Connecticut News

[RobbieL2415]

Whoops! I am sorry for that! Yes, Exit 34A would be perfect in that case then. MM 35 is a hundred feet or so north of the Eliis Street overpass in New Britain, so Exit 35 should work fine there. I wonder if Exit 26 northbound (downtown NB - Columbus Boulevard) would be Exit 35 A, since I would make the exits for CT Route 72 West downtown as Exit 36. The last mile marker on this road now is 40, halfway between the New Britain/Farmington town line (just west of the CT Route 71 overpass) and the end at I-84.

Separately, I wonder how the exits would get numbered with CT Route 72, seeing as it doesn't have any mile markers now and that the brief overlap with I-84 in Plainville is only signed with I-84's Exit numbers.

Same thing happens with the US 7 overlap in Danbury or the CT 8/25 multiplex.

[shadyjay]

For the CT 72/I-84 overlap, there are no intermediate exits between where CT 72 joins up with I-84 and then separates.  There used to be one WB for CT 372 but that was moved further west and instead of being on I-84/CT 72 West, it's solely on CT 72 West.

Regarding 8/25, they start at the same spot so their exits would be numbered the same, up to the split.

For the 7/84 overlap, I'd assume only I-84's numbers would be posted.  Exits on US 7 north of I-84 would just continue based on mileage from the start of US 7 at I-95.   

[shadyjay]

At the same time, entrance ramps got signs that said "Milford Parkway" for the first time, also ending its status as an unsigned designation (however it is still not signed from I-95 or the Wilbur Cross/Merritt Parkways).

Post-sign replacement, the entrance ramps to the Milford Pkwy from US 1 say "To 15/NY City/Hartford", those from I-95 say "15/Merritt Pkwy/W Cross Pkwy" and those from CT 15 and Wellington Rd/Wheelers Farm Rd say "To 95/1/Milford".   There is no longer any mention of the Milford Parkway as such, except the small green signs at each end of the road which say "Daniel Wasson Connector". 

[kurumi]

There are some cool historical documents regarding I-84 planning (1940s, '50s, and 1970) at the I-84 Hartford Viaduct planning site: http://www.i84hartford.com/documents.html

And a 3-D aerial tour, which unfortunately sounded more interesting than it actually is: http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/beta.storage.123bim.com/1069/3D%20Tour/3Dtour.htm. Instead of a flyover or drive-through of different alternatives, there are a set of 360-degree views of fixed spots, with some MS-paint-ish overlays at a few street intersections.

[noelbotevera]

On an unrelated topic, how is the Mixmaster construction (CT-8/I-84) interchange progress? The most recent article about it relates to I-84 being widened through Waterbury dating only to July 2015.

[jp the roadgeek]

I'm thinking this is approximately how the mileage based exits would look on CT 72 (using mileage from CT 4)


14 (WB): CT 177 (Washington St)
16 (WB): CT 372
16 (EB): I-84 West
16A (EB): Woodford Ave
(50 on I-84 EB for CT 72 E, 49 on I-84 WB for CT 72 W)
18: CT 372 (Corbin Ave)
19 (EB): Downtown New Britain
20 (EB): CT 71
21 A-B: CT 9 N/S (to avoid an alphabet soup with CT 71)

The exit to East Main St on the ramp from 9 South to 72 West would be 36A from 9 with Chestnut St on 9 South being 36.

[shadyjay]

On an unrelated topic, how is the Mixmaster construction (CT-8/I-84) interchange progress? The most recent article about it relates to I-84 being widened through Waterbury dating only to July 2015.

No work has started yet on the I-84/CT 8 mixmaster... and probably won't for some time.  Haven't even seen a "web site" for it or any concrete plans.  This is all I've seen:
http://www.biznet.ct.gov/SCP_Documents/Bids/38636/2264_-_Engineering_Services_for_the_I-84_Rte_8__Mixmaster__Interchange_Reconstruction.pdf

Present I-84 widening begins east of the interchange.

[The Ghostbuster]

By some time, does that mean a few decades? That seems to be the pace of highway improvements in Connecticut.

[kurumi]

ConnDOT is considering closing Exit 5B, a half-diamond interchange about 500 feet south of Exit 5A, on Route 2. This is part of a larger safety and rehab project along that stretch: http://www.ct.gov/dot/cwp/view.asp?a=2135&Q=577756

The Department is considering the permanent closure of the ramps at Exit 5B (Cambridge St. on-ramp and Sutton Avenue off-ramp) to improve safety and traffic operations along this section of Route 2.  The conceptual plans and traffic study associated with these ramp closures will be presented.

[kurumi]

Sometimes project info is hard to find (or unavailable) on the ConnDOT site, but searching for the project number (usually cited) can uncover docs on town sites. Such as: proposed roundabout on CT 10, and additional lanes at the 10/202/20/189 intersection, both in Granby, CT: http://www.granby-ct.gov/Public_Documents/index

[southshore720]

ConnDOT is considering closing Exit 5B, a half-diamond interchange about 500 feet south of Exit 5A, on Route 2. This is part of a larger safety and rehab project along that stretch: http://www.ct.gov/dot/cwp/view.asp?a=2135&Q=577756

That will also alleviate some of the current (and future) alphabet soup in that stretch...

[JakeFromNewEngland]

ConnDOT recently started tree clearing on I-95 SB between Exits 42 and 41. Does anyone know if this is a part of a new construction project (widening the shoulders or something like that), or if it's another one of CT's projects to clear trees from the ROW which I've seen a lot of recently.

[abqtraveler]

ConnDOT recently started tree clearing on I-95 SB between Exits 42 and 41. Does anyone know if this is a part of a new construction project (widening the shoulders or something like that), or if it's another one of CT's projects to clear trees from the ROW which I've seen a lot of recently.

As far as I know, ConnDOT has nothing lined up for that area, so I presume it's periodic tree trimming going on.

[wytout]

Sign support replacement project. New gantry parts being stock piled at the commuter parking lot off exit 42 sb on i 91.  It appears they are going to complete the new gantry that spans both nb and sb main lines at exit 39&41 sb, exit 42 nb. This will replace 2 separate gantries for each mainline that are offset by about 75 feet. They poured the bases last October. 6 months seems a little quick for CT contract  to finish a ... Um... "Massssive infrustructure project" like a sign support. Maybe they are just gathering parts for now... Probably be August before they actually put them up.

[RobbieL2415]

Sign support replacement project. New gantry parts being stock piled at the commuter parking lot off exit 42 sb on i 91.  It appears they are going to complete the new gantry that spans both nb and sb main lines at exit 39&41 sb, exit 42 nb. This will replace 2 separate gantries for each mainline that are offset by about 75 feet. They poured the bases last October. 6 months seems a little quick for CT contract  to finish a ... Um... "Massssive infrustructure project" like a sign support. Maybe they are just gathering parts for now... Probably be August before they actually put them up.

My town let grading for an intersection re-alignment sit through the winter.  It's part of a larger project that included replacing the drain pipes and culverts.  But for some reason they didn't do a full mill-and-pave of the main road through that intersection so now the road is a complete patch job and a suspension failure waiting to happen.

[TravelingBethelite]

I was looking at the I-95 crossing of the CT/NY state line and noticed it skips right to Exit 2. I can't find satellite evidence of there ever being an Exit 1. Does anyone know if there ever was an Exit 1? 

[jp the roadgeek]

I was looking at the I-95 crossing of the CT/NY state line and noticed it skips right to Exit 2. I can't find satellite evidence of there ever being an Exit 1. Does anyone know if there ever was an Exit 1? 

I believe I read that the old Greenwich toll plaza was considered Exit 1.  Exit 2 should be renumbered Exit 1 when I-95 goes to mileage based exits (since it's at about MM 0.8)

[cl94]

I was looking at the I-95 crossing of the CT/NY state line and noticed it skips right to Exit 2. I can't find satellite evidence of there ever being an Exit 1. Does anyone know if there ever was an Exit 1? 

I believe I read that the old Greenwich toll plaza was considered Exit 1.  Exit 2 should be renumbered Exit 1 when I-95 goes to mileage based exits (since it's at about MM 0.8)

Except the old toll plaza was east of Exit 2

[Duke87]

It's generally speculated that "exit 1" was leaving the end of the turnpike by crossing into NY. This is sort of consistent with what other toll roads have done (c.f. NJTP), minus the lack of a terminal toll plaza because it wasn't ticketed.

This is unconfirmed (as far as I know), but no one has come up with a better explanation.

[dgolub]

It's generally speculated that "exit 1" was leaving the end of the turnpike by crossing into NY. This is sort of consistent with what other toll roads have done (c.f. NJTP), minus the lack of a terminal toll plaza because it wasn't ticketed.

This is unconfirmed (as far as I know), but no one has come up with a better explanation.

That makes sense.  Exit 2 is so close to the border that it seems unlikely that they would have been able to squeeze in another exit there, especially since there are no major roads that cross I-95 between the border and Delavan Avenue.

[KEVIN_224]

I think you only pass over one other street between Exit 2 and the state line. Exit 2 is at mile marker 1, so that could be modified in the future.

[kurumi]

That aligns with everything I've ever heard: "Exit 1" on I-95 was the state line.

[The Ghostbuster]

Exit 1 on a state line (in Interstate 95's case) would only make sense to me if there was an interchange to a road that hugged the state line. Exit 2 should have been Exit 1 from the get-go.

[RobbieL2415]

Apparently the I-84 Waterbury project is now a year ahead of schedule.
http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-waterbury-i-84-widening-0316-20160315-story.html

[Duke87]

Exit 1 on a state line (in Interstate 95's case) would only make sense to me if there was an interchange to a road that hugged the state line. Exit 2 should have been Exit 1 from the get-go.

Modern standards of exit numbering were not yet really established at the time the CT Turnpike was designed. You can see a lot of exit numbering oddities on CT's older highways, such as how the Merritt continues the Hutch's original exit numbers, or how some interchanges (e.g. I-84/CT 8) use two different exit numbers for ramps leading to opposite directions of the same road in the same interchange instead of A-B or S-N/E-W as is more typical.