Loon South Peak Expansion

[drjeff]

That's almost an hour out of the way. CT traffic would have to be REALLY bad to get me to do that!

I do absolutely hate getting through CT though. Back in the day you could get away with taking 84 to 684 but now it's almost as busy as 95 or the Merritt.

Other than being immediately in city traffic, the only stretch of road I hate more than any of the routes through CT is 95 in Virginia between DC and Richmond. 85 straight miles of stop and go traffic unless you go through in the middle of the night. Aggravating as hell.

84 from Hartford to Danbury way more often isn't a case of if you'll hit a traffic jam, but how many. Same thing with basically the entire length of 95, and 91, especially within say 10 miles of Hartford. Just a woefully inadequate highway system for the volume of traffic it handles more days than not

 

[deadheadskier]

I remember a time not too long ago that it was not possible to go through Hartford on 84 without having to switch lanes. Now I believe it's only the middle lane that works. Otherwise you are forced to exit or switch lanes. Same thing with 91 North. Danbury is similar with 84 and 7.

As I mentioned prior, it's really all of the left exits that cause most of the problems. Unlike a traditional highway where the left lane is for passing and higher rates of speed, middle for standard travel and right for exiting and merging, CT has both left and right lanes as merging and exiting lanes. There are essentially no passing lanes in the state.

And don't get me started on the moronic HOV design where there's a full empty lane between the HOV and Regular traffic. Why would you waste a full lane for travel like that?

So glad I don't work down in CT these days. Place is a distant 6th place ranking for New England states. Only thing I miss is a few coastal areas and the pizza.

 

[4aprice]

LOL. I always hated driving through CT to get to our MA offices from NJ. There have been a few times that I actually just stayed on the Mass Pike all the way to the NY Thruway. Longer distance wise, but much less aggravating.

Not to create too much drift but my off the cuff comment hit home. You really can't drive through CT on a Friday night. The 54 mile stretch from the NY State line to New Haven or Hartford if you take 84 are just brutal. Actually anything north of Hartford on 91 or 84 isn't bad. The construction is mostly a summer/fall issue.

But one of the routes I have taken to Lincoln is to go up the Thruway to the Mass Pike over to 91 (just north of Springfield) then up through Vermont to Woodsville NH and over 112 to Lincoln. It's about 3 hours to 91 that way really about 15 minutes longer then up through CT without traffic. Going to Boston is a different beast where CT is unavoidable. Of course going North/South in NY/NE is easy, east/west not so much.

Of course timing is key. If we get out early (like leaving NNJ at 5 am) we can make quick work of any of the routes through Ct (out of the state by about 8am) and the drive not so bad.

 

[cdskier]

That's almost an hour out of the way. CT traffic would have to be REALLY bad to get me to do that!

I do absolutely hate getting through CT though. Back in the day you could get away with taking 84 to 684 but now it's almost as busy as 95 or the Merritt.

Other than being immediately in city traffic, the only stretch of road I hate more than any of the routes through CT is 95 in Virginia between DC and Richmond. 85 straight miles of stop and go traffic unless you go through in the middle of the night. Aggravating as hell.

Right now it is about a 35-40 minute difference. I'll take 35 extra minutes driving where I'm actually moving to avoid going through CT...

Luckily I rarely need to do this drive...last time I had to go to our MA office I was there for a week and it was in the winter, so I just drove there from VT Sunday afternoon and then drove back up to VT on Friday after I left the office. No point in even going back to NJ that time!

 

[ceo]

Back when I drove from Boston to NY or NJ regularly I took the Merritt Parkway through southern CT. Much less traffic, no trucks, pretty bridges, curvy and fun. Beware of the nonexistent entry and exit ramps though.

 

[Zand]

Merritt isn't a secret anymore.

I think the biggest thing to happen is everyone drives with a GPS that automatically reroutes the moment traffic gets bad. As soon as 95 starts showing delays, the GPS automatically sends you down the Merritt. When that gets backed up, it sends you down 84.

I live in central MA and I always laugh at the ridiculous gridlock on random back roads around here on Fridays and Sundays when the Pike gets backed up and the GPS will send people to god knows where. And it's all NY, CT, and NJ plates.

 

[deadheadskier]

Merritt sucks these days. Until recently, I spent half my weeks in CT for three years working with Yale New Haven Health. All of their facilities are along the 95 corridor. The Merritt is rarely better than 95 during normal business hours.

They really need to expand the Merritt to three lanes. There is plenty of land to do it. The bridges would obviously be expensive to replace. There's no room to do anything with 95, so the Merritt is the only legitimate option to increase capacity.

If they can't expand all of it to 3 lanes, at least add merge lanes for the exits and maybe periodic sections of 3 lanes to give people more options to pass. There are tons of left lane loungers on that route.

 

[EPB]

Merritt sucks these days. Until recently, I spent half my weeks in CT for three years working with Yale New Haven Health. All of their facilities are along the 95 corridor. The Merritt is rarely better than 95 during normal business hours.

They really need to expand the Merritt to three lanes. There is plenty of land to do it. The bridges would obviously be expensive to replace. There's no room to do anything with 95, so the Merritt is the only legitimate option to increase capacity.

If they can't expand all of it to 3 lanes, at least add merge lanes for the exits and maybe periodic sections of 3 lanes to give people more options to pass. There are tons of left lane loungers on that route.

I’m on it for commuting purposes most days. I can tell you there are decidedly no plans to make it three lanes. They’ve fixed/replaced a bridge or two in the last five years and didn’t even bother giving themselves the option to fit an extra lane underneath. Not good.

 

[bigbob]

Merritt isn't a secret anymore.

I think the biggest thing to happen is everyone drives with a GPS that automatically reroutes the moment traffic gets bad. As soon as 95 starts showing delays, the GPS automatically sends you down the Merritt. When that gets backed up, it sends you down 84.

I live in central MA and I always laugh at the ridiculous gridlock on random back roads around here on Fridays and Sundays when the Pike gets backed up and the GPS will send people to god knows where. And it's all NY, CT, and NJ plates.

Same thing happens on the Maine turnpike Sunday evenings. I get off ay Exit 19 and Waze sends alot of OOS plates the same way. Gets backed up at the light in North Berwick and the stop sign in South Berwick. Back roads cant handle the extra traffic any better than the pike. This is my normal route I take. I doubt they save them any time, but do skip the York toll controbution. No charge to get off at 19.

 

[deadheadskier]

I’m on it for commuting purposes most days. I can tell you there are decidedly no plans to make it three lanes. They’ve fixed/replaced a bridge or two in the last five years and didn’t even bother giving themselves the option to fit an extra lane underneath. Not good.

Yeah. I was told the same by many locals. Not gonna be expanded maybe ever. That's bananas with the population growth in Fairfield County.

I feel for you. Hope the job is worth the hassle.

 

[urungus]

Merritt Parkway is designated as a National Scenic Byway and is also listed in the National Register of historic places. Plus it goes through so many rich NIMBY towns. So I doubt widening will ever happen. And it would be a shame to lose the beautiful elaborate bridges over the parkway. Instead I wish they would expand I84 from 2 to 3 lanes in each direction in western CT and get rid of the left exit for US7 in Danbury.

 

[Zand]

Agreed on widening 84, way too many hills and too much traffic to be 2 lanes from Waterbury to Danbury. So many trucks doing 40-45 and the climbing lanes are very insufficient for what is needed (and when the traffic is backed up the climbing lanes fill with cars trying to pass people and just end up causing a bigger jam). That should be 3 lanes out to 684.

Speaking of 684, the exit lane off 84 West and entry lane back onto 84 East are also extremely poor and way too short. The exit lane is under a quarter mile long. The reentry lane isn't much longer than that and then it's uphill.

Speaking of widening interstates and something that's closer to home for this thread, anyone know when NH is going to start widening 93 in Concord? Thought I heard that was going to be a thing pretty soon.

 

[thebigo]

Speaking of widening interstates and something that's closer to home for this thread, anyone know when NH is going to start widening 93 in Concord? Thought I heard that was going to be a thing pretty soon.

concord is a mess, last sunday driving home from cannon the tail lights started in tilton. i have made a habit of using 132 to get from 93 to 393. last i heard work is scheduled to start in 2029 on a ten year project.

Bow-Concord: Creating Connections

Bow-Concord-Creating Connections

www.bow-concord.com

 

[machski]

concord is a mess, last sunday driving home from cannon the tail lights started in tilton. i have made a habit of using 132 to get from 93 to 393. last i heard work is scheduled to start in 2029 on a ten year project.

Bow-Concord: Creating Connections

Bow-Concord-Creating Connections

www.bow-concord.com

Yeah, Concord feels the pressure now that 93 is wide up to it. Not the easiest stretch to widen either, with the river on one side and railroad and basically downtown on the other. Not much land to work with unlike all the other road widening projects in the state.

 

[Smellytele]

Merritt Parkway is designated as a National Scenic Byway and is also listed in the National Register of historic places. Plus it goes through so many rich NIMBY towns. So I doubt widening will ever happen. And it would be a shame to lose the beautiful elaborate bridges over the parkway. Instead I wish they would expand I84 from 2 to 3 lanes in each direction in western CT and get rid of the left exit for US7 in Danbury.

Taking out the bridges and trees would take the park out of the parkway

 

[deadheadskier]

The aesthetics of the Merritt are great. It would be costly, but they could still be maintained widening it to 3 lanes. That should happen along with widening 84 West of Waterbury. I don't expect to see either in my lifetime.

Here's an article on 93 in Concord. It'll be completed in 2038. Haha.

Here’s what’s in the state’s decade long interstate project - Concord Monitor

In the works for about two decades, locals got a recent update on the state’s plans to make improvements to the major interstates in Concord.The current design calls for a three-lane highway going through the city that will widen to four lanes in...

www.concordmonitor.com

 

[thebigo]

to summarize they are going to spend ten years adding one lane in concord by which time the population will probably have grown to the point we need another lane. problem is they need to get the east west traffic off 93, my dream is a proper 393 running from around the epsom circle, north of the city and joining 89 in the exit 3 area but it will never happen

 

[deadheadskier]

Well, if 93 below Manchester is a preview of what to expect in Concord, they'll make it wide enough to eventually add a 4th lane.

In general I think NH does a pretty good job with the highways to prepare for future population growth. The roads around Manchester are maybe the best highway design for any city in New England.

 

[Smellytele]

Speaking of messes and n 93 in concord just drove by this…

Wrong-way crash snarls traffic on I-93 in Concord

A wrong-way crash near Exit 13 on Interstate 93 in Concord snarled traffic Thursday afternoon, state police said.

wmur.com

How and why has this been happening so much lately!

 

[machski]

Getting rid of the scissor crossover for the onramp/offramp of 89 will help as traffic bound for 89N won't back up as much from that crazy merge. Have always thought half the problem is the pinch down to 2 lanes to/from exit 13. Get rid of that, keep it 3 to and from and that would solve at least a third of the congestion on normal days. Obviously wouldn't help with heavy recreational traffic headed North/South.