Connecticut News

[DrSmith]

Hazard Ave in Enfield had a signal go bad (by the Chick Fil A) and get replaced with a dark green 4-way.  The remainder of the signals are old yellow ones. I think they also did that for the Bloomfield Ave HOV exit off I-91 in Windsor too. 

[connroadgeek]

Funny, a week ago I spotted the new yellow signals in Farmington also.. It looks like we're sorta stepping back into the 80s lol..

With the Route 5 East Windsor lights.. I was digging the original florescent green stripe on the backplates with the green mark IV signals.. Then suddenly they changed to yellow stripes.. I wonder why they changed that too! I wish they accepted the flourescent green backplate with dark green signals into the new standard..

And yes, several town owned yellow signals from the early 90's around Buckland Mall in Manchester have been replaced with black signals this year.

But West Hartford seems to be the only consistent one.. They have stuck with yellow on their town signals through the decades..

I have also spotted some unfinished signal projects with only the pedestrian signal pedestals installed this spring in Enfield, Wethersfield, Manchester, Bolton.. I've been waiting to see if they were going yellow.. Seems like that project has been long stalled

The 4 way intersection of Buckland Rd and Evergreen Walk recently had pedestrian signals installed and added new lights for restricted left turns. The new lights are yellow while the rest of the green lights were left untouched. Looks a little sloppy, but as far as I know that's a town road.

The lights around Buckland in Manchester have slowly been changing. The crazy part is the switch is made entirely within 1 day - new ones up, old ones gone (Most recently at the Pavilions entrance across from Red Robin.) They've pulled the switcharoo on me a few times while I was at work for the day. I like the 90's nature of the remaining lights, especially the route 83/I-84 light (at VIP) where the left arrow displays while the red remains lit. It's the only remaining example I know of that does this in the state.

I think there's still one at the I-95 exit 70 S/B on ramp, though I believe that one is a right arrow. That one has the red ball lit w/the green arrow 99% of the time until the signal detects traffic waiting to exit the little commuter lot.

[mroad860]

Funny, a week ago I spotted the new yellow signals in Farmington also.. It looks like we're sorta stepping back into the 80s lol..

With the Route 5 East Windsor lights.. I was digging the original florescent green stripe on the backplates with the green mark IV signals.. Then suddenly they changed to yellow stripes.. I wonder why they changed that too! I wish they accepted the flourescent green backplate with dark green signals into the new standard..

And yes, several town owned yellow signals from the early 90's around Buckland Mall in Manchester have been replaced with black signals this year.

But West Hartford seems to be the only consistent one.. They have stuck with yellow on their town signals through the decades..

I have also spotted some unfinished signal projects with only the pedestrian signal pedestals installed this spring in Enfield, Wethersfield, Manchester, Bolton.. I've been waiting to see if they were going yellow.. Seems like that project has been long stalled

The 4 way intersection of Buckland Rd and Evergreen Walk recently had pedestrian signals installed and added new lights for restricted left turns. The new lights are yellow while the rest of the green lights were left untouched. Looks a little sloppy, but as far as I know that's a town road.

The lights around Buckland in Manchester have slowly been changing. The crazy part is the switch is made entirely within 1 day - new ones up, old ones gone (Most recently at the Pavilions entrance across from Red Robin.) They've pulled the switcharoo on me a few times while I was at work for the day. I like the 90's nature of the remaining lights, especially the route 83/I-84 light (at VIP) where the left arrow displays while the red remains lit. It's the only remaining example I know of that does this in the state.

I was out Christmas shopping in Buckland the other day and I noticed the same! And yes it does look sloppy. I wish they would at least match the color.. It does irk me a bit when they do a spot installation that isn't uniform with what is existing.. But.. 95% of the public doesn't notice or really care.. If I point it out to someone, they'd look at me a little strange.. So what can you do..

[shadyjay]

I think there's still one at the I-95 exit 70 S/B on ramp, though I believe that one is a right arrow. That one has the red ball lit w/the green arrow 99% of the time until the signal detects traffic waiting to exit the little commuter lot.

Yup... that one's still there.  Drove by it today. 

What I'm truly amazed is two of the most important signals in the state haven't been replaced since the 1980s... the two on Route 9 at Exit 15 and at Exit 16.

[mroad860]

I think there's still one at the I-95 exit 70 S/B on ramp, though I believe that one is a right arrow. That one has the red ball lit w/the green arrow 99% of the time until the signal detects traffic waiting to exit the little commuter lot.

Yup... that one's still there.  Drove by it today. 

What I'm truly amazed is two of the most important signals in the state haven't been replaced since the 1980s... the two on Route 9 at Exit 15 and at Exit 16.

Yes! Definitely 1980s era signals (LFE signals I think?).. As much as I like traffic signals, I think those signals need to be removed! I've been through numerous backups at the Middletown lights..The lights seem to cause them sometimes..

[kurumi]

http://www.courant.com/opinion/cartoons/hc-are-you-serious-20150908-story.html

Editorial cartoon and blog post by Hartford Courant cartoonist Bob Englehart on the trial balloon to close I-84 for the (shorter) duration of an Aetna Viaduct replacement. Like most editorial cartoons, it's pretty hamfisted. But there is an I-84 sign.

[KEVIN_224]

One of the reasons that beltway around Hartford should've been finished! I'm looking at you Farmington/West Hartford!

(In this case, extending CT Route 9 north of "The Stack" in Farmington and having the road meet up with I-291 in Windsor.)

[mroad860]

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9514984,-72.312102,3a,75y,283.39h,82.61t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sU043004XllURwy58nAVSRw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1

I'm surprised that it's been years since this has been addressed.. At this Stafford, CT fork intersection, the "140" sign above the right arrow has been missing for years! This is 140 westbound just before Stafford Speedway. I bet many from out of town who visit or race the speedway, have headed straight (due to the missing 140 sign), ending up in Tolland.. Instead of the Speedway..

[mroad860]

One of the reasons that beltway around Hartford should've been finished! I'm looking at you Farmington/West Hartford!

(In this case, extending CT Route 9 north of "The Stack" in Farmington and having the road meet up with I-291 in Windsor.)

That beltway would ease congestion for sure.. Or my "dream" idea would be to move 84 to cross the Charter Oak bridge, then at the end of the Charter Oak, a new 84 expressway could be built from the end of the Charter Oak, going alongside Hartford Hospital, to the Exit 41 vicinity in West Hartford. Though I'm sure it would cause tons of uproar (mostly houses in "the hood"), but maybe a route with the most minimal impact toward property lost.. The existing 84 stretch then could be labeled as "Route 6".. I'm sure that route would also make it much easier for ambulances to access Hartford Hospital too..Because it's like hell for an ambulance to reach Hartford Hospital currently.

[jp the roadgeek]

One of the reasons that beltway around Hartford should've been finished! I'm looking at you Farmington/West Hartford!

(In this case, extending CT Route 9 north of "The Stack" in Farmington and having the road meet up with I-291 in Windsor.)

That beltway would ease congestion for sure.. Or my "dream" idea would be to move 84 to cross the Charter Oak bridge, then at the end of the Charter Oak, a new 84 expressway could be built from the end of the Charter Oak, going alongside Hartford Hospital, to the Exit 41 vicinity in West Hartford. Though I'm sure it would cause tons of uproar (mostly houses in "the hood"), but maybe a route with the most minimal impact toward property lost.. The existing 84 stretch then could be labeled as "Route 6".. I'm sure that route would also make it much easier for ambulances to access Hartford Hospital too..Because it's like hell for an ambulance to reach Hartford Hospital currently.

My idea is a limited access connection through Newington from the area of CCSU on CT 9 to connect to the US 5/CT 15 expressway at the north end of the Berlin Turnpike. You could multiplex CT 72 onto CT 9 north and have it carry that designation to the junction with 5/15.

[shadyjay]

That beltway would ease congestion for sure.. Or my "dream" idea would be to move 84 to cross the Charter Oak bridge, then at the end of the Charter Oak, a new 84 expressway could be built from the end of the Charter Oak, going alongside Hartford Hospital, to the Exit 41 vicinity in West Hartford. Though I'm sure it would cause tons of uproar (mostly houses in "the hood"), but maybe a route with the most minimal impact toward property lost.. The existing 84 stretch then could be labeled as "Route 6".. I'm sure that route would also make it much easier for ambulances to access Hartford Hospital too..Because it's like hell for an ambulance to reach Hartford Hospital currently.

That would be a good routing, but getting it through Trinity College would be challenging (not to mention Colt Park AND the cemetery just north of Trinity).  Plus, I had a hard time trying to design a new I-91/I-84/CT 15 interchange at the Charter Oak Bridge.  But the benefits would be you could pretty much eliminate the "canyon" through downtown Hartford on existing I-84, significantly reduce the footprint of the I-84/CT2/Governor St interchange, and maybe make the Bulkeley Bridge a landscaped "boulevard" of sorts. 

My option would still be to reroute I-84 between Trout Brook Drive in West Hartford and Sisson Ave via "Boulevard", eliminating all left exits and the curves enroute.  The alignment can then be rebuilt between Sisson and Asylum as well.

[MikeTheActuary]

Considering that there are some neighborhood advocates whose solution for replacing the Aetna Viaduct involves decommissioning I-84 (with through traffic magically disappearing)...I think any new alignment for I-84 would be challenging to pull off.

[kurumi]

Within the last few years, a nice APL overhead was erected on West Avenue northbound in Norwalk: (any other APLs in CT?)


Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/i6pwbhfxaRG2

To the east is the site of a proposed high-end mall that would build a tunnel over Water Street, and perhaps a grade-separated roadway from West Street into a parking garage.

[kurumi]

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9514984,-72.312102,3a,75y,283.39h,82.61t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sU043004XllURwy58nAVSRw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1

I'm surprised that it's been years since this has been addressed.. At this Stafford, CT fork intersection, the "140" sign above the right arrow has been missing for years! This is 140 westbound just before Stafford Speedway. I bet many from out of town who visit or race the speedway, have headed straight (due to the missing 140 sign), ending up in Tolland.. Instead of the Speedway..

<fictional>Tolland Road should be an extension of CT 195!</fictional>

[TravelingBethelite]

Within the last few years, a nice APL overhead was erected on West Avenue northbound in Norwalk: (any other APLs in CT?)


Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/i6pwbhfxaRG2

To the east is the site of a proposed high-end mall that would build a tunnel over Water Street, and perhaps a grade-separated roadway from West Street into a parking garage.

I believe there is a brand-new one on US 7 south approaching I-84. It was installed, AFAIK, in September of 2015.

[mroad860]

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.9514984,-72.312102,3a,75y,283.39h,82.61t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sU043004XllURwy58nAVSRw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1

I'm surprised that it's been years since this has been addressed.. At this Stafford, CT fork intersection, the "140" sign above the right arrow has been missing for years! This is 140 westbound just before Stafford Speedway. I bet many from out of town who visit or race the speedway, have headed straight (due to the missing 140 sign), ending up in Tolland.. Instead of the Speedway..

<fictional>Tolland Road should be an extension of CT 195!</fictional>

Great idea! Makes a lot of sense!

[PHLBOS]

Within the last few years, a nice APL overhead was erected on West Avenue northbound in Norwalk: (any other APLs in CT?)


Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/i6pwbhfxaRG2

To the east is the site of a proposed high-end mall that would build a tunnel over Water Street, and perhaps a grade-separated roadway from West Street into a parking garage.

I believe there is a brand-new one on US 7 south approaching I-84. It was installed, AFAIK, in September of 2015.

There's also a couple APLs along I-84 eastbound approaching that same interchange as well.

[shadyjay]

This interchange/onramp is in Norwalk, the only APLs in the US 7 corridor that I know of (outside of the ones pictured above) are on I-84 EB at Exit 7, just recently installed.

As for other CT APLs, I can think of one or two going up on CT 72 EB in New Britain approaching CT 9 (part of the state's spot sign replacement).  None I know of on I-91 or I-95, though I can think of a couple places where APLs may be feasible in the future (I-95 SB for Exit 69, I-95 NB for Exit 48-maybe, CT 8/25 split NB in Bridgeport, etc). 

[KEVIN_224]

CT Route 72 eastbound...is it at the split with I-84 on the Plainville/New Britain line or after Exit 8 - Columbus Boulevard? I go to Main Street and the CT Fastrak station often. I have seen no change in the signs at the split with CT Route 9 itself.

[shadyjay]

There should be one or two APLs going in for the CT 9 split approaching the east end of CT 72, near Exit 8.  I believe they're part of 2015's spot sign replacement / overhead structure contract.  So if they're not in already, they will be at some point this year most likely.

[kurumi]

CT 2 westbound in East Hartford through the Mixmaster is going to close for about 10 months: http://www.ct.gov/dot/cwp/view.asp?A=2135&Q=575602

This ramp is 50 years old, in poor condition, and will be replaced. Probably no changes in overall geometry or capacity; could have wider shoulders, box girder structure, other innovations from post-1965. For detour, use Pitkin Street. It won't be pretty.

[cl94]

CT 2 westbound in East Hartford through the Mixmaster is going to close for about 10 months: http://www.ct.gov/dot/cwp/view.asp?A=2135&Q=575602

This ramp is 50 years old, in poor condition, and will be replaced. Probably no changes in overall geometry or capacity; could have wider shoulders, box girder structure, other innovations from post-1965. For detour, use Pitkin Street. It won't be pretty.

No, it won't. I'm assuming Pitkin St will be restriped to allow 2 WB lanes, else restriping the ramp would only make things worse. Main St exit on I-84 will likely be a mess as well.

[Alps]

CT 2 westbound in East Hartford through the Mixmaster is going to close for about 10 months: http://www.ct.gov/dot/cwp/view.asp?A=2135&Q=575602

This ramp is 50 years old, in poor condition, and will be replaced. Probably no changes in overall geometry or capacity; could have wider shoulders, box girder structure, other innovations from post-1965. For detour, use Pitkin Street. It won't be pretty.

No, it won't. I'm assuming Pitkin St will be restriped to allow 2 WB lanes, else restriping the ramp would only make things worse. Main St exit on I-84 will likely be a mess as well.

Good thing the existing ramp is only one lane, so two lanes has a chance of working (along with some traffic detouring onto I-84 WB). Here's what I'd do.
* Restripe offramp to two lanes (LT only, LT/RT)
* Restripe Pitkin to two WB lanes, one EB.
* No left turns from Pitkin WB between CT 2 and Darlin. Use East River Dr. to Hartland St. or down to the 2 EB onramp.
* At Darlin, right lane on Pitkin turns right, free-flow. Left lane is shared thru/left.
* Darlin is not restriped, but it's closed at East River Dr. All NB traffic will turn onto CT 2 WB. This avoids any need to rebuild the ramp for two lanes. (Detour goes around the block.)

[cl94]

CT 2 westbound in East Hartford through the Mixmaster is going to close for about 10 months: http://www.ct.gov/dot/cwp/view.asp?A=2135&Q=575602

This ramp is 50 years old, in poor condition, and will be replaced. Probably no changes in overall geometry or capacity; could have wider shoulders, box girder structure, other innovations from post-1965. For detour, use Pitkin Street. It won't be pretty.

No, it won't. I'm assuming Pitkin St will be restriped to allow 2 WB lanes, else restriping the ramp would only make things worse. Main St exit on I-84 will likely be a mess as well.

Good thing the existing ramp is only one lane, so two lanes has a chance of working (along with some traffic detouring onto I-84 WB). Here's what I'd do.
* Restripe offramp to two lanes (LT only, LT/RT)
* Restripe Pitkin to two WB lanes, one EB.
* No left turns from Pitkin WB between CT 2 and Darlin. Use East River Dr. to Hartland St. or down to the 2 EB onramp.
* At Darlin, right lane on Pitkin turns right, free-flow. Left lane is shared thru/left.
* Darlin is not restriped, but it's closed at East River Dr. All NB traffic will turn onto CT 2 WB. This avoids any need to rebuild the ramp for two lanes. (Detour goes around the block.)

That's roughly what I would do. Difference is that I would keep Darlin NB open for the one building that has no other access so they have a shot at exiting without crossing the bridge.

[Pete from Boston]

The Willington Rest Areas have reopened.  The EB attendant told me this happened about a month ago.  Parking lot is repaved and restriped, with shiny new guardrails.  The building interior had all tile and painted surfaces redone except the terrazzo floor, as well as all the interior fixtures.  This was desperately needed for years (cut-off plastic milk jugs had become a permanent attachment under the leaky soap dispensers).  There's clear evidence outside that new septic facilities were installed.