State transportation officials have quietly ramped up work on a nearly $500 million project designed to overhaul one of central Connecticut's most congested and headache-inducing highway corridors, CT Insider reported.
On Dec. 28, the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) opened bidding for the second of three construction phases on the Meriden interchange formed by the merger of three highways — Interstates 91 and 691, as well as state Highway 15 — that collectively carry around 260,000 vehicles daily.
At the point where I-91 intersects with Conn. 15, the two highways form an X-shaped tangle of merging lanes, weaving traffic, and exit ramps. As the two highways begin to split apart again to form the top of the X, they meet I-691, forming another web of entrances and exits.
The interchange's complexity, in addition to the narrow design of several connecting ramps, snarls traffic and contributes to a higher number of reported accidents than on other similar highway connectors, according to a 2019 report by Parsons Corp., a Virginia-based highway consultant.
One particularly notorious segment of the interchange is the southbound, single-lane off ramp connecting I-91 with Conn. 15, which routinely causes traffic to back up by as much as a mile, CT Insider noted.
"Anyone who has driven through the I-91/I-691/Route 15 interchange knows there are major backups and crashes, and that major improvements are needed," Connecticut Transportation Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto said in a statement. "We're moving forward with a multi-year program that will improve safety, reduce crashes and ultimately reduce congestion."
Two Largest Construction Phases Poised to Begin
Work began in 2023 on the initial, $85 million phase of the project to repair bridges, add one lane of traffic to I-91 north, and make related road improvements, CTDOT spokesperson Josh Morgan told the statewide digital news service.
However, the final two — and largest — phases of the project are slated to begin soon with the work scheduled to last until 2029. Both of those phases will focus on restructuring the northbound and southbound interchanges between I-91 and the other highways.
In October, Connecticut's State Bond Commission agreed to borrow $31.7 million toward the second, northbound phase of the project, which also is slated to receive $220 million in federal funding.
The new interchanges between I-91 and Conn. 15 will each have two lanes of traffic in either direction to ease the flow of traffic, according to planning documents. Crews will widen three other existing exit ramps, while removing Exit 17 on I-91 northbound, and reroute traffic onto the new two-lane off ramp at Exit 16, which will connect to both Conn. 15 and East Main Street.
Current Interchange Not Built to Handle Today's Traffic
Construction on the existing highway interchange in Meriden was completed in the 1960s, and proponents of the new project argue that it has become outdated both in its design and its ability to handle a growing volume of traffic traveling through the central part of the state.
"Depending on the time of day, it's certainly one of the top three or four problem areas in the state of Connecticut," said state Rep. Roland Lemar, D-New Haven, who serves as co-chair of the Transportation Committee.
CT Insider noted that the project's footprint will extend from where I-91 crosses the Wallingford-Meriden town line to the weigh station in Middletown, a distance of roughly 4.2 mi. Other sections of both Conn. 15 and I-691 also will undergo repairs.
Morgan said CTDOT will aim to conduct much of the necessary roadwork at night, while spacing out lane and exit closures over the project's six-year timeline in order to minimize the impact on drivers.
Still, he cautioned, the project "certainly may create some additional traffic congestion over the next couple of years," and urged patience among those traveling through the area. The alternative, he noted, would involve completely shutting down one or more of the highways in order to speed up construction.
In a related effort, the state transportation agency began another project renumbering exits along I-691 to a mileage-based system in 2023, conforming to federal standards. That project is expected to be completed this summer.
Today's top stories
