Waterbury To New York State—

Interstate 84 Widening Project Delayed

By Andrew Gorosko

The state has encountered a delay in its plans to widen a 31-mile-long section of Interstate 84 between Waterbury and the New York State border, a section of roadway that has become increasingly congested as traffic volumes have climbed.

Ned Hurle, the director of intermodal and environmental planning for the state Department of Transportation (DOT), said this week that it has taken longer than anticipated for DOT and a consulting firm to negotiate the scope of a planned environmental study on the effects of the road widening project, which is a required part of the road construction planning process.

“We’re a little behind where we wanted to be,” Mr Hurle said of the delay in getting the environmental study underway. The planning process is approximately 11 months behind schedule.

Also, the DOT encountered some unanticipated delays in obtaining federal funds for the project, Mr Hurle said.

The I-84 environmental review is now expected to start early next year, he said. That study would address topics including rights-of-way, wetlands, aquifers, water quality, plant and animal species, archaeology, history, air quality, and noise, among other topics.

The planned I-84 improvement project would add one travel lane to each side of the highway along a 31-mile-long road section extending from Exit 18 in Waterbury to the New York State border. Interchanges along the highway also would be improved, as needed.

The project is intended to enhance traffic flow and improve travel safety. Much of the road widening would involve building travel lanes in what is now the highway median, instead of adding lanes along the outer sides of the roadway.

Mr Hurle said the road-widening project and the interchange improvements may be done as separate construction projects. Such large projects, which represent “hundreds of millions of dollars” in public spending, are complex and involve many variables, Mr Hurle said.

Optimistically, the road-widening project might start by 2010, he said. The project probably would take a minimum of five years’ construction to accomplish, he added.

In the past, DOT officials have said the project may be done by 2020.

Widening an interstate highway that is in use is a complex task, Mr Hurle said. The state is in the third year of a construction project to widen I-84 between Waterbury and Southington.

“They [road projects] always take longer than we think they should, or we would like them to,” he said.

After the environmental study is done on the project to widen I-84 between Waterbury and New York State, the DOT would hold public sessions to solicit public comment on the project. Optimistically, such sessions may be held by early 2006, Mr Hurle said.

Some improvement work to the interchanges along that road section may occur before the road widening work takes place, he said.

Mr Hurle noted that the planned I-84 widening has much public support, unlike some other DOT projects which have drawn opposition from the public.

Newtown Interchanges

Newtown has three interchanges on I-84 — Exit 9 at Route 25, Exit 10 at Route 6, and Exit 11 at Route 34. The DOT has identified how the three interchanges may be improved.

The Exit 9 interchange in Hawleyville has geometric deficiencies that need to be corrected. The layout of the on-ramps and off-ramps, especially for the westbound lanes, is not what would be designed today for current traffic volumes. Traffic planners are considering various reconfigurations of the interchange that would make for safer, more efficient traffic flow. Improvements may include installing traffic signals on the nearby Hawleyville Road to control traffic flow at the ends of interchange ramps.

The Exit 10 interchange and the adjacent Church Hill Road is a high-accident area. By today’s highway design standards, the Exit 10 on-ramps and off-ramps are deficient. Traffic planners are considering “softening” the geometry of the ramps to provide better vehicle acceleration and braking in the area, as well as adding some traffic signals in the area.

The Exit 11 interchange was constructed as a link between I-84 and a Route 25 expressway. The Route 25 expressway, however, was never built. Traffic planners propose simplifying the sweeping Exit 11 interchange to improve area traffic flow. Interchange redesign proposals focus on reducing traffic congestion on nearby roads.