Connecticut News

[Mergingtraffic]

Looks like the stoplight ramp proposals have made the cut into the final design options.  How that even got that far is beyond me.  This project is the poster child for what's wrong with CT.

http://7-15norwalk.com/

http://7-15norwalk.com/documents/20181219-Boards-Lowres.pdf

[Alps]

Looks like the stoplight ramp proposals have made the cut into the final design options.  How that even got that far is beyond me.  This project is the poster child for what's wrong with CT.

http://7-15norwalk.com/

http://7-15norwalk.com/documents/20181219-Boards-Lowres.pdf

No one has any idea what good engineering is. At least 12A is grade separated.

[Roadsguy]

Inb4 CT just replaces the interchange with a single roundabout and calls it a day.

[noelbotevera]

Inb4 CT just replaces the interchange with a single roundabout and calls it a day.

You're giving CT too much credit. I'm betting it'll be replaced with stop signs, and it'll take 50 years of study to wonder how they'll design the stop signs.

[jp the roadgeek]

Inb4 CT just replaces the interchange with a single roundabout and calls it a day.

You're giving CT too much credit. I'm betting it'll be replaced with stop signs, and it'll take 50 years of study to wonder how they'll design the stop signs.

Now you're thinking like a Nutmegger   3 years to perform a sign replacement project that would take less than 2 weeks in RI.  And the lone ramp meter on the NB ramp from CT 17 to CT 9 hasn't worked in 30 years. 

[RobbieL2415]

What about using ramp meters?

[MikeTheActuary]

Looks like at least one more sign needs to be replaced by ConnDOT after yesterday's wind.

https://youtu.be/iikJH4GCrJQ

Not my video; looks to be westbound I-291 at I-91.

[KEVIN_224]

A "JCT 173" sign was down on the Berlin Turnpike (US 5/CT 15) southbound this morning in Newington.

Also noticed something while walking on the Christian Lane bridge over CT Route 9 this morning. It looks like a new support was poured in front of the bridge heading north. Perhaps a new ground-mounted Exit 24 sign in the future? (The current sign is bridge mounted.)

[jp the roadgeek]

Looks like the piers are in place in the 84/72 interchange for new gantries to be erected.  I also see some more signage in the storage area for another new Exit 29 LEFT exit sign WB, as well as WB signage for 39A. 

[shadyjay]

Also noticed something while walking on the Christian Lane bridge over CT Route 9 this morning. It looks like a new support was poured in front of the bridge heading north. Perhaps a new ground-mounted Exit 24 sign in the future? (The current sign is bridge mounted.)

Hmmm...interesting.  There is no mention of a new sign for Exit 24 northbound mentioned in either the 2017 or 2018 spot replacement projects.  I do know that in the southbound direction on that bridge, there used to be an Exit 21 and Exit 22 sign mounted, but the Exit 22 sign was removed (perhaps due to failure or to reduce load on the bridge?). 

In the past 2 months, I've driven past the location of 12 of the 16 sign supports due to be replaced in the 2017 contract, and there was no work observed at any of those sites.  Its possible that work is starting at site #16 (on the Mohegan-Pequot Cnct'r in Montville, which I have not yet field-checked).  And of the 11 2018 sites, I've driven past 6 of them and no work observed either.

[KEVIN_224]

The pictures are grainy and cropped some. Took them with my cell phone in the late afternoon. Both of them are from the Christian Lane bridge over CT Route 9. You can see the sign support foundation in the shadow of the first picture, too. Also, there was a Conn-DOT survey crew in this vicinity a couple of weeks ago. I don't know if that work was related to this or not.

[Duke87]

Looks like the stoplight ramp proposals have made the cut into the final design options.  How that even got that far is beyond me.  This project is the poster child for what's wrong with CT.

http://7-15norwalk.com/

http://7-15norwalk.com/documents/20181219-Boards-Lowres.pdf

No one has any idea what good engineering is. At least 12A is grade separated.

Alt 26 I'm sure is in there for political reasons. Probably the alternative favored by some folks in Wilton, who love it specifically because it drives a stake through the heart of any possibility of extending the 7 freeway northward.

Meanwhile any apparent lack of "good engineering" in the other designs is all appeasement of prior complaints. Any interchange which involves ramps rising in elevation above the parkway is a nonstarter for aesthetic reasons, which means no flyovers and any ramp braiding needs to be creative rather than straightforward. And because the last preferred alternative got killed by residents directly west of the interchange complaining that the rebuild would bring ramps too close to their homes, the current proposals all work to avoid this - but avoiding that requires either tight, substandard geometry or signals.

No "good" design would be acceptable to all of the public stakeholders in this process, so what gets built will be either a mediocre design or (more likely) nothing.

[MikeTheActuary]

You know, if the nimbys are blocking every effort to have safe, usable interchanges along the Merritt, perhaps an alternative tactic would be to simply remove all of the interchanges from the parkway.

[ipeters61]

You know, if the nimbys are blocking every effort to have safe, usable interchanges along the Merritt, perhaps an alternative tactic would be to simply remove all of the interchanges from the parkway.

But then we wouldn't have the typical Connecticut access to every street corner from an expressway!

[shadyjay]

Honestly, at this point, is it even worth upgrading the Merritt/US 7 interchange to a full interchange?  Is access from 15SB to 7NB via a proposed interchange worth it at this point, considering "Super 7" ends a mile or so north of the Merritt and dumps back onto Main Ave?  What * SHOULD * have happened was when the expressway was extended north of CT 123, it should've ended at the CT 33 South intersection in Wilton.  It could've morphed right into existing US 7/CT 33 surface road just like how the Brookfield Bypass does. It would've removed traffic from busy Main Ave and would've eliminated the dogleg over Grist Mill Road and not end at a rock cliff. 

Seems like at this point it would just be better to improve/eliminate some ramps at the Main Ave interchange instead.  I mean, really, does Main Ave need a full cloverleaf?  Cut out some ramps, improve others, and bada-bing, a project done in half the time for half the cost (study time may vary).

[shadyjay]

The pictures are grainy and cropped some. Took them with my cell phone in the late afternoon. Both of them are from the Christian Lane bridge over CT Route 9. You can see the sign support foundation in the shadow of the first picture, too. Also, there was a Conn-DOT survey crew in this vicinity a couple of weeks ago. I don't know if that work was related to this or not.

The more I look at this shot, it seems more of a foundation for perhaps a traffic camera, vs a sign support post.  That could be whats going on there.  I tried looking up the project number but couldn't find one that matched that location.

[RobbieL2415]

The pictures are grainy and cropped some. Took them with my cell phone in the late afternoon. Both of them are from the Christian Lane bridge over CT Route 9. You can see the sign support foundation in the shadow of the first picture, too. Also, there was a Conn-DOT survey crew in this vicinity a couple of weeks ago. I don't know if that work was related to this or not.

The more I look at this shot, it seems more of a foundation for perhaps a traffic camera, vs a sign support post.  That could be whats going on there.  I tried looking up the project number but couldn't find one that matched that location.

Maybe it's one of the first foundations for a toll gantry. 

[jp the roadgeek]

The pictures are grainy and cropped some. Took them with my cell phone in the late afternoon. Both of them are from the Christian Lane bridge over CT Route 9. You can see the sign support foundation in the shadow of the first picture, too. Also, there was a Conn-DOT survey crew in this vicinity a couple of weeks ago. I don't know if that work was related to this or not.

I was thinking a VMB, as there is one SB just before the overpass. It would have to be one of those single pole ones like on I-691 West near Exit 3, as the footprint for one similar to the SB one is much too small.
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.5567531,-72.8869597,0a,75y,276.6h,90.22t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1smgDkAyITelxoubjxfOR63Q!2e0

[KEVIN_224]

I wonder if that reference on the road referencing 7 feet out could mean anything?

[shadyjay]

Perhaps install post 7' from that mark? 

I just thought of another possible use... could be for the RWIS project.  (road weather information system/service).  Its the project where they install cameras and weather stations along highways statewide.  Next time I pass the one recently installed in Haddam on CT 9 at Exit 8, I'll try to take a look.

[RobbieL2415]

There was night work Thursday on I-84 E just past Exit 59.  Looked sign-related. They had a bucket truck and the left two lanes were closed.

[jp the roadgeek]

There was night work Thursday on I-84 E just past Exit 59.  Looked sign-related. They had a bucket truck and the left two lanes were closed.

Drove up as far as Exit 60, and didn't notice any new signage, including for Exit 61 and 62. 

[RobbieL2415]

There was night work Thursday on I-84 E just past Exit 59.  Looked sign-related. They had a bucket truck and the left two lanes were closed.

Drove up as far as Exit 60, and didn't notice any new signage, including for Exit 61 and 62.

Could have been prep work.

[RobbieL2415]

Lol at all these people on r/Connecticut using the word "crumbling" to describe the state of our roads.  As if CONNDOT sits on its laurels all day.

[ipeters61]

Lol at all these people on r/Connecticut using the word "crumbling" to describe the state of our roads.  As if CONNDOT sits on its laurels all day.

Heaven forbid they see how bad the roads are in Northeastern Pennsylvania.