Road work continues to ramp up across the state with over 500 capital projects currently in various stages of development. One of the newest projects announced by the CT DOT is aiming to make a notorious trouble spot a little safer.
Road work continues to ramp up across the state with over 500 capital projects currently in various stages of development.
One of the newest projects announced by the Connecticut DOT is aiming to make a notorious trouble spot a little safer.
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WATCH HERE“It was very weird because it was a short on-pass going onto the highway,” said Hieu Nguyen from Massachusetts.
The sight of a stop sign merging onto a major Connecticut highway isn’t exactly what you expect, especially if you are visiting from out of state.
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SIGN UP “It was kind of like a weird intersection, kind of dangerous in my opinion.,” said Nguyen
Nguyen said he emerged unscathed, but the merge was a bit unexpected. Many note the sign's unexpected presence, and that’s why DOT has announced they are in the early phases of phasing out one in Hamden.
“It’s just not safe to stop before getting on the highway,” said Lauren Garrett, Hamden’s mayor.
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She is in favor of the change in her town. According to a CT DOT press release, the project would remove the stop signs for the merge and replace them with extended merge lanes, so drivers have time to get up to speed, and merge like a typical highway. The change was spurred by hundreds of accidents in recent years.
“Very early in the process looking at ways to improve safety, improve traffic congestion, alleviating some of the pain points we hear from the public,” said Josh Morgan, spokesperson for the DOT.
He notes this move comes while they are working on a larger statewide strategy to increase safety around on- and offramps because of crash volume in certain areas of Connecticut.
As mentioned, this project is still in the very early stages of development, like many of the 500 capital projects around the state.
“We are ready to go, we have more than 500 active capital projects in various stages,” said Morgan of what’s to come statewide.
The active projects on the ground range from the years long $500 million 91/15/691 interchange in Meriden that drivers have become used to seeing, to smaller projects like bridge repair.
“Some that can certainly improve quality of life, improve safety and alleviate some of that traffic congestion we know some people are frustrated by,” Morgan said.
Morgan said in total the state has $16 billion in projects they are considering. They center around three main goals.
“Making sure it is safe, making sure its accessible, and making sure it’s built to last,” he explained.
While projects continue to line up in the pipeline to make Connecticut roads better, the DOT noted it’s on the drivers to ensure workers can complete active projects safely.
So, during the busy summer months they remind drivers to slow down and move over in construction zones, and make sure you are never driving impaired.
