Connecticut News

[kurumi]

Re old exit 103: I don't know when that stretch of CT 15 (at the time) was exit numbered. Maybe 1954, when the freeway was completed? 1957 or 1958, when I-84 signs went up?

*If* Exit 103 had been reserved for a future route, it could have been a CT 32 freeway, which seemed a little less farfetched at the time (was in long-range plans in 1961 and 1963, but eventually dropped off in the 1970s).

[Pete from Boston]

Re old exit 103: I don't know when that stretch of CT 15 (at the time) was exit numbered. Maybe 1954, when the freeway was completed? 1957 or 1958, when I-84 signs went up?

*If* Exit 103 had been reserved for a future route, it could have been a CT 32 freeway, which seemed a little less farfetched at the time (was in long-range plans in 1961 and 1963, but eventually dropped off in the 1970s).

I wonder if there was a belief at the time that the Springfield and Hartford metropolitan areas were healthy enough to grow enough to make that area more viable for suburban development.  There was still a fair amount of small industry in Connecticut towns outside urban areas in 1954, though my understanding is its decline really sped up in 1955 with the floods of Connie and Diane.

[Rothman]

Mayor Albano didn't help things much, either.

[shadyjay]

Web cam shots reveal another new sign installed as part of the 2014 spot sign replacement project... I-84 East at Exit 57 (Roberts Street).  The new gantry is a side cantilever which replaced a full-width overhead truss.  The new gantry is a single "exit now" sign for Exit 57.  The old gantry also had a pullthrough "EAST 84 TO 384".  The new Exit 57 sign continues to read "Roberts St/Silver Ln/Burnside Ave", though I still can't understand why Burnside Ave keeps on appearing on Exit 57 BGSs. 

Maybe when all Exit 57 signs are replaced at some point in the future as part of a larger-scale project, Burnside Ave won't be listed.  It also is listed on secondary signs for Exit 60, but that makes more sense, as one exits at Exit 60 and Burnside Ave is right there.  Chalk that up to a "wtf, ConnDOT", just like why US 6 can't exit I-84 with US 44 at Exit 53.  Or why, for a period of time, US 44 exited at Exit 53, then got back on I-84 at (what is now) Exit 60. 

[jp the roadgeek]

Web cam shots reveal another new sign installed as part of the 2014 spot sign replacement project... I-84 East at Exit 57 (Roberts Street).  The new gantry is a side cantilever which replaced a full-width overhead truss.  The new gantry is a single "exit now" sign for Exit 57.  The old gantry also had a pullthrough "EAST 84 TO 384".  The new Exit 57 sign continues to read "Roberts St/Silver Ln/Burnside Ave", though I still can't understand why Burnside Ave keeps on appearing on Exit 57 BGSs. 

Maybe when all Exit 57 signs are replaced at some point in the future as part of a larger-scale project, Burnside Ave won't be listed.  It also is listed on secondary signs for Exit 60, but that makes more sense, as one exits at Exit 60 and Burnside Ave is right there.  Chalk that up to a "wtf, ConnDOT", just like why US 6 can't exit I-84 with US 44 at Exit 53.  Or why, for a period of time, US 44 exited at Exit 53, then got back on I-84 at (what is now) Exit 60.

The Roberts St/Silver Lane (and Burnside is ridiculous) exit is actually 58.  There's no Exit 57 EB (it's CT 15 south WB).

[RobbieL2415]

Web cam shots reveal another new sign installed as part of the 2014 spot sign replacement project... I-84 East at Exit 57 (Roberts Street).  The new gantry is a side cantilever which replaced a full-width overhead truss.  The new gantry is a single "exit now" sign for Exit 57.  The old gantry also had a pullthrough "EAST 84 TO 384".  The new Exit 57 sign continues to read "Roberts St/Silver Ln/Burnside Ave", though I still can't understand why Burnside Ave keeps on appearing on Exit 57 BGSs. 

Maybe when all Exit 57 signs are replaced at some point in the future as part of a larger-scale project, Burnside Ave won't be listed.  It also is listed on secondary signs for Exit 60, but that makes more sense, as one exits at Exit 60 and Burnside Ave is right there.  Chalk that up to a "wtf, ConnDOT", just like why US 6 can't exit I-84 with US 44 at Exit 53.  Or why, for a period of time, US 44 exited at Exit 53, then got back on I-84 at (what is now) Exit 60.

Governor's Street (exit 56) is the faster way to get to Burnside.  But it's closed eastbound now for bridge repairs.
Why not just sign US 6 along I-384?   That's the traditional route to Providence from Hartford, anyways.  Most locals refer to the 6/44 multiplex through East Hartford and Manchester by their street names.

[jp the roadgeek]

Web cam shots reveal another new sign installed as part of the 2014 spot sign replacement project... I-84 East at Exit 57 (Roberts Street).  The new gantry is a side cantilever which replaced a full-width overhead truss.  The new gantry is a single "exit now" sign for Exit 57.  The old gantry also had a pullthrough "EAST 84 TO 384".  The new Exit 57 sign continues to read "Roberts St/Silver Ln/Burnside Ave", though I still can't understand why Burnside Ave keeps on appearing on Exit 57 BGSs. 

Maybe when all Exit 57 signs are replaced at some point in the future as part of a larger-scale project, Burnside Ave won't be listed.  It also is listed on secondary signs for Exit 60, but that makes more sense, as one exits at Exit 60 and Burnside Ave is right there.  Chalk that up to a "wtf, ConnDOT", just like why US 6 can't exit I-84 with US 44 at Exit 53.  Or why, for a period of time, US 44 exited at Exit 53, then got back on I-84 at (what is now) Exit 60.

Governor's Street (exit 56) is the faster way to get to Burnside.  But it's closed eastbound now for bridge repairs.
Why not just sign US 6 along I-384?   That's the traditional route to Providence from Hartford, anyways.  Most locals refer to the 6/44 multiplex through East Hartford and Manchester by their street names.

The Governor St ramps to and from I-84 are still open, but not to and from CT 2.  If the Bolton-Windham expressway is never going to be built, I would decommission I-384 and put US 6 on it.  Otherwise, I always liked the idea of US 6 leaving at Exit 53 then routing it down East River Dr and Silver Lane/Spencer St/West Center St to meet US 44 just west of downtown Manchester.

[shadyjay]

The Governor St ramps to and from I-84 are still open, but not to and from CT 2.  If the Bolton-Windham expressway is never going to be built, I would decommission I-384 and put US 6 on it.  Otherwise, I always liked the idea of US 6 leaving at Exit 53 then routing it down East River Dr and Silver Lane/Spencer St/West Center St to meet US 44 just west of downtown Manchester.

Or even better, free US 6 from its I-84 tyranny altogether... have it run up Farmington Avenue from Farmington to Hartford, pass through Hartford via State St, cross the Founder's Bridge, then exit to meet up with East River Drive to Silver Ln/Spencer St to its existing route.  And free it from I-84 in Danbury. 

Or, I kinda like Robbie's idea of US 6 taking over I-384... then I-84 and US 6 just have to multiplex between Exits 54 and 59. 

US 44 can still 'plex with I-84 to get across the river... it's only 1/2 mile or so.

[mariethefoxy]

those signs from Exit 57 to 63 were always unusual in the sense that they didnt fit the usual ConnDOT standards of the time. They didnt have button letters which CT seemed to use well into the late 90s.there were one or two that seemed to look like they were made to Massachusetts standards.

[PHLBOS]

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.

IIRC, since I've been driving that stretch of I-84 on holiday weekends since 1990; there were no advance signage erected for Exit 61 (I-291) erected prior to that road being completed.  There was just an intentional gap in the exit numbers & tabs until then.

[abqtraveler]

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.

IIRC, since I've been driving that stretch of I-84 on holiday weekends since 1990; there were no advance signage erected for Exit 61 (I-291) erected prior to that road being completed.  There was just an intentional gap in the exit numbers & tabs until then.

When they reverted I-84 back to the Wilbur Cross Highway alignment in 1984, ConnDOT was very close to starting the rebuild of I-91, the reconstruction of the Bissell Bridge and the completion of I-291 between I-84 and I-91.  At that time, I-84 was in the middle of its reconstruction, and Exit 61 was deliberately set aside for the eventual interchange with I-291.  I remember driving on I-84 around 1990, before I-291 was finished; there was Exit 59 for I-384, then Exit 60, and then Exit 62 for Buckland Street.  In between Exits 60 and 62, ConnDOT was building the ramps and flyovers for I-291; at the time it only made sense to me that would eventually become the missing Exit 61.

[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.

IIRC, since I've been driving that stretch of I-84 on holiday weekends since 1990; there were no advance signage erected for Exit 61 (I-291) erected prior to that road being completed.  There was just an intentional gap in the exit numbers & tabs until then.

When they reverted I-84 back to the Wilbur Cross Highway alignment in 1984, ConnDOT was very close to starting the rebuild of I-91, the reconstruction of the Bissell Bridge and the completion of I-291 between I-84 and I-91.  At that time, I-84 was in the middle of its reconstruction, and Exit 61 was deliberately set aside for the eventual interchange with I-291.  I remember driving on I-84 around 1990, before I-291 was finished; there was Exit 59 for I-384, then Exit 60, and then Exit 62 for Buckland Street.  In between Exits 60 and 62, ConnDOT was building the ramps and flyovers for I-291; at the time it only made sense to me that would eventually become the missing Exit 61.

I was born in 1993, but I have strong memories of 55mph speed limit signs near those exits.   Did some digging and found out they may not have been raised to 65 until 1997.

[jp the roadgeek]

CT implemented 65 MPH speed limits on October 1, 1998.  All the current zones that became 65 MPH are still the ones to this day, including I-84 from Roberts St to the MA line, and all of I-291 and I-384.

[abqtraveler]

CT implemented 65 MPH speed limits on October 1, 1998.  All the current zones that became 65 MPH are still the ones to this day, including I-84 from Roberts St to the MA line, and all of I-291 and I-384.

They did extend the 65 MPH zone on I-95 from Exit 54 in Branford to Exit 51 in East Haven after they widened that stretch to 3 lanes in each direction.

[Mergingtraffic]

CT implemented 65 MPH speed limits on October 1, 1998.  All the current zones that became 65 MPH are still the ones to this day, including I-84 from Roberts St to the MA line, and all of I-291 and I-384.

In typical CT fashion, the last state to do so.  I remember politicians bickering over this, the classic it works everywhere but it can't work here response.  They argued that CT roads were not designed for 65mph and were designed for 55mph.  However, I took pleasure in finding an old photo of I-95 with a speed limit 60mph sign. 

[tckma]

In typical CT fashion, the last state to do so.  I remember politicians bickering over this, the classic it works everywhere but it can't work here response.  They argued that CT roads were not designed for 65mph and were designed for 55mph.  However, I took pleasure in finding an old photo of I-95 with a speed limit 60mph sign.

Aren't roads over-engineered by about 20 MPH anyway?  So a 65 MPH road will have a design spec for 85 MPH max, with curves banked such that the least amount of steering wheel usage is at 65 MPH?  Can a highway engineer confirm or deny that?

[jp the roadgeek]

CT also was discussing raising a few spots to 75 MPH a couple of years ago.  I could see 4 stretches that could qualify for it: I-395/SR 695 north of CT 2 to the MA/RI lines, I-84 east of Exit 65 to the MA line, I-95 north of exit 90 to the RI line, and I-384.

[Alps]

In typical CT fashion, the last state to do so.  I remember politicians bickering over this, the classic it works everywhere but it can't work here response.  They argued that CT roads were not designed for 65mph and were designed for 55mph.  However, I took pleasure in finding an old photo of I-95 with a speed limit 60mph sign.

Aren't roads over-engineered by about 20 MPH anyway?  So a 65 MPH road will have a design spec for 85 MPH max, with curves banked such that the least amount of steering wheel usage is at 65 MPH?  Can a highway engineer confirm or deny that?

Yes. Denied. Superelevation is tied to curve radius based on design speed. Typical urban design speeds range from 60 to 70 mph. Straightaways aren't the problem.

[connroadgeek]

CT also was discussing raising a few spots to 75 MPH a couple of years ago.  I could see 4 stretches that could qualify for it: I-395/SR 695 north of CT 2 to the MA/RI lines, I-84 east of Exit 65 to the MA line, I-95 north of exit 90 to the RI line, and I-384.

I'd add CT 9 up to exit 11. That's a pretty desolate stretch of highway that's mostly straight, with exits far apart, by CT standards (generally 1-3 miles), although a bit hilly once you get past exit 5.

[shadyjay]

those signs from Exit 57 to 63 were always unusual in the sense that they didnt fit the usual ConnDOT standards of the time. They didnt have button letters which CT seemed to use well into the late 90s.there were one or two that seemed to look like they were made to Massachusetts standards.

My guess is that those signs (also up to Exits 64-65, EB, and beginning at Exit 64-WB) date to the early 1980s, where large route markers and direct applied text was used.  The same was used on CT 25.  What was strange was why, in the era of large-scale button copy, did Exit 61 for I-291 sneak by in non-button copy?  It opened around 1994, featuring all button copy "Phase III" signage on reflective backgrounds, along with all signage at the I-91/I-291 interchange.  Unless, perhaps, ConnDOT had previously made the Exit 61 signage and put them in storage until it was ready to open, some 10 years later.

Did signage east of Exit 65 ever go button copy?  Anyone know what year the present signage was installed?  I've seen pictures of some old signage for Exit 70-WB showing the same style of signage as in the Manchester area.

[PHLBOS]

Did signage east of Exit 65 ever go button copy?  Anyone know what year the present signage was installed?  I've seen pictures of some old signage for Exit 70-WB showing the same style of signage as in the Manchester area.

IIRC, most of the signs east of Exit 65 have been there since the late 80s/early 90s; with some intermittent replacements (mainly due to accidents or bridge redeckings (structure-mounted signs only)).  The only button-copy signs that may have been present a decade or two ago in that area were the blue service-related signs.

[RobbieL2415]

Did signage east of Exit 65 ever go button copy?  Anyone know what year the present signage was installed?  I've seen pictures of some old signage for Exit 70-WB showing the same style of signage as in the Manchester area.

IIRC, most of the signs east of Exit 65 have been there since the late 80s/early 90s; with some intermittent replacements (mainly due to accidents or bridge redeckings (structure-mounted signs only)).  The only button-copy signs that may have been present a decade or two ago in that area were the blue service-related signs.

The East Hartford-Union widening started in the 70's, west to east.  It's possible the first run of new signs were Phase III button-copy and were replaced on a seperate contract in the mid-90s.

[kurumi]

Did signage east of Exit 65 ever go button copy?  Anyone know what year the present signage was installed?  I've seen pictures of some old signage for Exit 70-WB showing the same style of signage as in the Manchester area.

IIRC, most of the signs east of Exit 65 have been there since the late 80s/early 90s; with some intermittent replacements (mainly due to accidents or bridge redeckings (structure-mounted signs only)).  The only button-copy signs that may have been present a decade or two ago in that area were the blue service-related signs.

The East Hartford-Union widening started in the 70's, west to east.  It's possible the first run of new signs were Phase III button-copy and were replaced on a seperate contract in the mid-90s.

IIRC widening/reconstruction started in Union around 1976 and worked its way west. 84/384/15 was the last piece (1989) before I-291 was connected (1994).

[Mergingtraffic]

Did signage east of Exit 65 ever go button copy?  Anyone know what year the present signage was installed?  I've seen pictures of some old signage for Exit 70-WB showing the same style of signage as in the Manchester area.

IIRC, most of the signs east of Exit 65 have been there since the late 80s/early 90s; with some intermittent replacements (mainly due to accidents or bridge redeckings (structure-mounted signs only)).  The only button-copy signs that may have been present a decade or two ago in that area were the blue service-related signs.

The East Hartford-Union widening started in the 70's, west to east.  It's possible the first run of new signs were Phase III button-copy and were replaced on a seperate contract in the mid-90s.

IIRC widening/reconstruction started in Union around 1976 and worked its way west. 84/384/15 was the last piece (1989) before I-291 was connected (1994).

and because CTDOT was proactive here and expanded the roads without scaling back due to NIMBY concerns or costs, I-84 east of Hartford is generally in good shape with regards to traffic flow.

[RobbieL2415]

Did signage east of Exit 65 ever go button copy?  Anyone know what year the present signage was installed?  I've seen pictures of some old signage for Exit 70-WB showing the same style of signage as in the Manchester area.

IIRC, most of the signs east of Exit 65 have been there since the late 80s/early 90s; with some intermittent replacements (mainly due to accidents or bridge redeckings (structure-mounted signs only)).  The only button-copy signs that may have been present a decade or two ago in that area were the blue service-related signs.

The East Hartford-Union widening started in the 70's, west to east.  It's possible the first run of new signs were Phase III button-copy and were replaced on a seperate contract in the mid-90s.

IIRC widening/reconstruction started in Union around 1976 and worked its way west. 84/384/15 was the last piece (1989) before I-291 was connected (1994).

and because CTDOT was proactive here and expanded the roads without scaling back due to NIMBY concerns or costs, I-84 east of Hartford is generally in good shape with regards to traffic flow.

Not during rush hours and definitely not between East Hartford and Vernon during those rush hours. I think they should add a lane from exit 59 to 65 TBH.