Connecticut News

[shadyjay]

Wonder how much longer we'll have to wait for new mileposts.  Hopefully on those we get both a route shield and Merrit/WC trailblazer.

Actually, the ones on the Merritt were replaced when the signs got replaced in 2001.  Granted, they aren't the new style "smart" mileposts (with reassuring shields every mile and the smaller two tenths indicators), but they're a lot more legible than those on CT 9, CT 2, etc, which haven't been replaced since the 1980s. 

I'd guess in the future, we'll see traditional mileposts on the Merritt, and the smart mileposts on the Wilbur Cross. 

[Duke87]

This relic has been replaced

This sign actually got knocked over at some point in early summer 2011. I thought for sure it was a gonner then but to my surprise I later discovered it had been put back up!

I'm also kinda surprised they bothered replacing it instead of leaving it there to rot or removing it and leaving it gone. It's rather unnecessary coming from a dead end street and all.


For those of you keeping track at home, that means there are now five of those CT outline shields left, unless another one has also bitten the dust since I last checked.

[vdeane]

I honestly have no idea why CT abandoned the outline shields.  They should have kept them rather than reverting to the square.

[jp the roadgeek]

My 777th post!!

I don't know if the state outline shields were ever used outside of Fairfield (and maybe New Haven) County, usually on routes that crossed the Merritt/Wilbur Cross Parkway.  I remember seeing them as a kid driving to NYC, but I also remember seeing a couple of old square shields with a "CONN" over the route number around my parts, specifically one in Plainville on CT 10.

[cl94]

My 777th post!!

I don't know if the state outline shields were ever used outside of Fairfield (and maybe New Haven) County, usually on routes that crossed the Merritt/Wilbur Cross Parkway.  I remember seeing them as a kid driving to NYC, but I also remember seeing a couple of old square shields with a "CONN" over the route number around my parts, specifically one in Plainville on CT 10.

You beat me to it. Everything I can find shows them using the square forever.

[Pete from Boston]

Does anyone know off the top of their head if there's a list somewhere of I-86 exit numbers?  Kurumi?  I'm trying to piece together some vague memories.

[Duke87]

I don't know if the state outline shields were ever used outside of Fairfield (and maybe New Haven) County, usually on routes that crossed the Merritt/Wilbur Cross Parkway.  I remember seeing them as a kid driving to NYC, but I also remember seeing a couple of old square shields with a "CONN" over the route number around my parts, specifically one in Plainville on CT 10.

You beat me to it. Everything I can find shows them using the square forever.

The outline shields were only ever used on/near the Merritt Parkway.

It is not a coincidence that all five remaining examples are in Fairfield County, and four of the five are 15 shields.

[Roadgeek Adam]

Does anyone know off the top of their head if there's a list somewhere of I-86 exit numbers?  Kurumi?  I'm trying to piece together some vague memories.

They went from 92-106 based off of CT 15's original numbering.

[connroadgeek]

http://ctmirror.org/2016/03/21/decision-on-widening-i-95-key-step-in-transportation-master-plan/

An interesting article and it seems to be some of the same old...same old...politicians just don't want to try new ideas.

I'd rather have them float the idea of a new Interstate than adding a lane.  You could potentially take away congestion on both I-84 and I-95 on a new corridor in between the two.

Where would you ram a new interstate through Connecticut? Do you realize what the right of way acquisition costs would be? It's cost prohibitive, especially in the southwestern part of the state where a single property can be worth $10+ million in some of those towns like Greenwich, New Canaan, Darien, Westport, etc. I would just toll the f*ck out of 95. $20 at the NY border is where I'd start the pricing. Double the price Monday through Friday 4 PM-7 PM and 6 AM-9 AM, and also Saturdays and Sundays during the summer. If this little stretch of highway is so invaluable, why the heck isn't the state bringing in any revenue from it? 95 should be our cash cow. The conspiracy theorist in me has always thought those wealthy property owners in lower Fairfield County like the traffic because it increases the value of their property. If there was no traffic, people could still work in Greenwich or Stamford while being able to have a manageable commute living 30 miles away which means there would be less demand (leading to lower prices) for housing close in, and would more or less distribute the demand for housing over a wider area (an equalizing effect on housing prices) rather than concentrating it in just a few towns.

[jp the roadgeek]

Does anyone know off the top of their head if there's a list somewhere of I-86 exit numbers?  Kurumi?  I'm trying to piece together some vague memories.

They went from 92-106 based off of CT 15's original numbering.

I think it went like this

91- Forbes St (eliminated with construction of I-384 interchange)
92 is now 60 (US 6/44[A])
93 is now 62 (Buckland St)
94 is now 63 (CT 30/83)
95-96 is now 64-65 (CT 30/83)
97 is now 66 (Tunnel Rd)
98 is now 67 (CT 31)
99 is now 68 (CT 195)
100 is now 69 (CT 74, Formerly US 44)
101 is now 70 (CT 32)
102 is now 71 (CT 320)
NO EXIT 103
104 is now 72 (CT 89)
105 is now 73 (CT 190)
106 is now 74 (CT 171)

[kurumi]

JP is right; below is from a page of a Route Change Notice dated May 10, 1985:

[mariethefoxy]

question about the older button copy signs, how come they didnt use a white background for the state and US shields and black button letters like South Carolina or Oklahoma?

[Pete from Boston]

Thanks, this is all great.  I occasionally have flashes of recollection while driving by.  The other day it was that Exit 63 was 94, which it turns out was right.

[dgolub]

JP is right; below is from a page of a Route Change Notice dated May 10, 1985:

This is awesome.  Where did you get this from?

[RobbieL2415]

JP is right; below is from a page of a Route Change Notice dated May 10, 1985:

Does this mean that all the advance signage for exit 61 was up as early as 1985?  I-291 wasn't officially completed until 9 years later.

[noelbotevera]

JP is right; below is from a page of a Route Change Notice dated May 10, 1985:

There seems to be background text behind the page; it says Secondary(?) Highway. Effective December 31st, 1984. I-84 INTERCHANGE CONSTRUCTION. So what's that all about?

[KEVIN_224]

Maybe for when they redid the I-84/I-91 interchange in Hartford some time later?

[kurumi]

That page is from a Route Change Notice, published occasionally by ConnDOT. I photocopied some from the CT State Library a few years ago. None of them, unfortunately, are online.

(Route changes are not as frequent these days.) It announces a planned change and doesn't specify exactly when the signs went up. Exit 61 is reserved for I-291 (see footnote) and would not have been signed yet. The 84/384/6/44/291 interchange complex was open for a few years, with I-291 stubs fenced off, before I-291 was completed in 1994.

[Alps]

What would Exit 103 ever have been reserved for? Or was it an old exit subsequently closed?

[RobbieL2415]

What would Exit 103 ever have been reserved for? Or was it an old exit subsequently closed?

It was reserved for a proposed CT 190 freeway.

[Mergingtraffic]

So the next question is...beside the couple of shots going around online...does anybody have a pics of I-86 from back then?

I remember seeing the white signs after the new exit numbering took over above the exit tabs.  They were long rectangles saying "Formerly Exit 106."  Long black on white lettering.

[Alps]

What would Exit 103 ever have been reserved for? Or was it an old exit subsequently closed?

It was reserved for a proposed CT 190 freeway.

I just... can't... why? I know the stub freeway over at I-91, but who ever thought there would be demand to head that far east to what's now 84?

[Mergingtraffic]

Just wanted to post this as I can't believe this sign has dodged all the sign replacement projects.  Sign dates to 1976.


And it seemed in the late 80s to early 90s CT was in a rush to blanket the state in REFLECTIVE button copy.  Every road got it except for CT-25 and US-7 north of I-84 it seemed.

Like on CT-8 in Beacon Falls, it seemed like non-reflective button copy was replaced only about 10 years or so after it was put up.

[Duke87]

What would Exit 103 ever have been reserved for? Or was it an old exit subsequently closed?

It was reserved for a proposed CT 190 freeway.

I just... can't... why? I know the stub freeway over at I-91, but who ever thought there would be demand to head that far east to what's now 84?

Perhaps a well-connected individual lived in Stafford.

[mariethefoxy]

Just wanted to post this as I can't believe this sign has dodged all the sign replacement projects.  Sign dates to 1976.


And it seemed in the late 80s to early 90s CT was in a rush to blanket the state in REFLECTIVE button copy.  Every road got it except for CT-25 and US-7 north of I-84 it seemed.

Like on CT-8 in Beacon Falls, it seemed like non-reflective button copy was replaced only about 10 years or so after it was put up.

isnt that on CT 40?