Connecticut News

[mariethefoxy]

8/25, it would appear that 25 is the dominant route, with the additional lanes, and the fact that the whole Rt 25 expressway section (from I-95 to the end) is signed as the Col. Henry Mucci Highway.  Portions of 25 are 4 lanes NB approaching the end of the exp'y, due to a "climbing lane".  Then in a mile or so, it drops from 4 lanes to a single lane.

One of my close friends is actually related to Col. Mucci. When I met her I was like hey, theres a highway in CT named after one of your relatives?

[MikeCL]

CT should do a study to fix that back of problem on that ramp.. always a 25 mile delay to exit 25A how in the world do you have 4 lanes flow into two around a sharp turn...

[Duke87]

CT should do a study to fix that back of problem on that ramp.. always a 25 mile delay to exit 25A how in the world do you have 4 lanes flow into two around a sharp turn...

Well, a lot of the traffic coming south on 25/8 is bound for downtown Bridgeport and gets of at exit 3 or 2 (where the fourth and third lanes end, respectively). Meanwhile the fourth lane is not necessary volumewise, it's simply a byproduct of the merge between 25 and 8. Note how five lanes are formed at said merge, and one of them ends at each of the next three southbound offramps. Someone thought this through. So, there is not by any means four lanes' worth of traffic going into the I-95 interchange. If there were it'd be a hell of a lot worse than it is.

As for the interchange itself, well, it's in the middle of a city, so you can't just build whatever. It would be possible to make it somewhat higher powered without being too disruptive (you could run the northbound offramp over the train tracks, and then make the northbound onramp a straighter flyover within the existing footprint). But, I could see this still raising objections due to making the interchange taller.

Also, this is Connecticut. Connecticut doesn't build big things, it's not culturally how they operate. Not that they have the money to, anyway.

[MikeCL]

CT should do a study to fix that back of problem on that ramp.. always a 25 mile delay to exit 25A how in the world do you have 4 lanes flow into two around a sharp turn...

Well, a lot of the traffic coming south on 25/8 is bound for downtown Bridgeport and gets of at exit 3 or 2 (where the fourth and third lanes end, respectively). Meanwhile the fourth lane is not necessary volumewise, it's simply a byproduct of the merge between 25 and 8. Note how five lanes are formed at said merge, and one of them ends at each of the next three southbound offramps. Someone thought this through. So, there is not by any means four lanes' worth of traffic going into the I-95 interchange. If there were it'd be a hell of a lot worse than it is.

As for the interchange itself, well, it's in the middle of a city, so you can't just build whatever. It would be possible to make it somewhat higher powered without being too disruptive (you could run the northbound offramp over the train tracks, and then make the northbound onramp a straighter flyover within the existing footprint). But, I could see this still raising objections due to making the interchange taller.

Also, this is Connecticut. Connecticut doesn't build big things, it's not culturally how they operate. Not that they have the money to, anyway.

Well I don't know how many millions they spent on making those merge lanes longer in Norwalk but in the end it's still ends up being the same issue.. I don't know if anything past 25A is backed up as bad as it is from the border to 25A

[mariethefoxy]

isnt it exit 27A for Mucci Highway (25/8) not 25A

[Alps]

isnt it exit 27A for Mucci Highway (25/8) not 25A

taking exit 25A will cause you major delays

[JJBers]

They're completely redoing the bridge over Tracy Rd. on I-395. They've closed I-395 down to one lane over the bridge.
Google Maps

[roadman65]

I see an old trolley ROW where Old Trolley Road ends to the left of the said crossing.  Forgot that the NE had lots of trolley lines that went inter town in addition to intercity in the big population centers.

Edit:  The old trolley line is now an active freight line RR as it serves the businesses in the area including a Staples Warehouse on Tracy Road.  However, trolleys were once a means that got dumped here in suburban areas of the Northeast.

[JJBers]

I see an old trolley ROW where Old Trolley Road ends to the left of the said crossing.  Forgot that the NE had lots of trolley lines that went inter town in addition to intercity in the big population centers.

Edit:  The old trolley line is now an active freight line RR as it serves the businesses in the area including a Staples Warehouse on Tracy Road.  However, trolleys were once a means that got dumped here in suburban areas of the Northeast.

It was the former line from Groton to Worcester, MA. The road was probably either former line, or a old service road, and a station was presumably nearby.

[roadman65]

Oh so it never was the trolley line itself.  Makes sense, but there are old trolley lines in NJ that later became commercial RR lines like in my home town in NJ.  The  former Bloodgood Branch of the defunct Lehigh Valley RR originally was a trolley that went from Clark to Linden that did this.

[JJBers]

Oh so it never was the trolley line itself.  Makes sense, but there are old trolley lines in NJ that later became commercial RR lines like in my home town in NJ.  The  former Bloodgood Branch of the defunct Lehigh Valley RR originally was a trolley that went from Clark to Linden that did this.

That really never happened in Connecticut, most times trolley lines became either: Abandoned, Built over by other things, or because they're leasing other lines, they became freight only services. A couple became museum strips, namely the Connecticut Trolley Museum, literally about trolleys in Connecticut.

[sharkyfour]

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.7724557,-72.5784933,3a,37.5y,69.62h,84.62t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1spxgp5udgiKZAsZGnRKNtnw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Anyone know exactly what those signs are or how to decode them?  They were put up throughout the I-84/I-384/I-291/Buckland St Collector/Distributor a few years ago on every light pole and every couple hundred feet where there are no lights or they're in the median.  My best guess was that they're for helping locate 911 callers who probably don't know exactly what ramp they're on when they're in the C/D, but I wasn't sure if there's anything more than that.

[JJBers]

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.7724557,-72.5784933,3a,37.5y,69.62h,84.62t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1spxgp5udgiKZAsZGnRKNtnw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Anyone know exactly what those signs are or how to decode them?  They were put up throughout the I-84/I-384/I-291/Buckland St Collector/Distributor a few years ago on every light pole and every couple hundred feet where there are no lights or they're in the median.  My best guess was that they're for helping locate 911 callers who probably don't know exactly what ramp they're on when they're in the C/D, but I wasn't sure if there's anything more than that.

Probably identification markers for ConnDOT.

[jp the roadgeek]

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.7724557,-72.5784933,3a,37.5y,69.62h,84.62t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1spxgp5udgiKZAsZGnRKNtnw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Anyone know exactly what those signs are or how to decode them?  They were put up throughout the I-84/I-384/I-291/Buckland St Collector/Distributor a few years ago on every light pole and every couple hundred feet where there are no lights or they're in the median.  My best guess was that they're for helping locate 911 callers who probably don't know exactly what ramp they're on when they're in the C/D, but I wasn't sure if there's anything more than that.

Probably identification markers for ConnDOT.

They have to be reference markers, and it's specific to the whole Exit 59-62 complex.  Each ramp has a series of numbers beginning on the 100.  So one ramp will be marked M (for Manchester) 001, M 002...  and another will be M 301, M 302...  No specific order as to how each series was assigned that I'm aware of.   Probably makes it easier to report accidents and for tow trucks to locate stranded drivers. 

[KEVIN_224]

Probably put up by the city of Manchester. I've never seen those signs anywhere else in the state.

[RobbieL2415]

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.7724557,-72.5784933,3a,37.5y,69.62h,84.62t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1spxgp5udgiKZAsZGnRKNtnw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Anyone know exactly what those signs are or how to decode them?  They were put up throughout the I-84/I-384/I-291/Buckland St Collector/Distributor a few years ago on every light pole and every couple hundred feet where there are no lights or they're in the median.  My best guess was that they're for helping locate 911 callers who probably don't know exactly what ramp they're on when they're in the C/D, but I wasn't sure if there's anything more than that.

Probably identification markers for ConnDOT.

They have to be reference markers, and it's specific to the whole Exit 59-62 complex.  Each ramp has a series of numbers beginning on the 100.  So one ramp will be marked M (for Manchester) 001, M 002...  and another will be M 301, M 302...  No specific order as to how each series was assigned that I'm aware of.   Probably makes it easier to report accidents and for tow trucks to locate stranded drivers.

It is my understanding that they have something to do with the proposal to re-configure the eastern portion of the C/D to better handle mall traffic.

[shadyjay]

Got some shots of the new MLK Blvd overlay on I-95 Exit 47 (and I-91 Exit 1) in New Haven:

DSC07969 by Jay Hogan, on Flickr

A sign pointing the new way to Route 34...
DSC07977 by Jay Hogan, on Flickr

And the new signage on Route 8 from Thomaston to Winsted is up... but with an interesting oddity:
DSC08083 by Jay Hogan, on Flickr

CT 202 was on the contract plans as well!

Most (but not all) of the signs have been replaced from Thomaston to Winsted.  Especially southbound, some of the old signs/posts remain where they were dropped.  Lots of trimming still needs to be done around some signs.  And the exit crowns for Exit 38-NB still need to be re-aligned to the right (as per the contract plans).  There's a 1 mile advance that has not been replaced yet, southbound, for Exit 41, and can't be replaced yet since it's in the middle of the one-lane zone due to bridge replacement.  There's one northbound for the Motor Vehicle Dept in Torrington not yet replaced.  And a few around Exit 39-40-SB that have been replaced, but with the old signs still up.

So lots of updates today on my FLICKR page, all on the CT page, for the following: 
I-84, I-91, I-95, I-691, CT 8, CT 8/25, CT 9, CT 25


And one more oddity on the new signage on CT 8 in Torrington...

DSC08078 by Jay Hogan, on Flickr

[Mergingtraffic]

New BGSs are on CT-34 between CT-8 and CT-115.  A new gantry was installed just east of the CT-8 NB off-ramp on CT-34.  1-lane pull through for CT-115 and a 2-lane pull through for "34 East New Haven."  WB on the same gantry is a "CT-8 North Waterbury" and an upward right arrow.

There are also new supports for CT-34 West on the CT-8 overpass next to the button copy signs that are still there.

[Alps]

And the new signage on Route 8 from Thomaston to Winsted is up... but with an interesting oddity:
DSC08083 by Jay Hogan, on Flickr

CT 202 was on the contract plans as well!

I also think Downtown should be all caps.

[abqtraveler]

Got some shots of the new MLK Blvd overlay on I-95 Exit 47 (and I-91 Exit 1) in New Haven:

DSC07969 by Jay Hogan, on Flickr

A sign pointing the new way to Route 34...
DSC07977 by Jay Hogan, on Flickr

And the new signage on Route 8 from Thomaston to Winsted is up... but with an interesting oddity:
DSC08083 by Jay Hogan, on Flickr

CT 202 was on the contract plans as well!

Most (but not all) of the signs have been replaced from Thomaston to Winsted.  Especially southbound, some of the old signs/posts remain where they were dropped.  Lots of trimming still needs to be done around some signs.  And the exit crowns for Exit 38-NB still need to be re-aligned to the right (as per the contract plans).  There's a 1 mile advance that has not been replaced yet, southbound, for Exit 41, and can't be replaced yet since it's in the middle of the one-lane zone due to bridge replacement.  There's one northbound for the Motor Vehicle Dept in Torrington not yet replaced.  And a few around Exit 39-40-SB that have been replaced, but with the old signs still up.

So lots of updates today on my FLICKR page, all on the CT page, for the following: 
I-84, I-91, I-95, I-691, CT 8, CT 8/25, CT 9, CT 25


And one more oddity on the new signage on CT 8 in Torrington...

DSC08078 by Jay Hogan, on Flickr

That brings to mind two questions:

1.  Did ConnDOT officially truncate Route 34 back to Route 10, and turn over the section between the I-91/95 interchange and Route 10 to the City of New Haven?
2.  I thought the Route 8 sign replacement project included renumbering exits to be mile-based.  Has ConnDOT changed their mind ("pulled a Massachusetts") and decided to keep sequential numbering?

[jp the roadgeek]

1. I thought the same thing when I first saw someone else post that picture a few weeks ago.  Haven't heard as such, but it does make sense (and one side of CT 34 east of CT 10 is a SR anyway, so just make the other side a SR as well)

2.  ConnDOT is waiting till the entire highway is re-signed before renumbering the exits. 

What I want to know is if ConnDOT is going to fix that glaring error on the Torrington sign, or are we resigned to having it remain a la the CT 6 signs on I-84 in Farmington and West Hartford?

[abqtraveler]

1. I thought the same thing when I first saw someone else post that picture a few weeks ago.  Haven't heard as such, but it does make sense (and one side of CT 34 east of CT 10 is a SR anyway, so just make the other side a SR as well)

2.  ConnDOT is waiting till the entire highway is re-signed before renumbering the exits. 

What I want to know is if ConnDOT is going to fix that glaring error on the Torrington sign, or are we resigned to having it remain a la the CT 6 signs on I-84 in Farmington and West Hartford?

I'd say add it to the punch list of items the contractor needs to fix before ConnDOT signs off on it.

[PHLBOS]

And the new signage on Route 8 from Thomaston to Winsted is up... but with an interesting oddity:
DSC08083 by Jay Hogan, on Flickr

CT 202 was on the contract plans as well!

So CT now joins MA, NY, PA & DE for states that have mistakenly signed US 202 as SR 202.

[Alps]

And the new signage on Route 8 from Thomaston to Winsted is up... but with an interesting oddity:
DSC08083 by Jay Hogan, on Flickr

CT 202 was on the contract plans as well!

So CT now joins MA, NY, PA & DE for states that have mistakenly signed US 202 as SR 202.

There is not a state that hasn't.

[Duke87]

So CT now joins MA, NY, PA & DE for states that have mistakenly signed US 202 as SR 202.

There is not a state that hasn't.

Sure there is. 42 of them, in fact.