“I really avoid that area because of all the problems,” Karen Timothy, of Meriden, said.
There is relief on the way for drivers who avoid or must travel on the Interstate 91, Interstate 691, and Route 15 interchange in Meriden.
“So hopefully everything they are doing is fixing what happens because there have been a lot of accidents, a lot of congestion,” Timothy added.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held Tuesday morning for phase two of a state and federal project that aims to reduce deadly crashes and eliminate congestion on the three-highway interchange.
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“We are adding auxiliary lanes to make sure cars have time to merge onto the highway, eliminating some of the weaving-induced crashes, which is often one of the largest causes of congestion in Connecticut,” CT DOT Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto said.
In addition, Route 15 and I-91 North will be widened and reconfigured. The project is funded through the state and a large portion from President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill.
“We were intentional, we were intentional when we crafted this legislation to make sure we included language like Project Labor Agreement to make sure we were putting labor back to work,” Rep. Jahana Hayes said.
“These are good jobs, these are union jobs,” Gov. Ned Lamont said.
The Project Labor Agreement ensures construction workers who live in Connecticut have the opportunity to work in their communities. Diana Maseychik from Bristol is one of dozens employees working on phase two.
“At noon, we just see the traffic is stopped, it’s bad,” ONG Construction Worker Diana Maseychick said.
Maseychik and state officials also took a moment to ask drivers to be alert as construction is underway through 2030, saying they, too, want to make it home safely.
“Get off your cell phone, pay attention. Drive defensively, big one,” Maseychik added.
In total, the project is estimated to cost about $500 million. For phase two alone, the state received $200 in federal funding.
“We haven’t had this level of federal infrastructure money come to our state and to our country in several generations,” Lt Gov. Susan Bysiewicz said.
