Exit 11 Area Traffic Improvements Urged

By Andrew Gorosko

The Police Commission is urging the state Department of Transportation (DOT) to expedite its plans for traffic flow improvements at Exit 11 of Interstate 84 to lessen congestion in that heavily traveled area.

Police Chief Michael Kehoe told Police Commission members December 2, “This area is getting worse and worse, it seems, each year.”

The on-ramp and off-ramp of Exit 11 intersect with Wasserman Way. Wasserman Way is a major east-west connector road that links Route 25 to Route 34. Newtown High School, which is a major traffic generator, is near the intersection of Wasserman Way and Route 34. Roads in the area handle heavy commuter traffic.

The DOT has plans to build a highway on-ramp extension, which would directly link Toddy Hill Road to the existing I-84 on-ramp, to alleviate traffic congestion in the area.

In a recent letter to DOT Commissioner James Byrnes, State Rep Julia Wasserman wrote, “The traffic [at the I-84 Exit 11 interchange] is a concern to many Newtown residents and I am requesting an update on what is being done to alleviate the traffic congestion in Newtown.”

In response to that letter, the Police Commission decided to urge Mr Byrnes to expedite DOT’s planned traffic improvements for the area.

Mrs Wasserman’s request for information was prompted by a letter to her from a Sandy Hook commuter.

In that letter, the commuter wrote that it often takes 40 minutes to commute the 13 miles between home in Sandy Hook and Danbury largely due to the traffic congestion in the Exit 11 area.

“Along with wasting time, it is also dangerous. At 6 pm on weeknights, the traffic is often backed up all the way onto I-84, and is an accident waiting to happen,” the commuter wrote.

Police Commission members have long discussed traffic congestion problems in that area. DOT traffic improvement projects often take years to come to fruition.