-91 South is closed from now until June.  Detours point you to Route 2 to Route 3 to get to I-91 South.

[kernals12]

Whats going on with I-91 construction now just south of Hartford?

Are there any plans to finally take care of that awful merge with 15 in Hartford?

Yup. https://i-91charteroakbridge.com/en

Connecticut just can't kick its left hand exit habit can it?

[RobbieL2415]

Whats going on with I-91 construction now just south of Hartford?

Are there any plans to finally take care of that awful merge with 15 in Hartford?

Yup. https://i-91charteroakbridge.com/en

Connecticut just can't kick its left hand exit habit can it?

Would you rather be stuck in a 2 mile backup for a weak-sauce ramp?

[kernals12]

Whats going on with I-91 construction now just south of Hartford?

Are there any plans to finally take care of that awful merge with 15 in Hartford?

Yup. https://i-91charteroakbridge.com/en

Connecticut just can't kick its left hand exit habit can it?

Would you rather be stuck in a 2 mile backup for a weak-sauce ramp?

I'm just surprised. Most states are removing them as fast as they can. Highway engineers consider them the work of Satan.

[vdeane]

And CT did remove a couple down in New Haven when they were doing the work for the Q Bridge project (which means there's now a massively overpowered flyover sending traffic to the boulevard where the CT 34 freeway was), so it's interesting that they're adding one here.

[shadyjay]

Personally, I think they should've moved the Exit 29 ramp to where the Exit 27 ramp is currently.  And the fact that the CT 15 South to I-91 South ramp isn't being altered one bit as part of this project seems ridiculous to me... it should be a 2-lane ramp as well, and enter I-91 South on the right, not left.  The existing CT 15 South ramp to Brainard Rd, which has an I-91 South "second option" ramp should've been made 2 lanes.  But I digress........

A lot on I-84 could be eliminated fairly easily, and probably will be in time.  Some were meant for roads which never got built, such as the Flatbush Freeway and the Sisson Ave ramps.  Those with CT 8 in Waterbury will probably be eliminated some day when that whole mixmaster is replaced.  And eventually the one big one remaining on I-95 North at I-395 in East Lyme will go.  A couple on I-91 in the New Haven area could probably go... Willow St was another freeway that never happened.  I have no problem with the left exit in Groton at I-95 North Exit 86. 

[kernals12]

Personally, I think they should've moved the Exit 29 ramp to where the Exit 27 ramp is currently.  And the fact that the CT 15 South to I-91 South ramp isn't being altered one bit as part of this project seems ridiculous to me... it should be a 2-lane ramp as well, and enter I-91 South on the right, not left.  The existing CT 15 South ramp to Brainard Rd, which has an I-91 South "second option" ramp should've been made 2 lanes.  But I digress........

A lot on I-84 could be eliminated fairly easily, and probably will be in time.  Some were meant for roads which never got built, such as the Flatbush Freeway and the Sisson Ave ramps.  Those with CT 8 in Waterbury will probably be eliminated some day when that whole mixmaster is replaced.  And eventually the one big one remaining on I-95 North at I-395 in East Lyme will go.  A couple on I-91 in the New Haven area could probably go... Willow St was another freeway that never happened.  I have no problem with the left exit in Groton at I-95 North Exit 86.

Even those two where 84 merges and diverges with 7?

[abqtraveler]

Personally, I think they should've moved the Exit 29 ramp to where the Exit 27 ramp is currently.  And the fact that the CT 15 South to I-91 South ramp isn't being altered one bit as part of this project seems ridiculous to me... it should be a 2-lane ramp as well, and enter I-91 South on the right, not left.  The existing CT 15 South ramp to Brainard Rd, which has an I-91 South "second option" ramp should've been made 2 lanes.  But I digress........

A lot on I-84 could be eliminated fairly easily, and probably will be in time.  Some were meant for roads which never got built, such as the Flatbush Freeway and the Sisson Ave ramps.  Those with CT 8 in Waterbury will probably be eliminated some day when that whole mixmaster is replaced.  And eventually the one big one remaining on I-95 North at I-395 in East Lyme will go.  A couple on I-91 in the New Haven area could probably go... Willow St was another freeway that never happened.  I have no problem with the left exit in Groton at I-95 North Exit 86.

Even those two where 84 merges and diverges with 7?

Back around 2000 I attended a public meeting where the Connecticut DOT proposed reconfiguring the two I-84 interchanges with US-7 to eliminate the left-hand exits that was part of a larger proposal to widen I-84 from the New York state line to Waterbury. Like most other big-ticket projects in Connecticut, the plans for this were placed on a shelf at DOT headquarters, never to be seen or heard of again. The concept at the time was to widen I-84 from 6 to 8 lanes through Danbury, and from 4 to 6 lanes for the remainder of the New York-Waterbury corridor. The left-hand ramps to US-7 would have been moved to right-hand exit/entrance with new flyover bridges and braided ramps to Exits 4 and 6 (US-6 west and US-6 east, respectively) to eliminate the weaving that causes the congestion and traffic crashes in those areas. The last DOT estimate for the entire New York-Waterbury corridor before they shelved the plan was around $5 billion. I don't know how they came up with that number, but I think it's grossly overestimated given that from Exit 8 to Exit 18, I-84's median is wide enough to accommodate an additional lane in each direction without the need to acquire new ROW. I would think the interchanges with US-7 would be the most costly components of reworking I-84 through Danbury, but I would see each interchange being a couple hundred million. The Rochambeau Bridge that is already wide enough to accommodate at least an additional lane of traffic in each direction is being completely rebuilt at a cost of around $60 million. So I don't get where they came up with $5 billion from. If they're including the replacement of the Waterbury Mixmaster in that estimate, then $5 billion might be more believable.

[kernals12]

Here's a thought experiment: what highway improvements would be made if Connecticut wasn't drowning in pension liabilities?

8 lanes on i-95 through Fairfield County seems like a given.

[Alps]

Speaking of I-91, the ramp from I-84 East to I-91 South is closed from now until June.  Detours point you to Route 2 to Route 3 to get to I-91 South.

Or just take I-691. (Or I-484, the inner roadgeek whispers)

Whats going on with I-91 construction now just south of Hartford?

Are there any plans to finally take care of that awful merge with 15 in Hartford?

Yup. https://i-91charteroakbridge.com/en

Connecticut just can't kick its left hand exit habit can it?

Left hand slip ramps that can maintain speed between adjacent freeways are not a problem. Left exits requiring you to slow down are.

[Rothman]

Here's a thought experiment: what highway improvements would be made if Connecticut wasn't drowning in pension liabilities?

8 lanes on i-95 through Fairfield County seems like a given.

Fictional.

[jp the roadgeek]

No reason to get rid of the left hand one in East Lyme.  It's a vestige from the original turnpike; the I-95 portion was added later.  Another one that needs to be fixed is the I-84/CT 72 complex in Plainville.  Many an accident has occurred there amongst all the weaving (and the sharp corners west of the split). You actually have 3 left exits in a row heading eastbound.

[shadyjay]

Well, for East Lyme, what needs to happen is more lanes coming into the split.  Ideally, it would be 4, with 2 for I-95, 1 for I-395, and an option lane.  I've seen plans which have Exit 76 converted to a right hand exit, and that's probably what will happen eventually, as it'll be a full scale reconstruction through the area. 

The I-84/CT 72 Plainville "gap" got better when it was widened, but its very curvy through there and there's not much you can do about that due to the natural features of the area.  I'd get rid of Slater Road's left exit, for sure.  What I really can't stand is these left exits to surface roads (Park Rd, Flatbush, Sisson, Governor, all meant for freeways). 

I'm surprised the I-691/I-91 Meriden project retains the I-691 left exits to I-91, especially 691EB to 91NB.  Since I-691 has a wide variable median in the area, I would think I-691 EB could be shifted north and permit a ramp to 91 NB to be a "flyover".  Probably not in there to minimize costs.