I-84 Improvements—

DOT To Explain Plans For Exit 11 Reconfiguration

By Andrew Gorosko

The state Department of Transportation (DOT) will display its plans for reconfiguring Exit 11 of Interstate 84 in Sandy Hook at an informational session scheduled for Thursday, June 21. The meeting is slated for 7:30 pm in the Room A-108 lecture hall at Newtown High School, 12 Berkshire Road, Sandy Hook.

The long-awaited project is designed to simplify travel and improve motorist safety at Exit 11, an elaborate high-speed interchange that was built in the early 1970s to link I-84 to a planned limited-access version of Route 25.

The limited-access Route 25 was never constructed, but the Exit 11 interchange remained in place as an overbuilt set of ramps linking I-84 to Route 34 (Berkshire Road) via Wasserman Way. The interchange has a high accident rate.

Jonathan Chew, executive director of the Housatonic Valley Council of Elected Officials (HVCEO), said this week the DOT is seeking comments from the public on the Exit 11 reconfiguration project to help it refine plans for the work. HVCEO is the regional transportation planning agency.

“It looks like a winner to me,” Mr Chew said of DOT’s proposal to improve traffic flow in the area. The area is prone to traffic congestion during the morning and evening rush periods.

Current DOT planning calls for Exit 11 interchange project completion by the end of 2010.

Transportation engineer Drew Colburn is the DOT project engineer for the Exit 11 interchange project.

DOT’s plans call for the removal of the J-shaped sections of on-ramp and off-ramp, which link Wasserman Way to both eastbound and westbound I-84, Mr Colburn said.

In their place, the DOT would construct a set of I-84 on-ramps and off-ramps that intersect with Route 34 directly across Route 34 from Wasserman Way, Mr Colburn said. The roads would form a large four-way intersection at a widened Route 34. That intersection would be controlled by a full array of traffic signals.

An approximately 950-foot-long section of Route 34 would be widened to varying degrees to facilitate traffic flow in the area.

The separate off-ramps from eastbound and westbound I-84 would merge before intersecting with Route 34. A common on-ramp for I-84 would diverge into two separate on-ramps before joining eastbound and westbound I-84.

In eliminating the existing Exit 11 J-ramps, the DOT would demolish the two bridges that pass above Route 34, southeast of its intersection with Wasserman Way.

The section of Wasserman Way nearest the new four-way intersection would be shifted southeastward. Also, the existing approximately 80-space commuter parking lot in that area would correspondingly be shifted southeastward, but without a loss of parking spaces. 

“It’s still a work in progress,” Mr Colburn said of DOT engineers refining plans for the Exit 11 reconstruction project.

The Exit 11 interchange has been a high-accident location due to the sharply curved J-ramps there, Mr Colburn said. Motorists unfamiliar with the sharp ramp curvature have been the victims of rollover accidents when their vehicles leave the roadway unable to make the curves at the speeds they are traveling.

The DOT projects the construction costs for the Exit 11 reconstruction at approximately $11.3 million, Mr Colburn said. Related costs, including design work, public utilities relocation, and easement acquisitions, would increase the price tag. The federal government is providing 90 percent of project funding, with the state government covering the remainder.

The DOT plans to advertise the project for construction bids in September 2008. Construction would start in April 2009 and be completed by the end of 2010.

The construction work largely would be accomplished within an existing state right-of-way, Mr Colburn said. The project would require three easements and one partial taking of a property.

No existing structures would need to be demolished for the project, he said.

Traffic flow would be maintained on the interchange during the construction process, he said.

DOT traffic planners will be meeting with members of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to discuss issues posed by the Exit 11 project’s proximity to the Pootatuck Aquifer, Mr Colburn said.

The planned Exit 11 interchange improvements are part of a long-term state project to widen I-84 between the New York State line and Waterbury, and also to improve the interchanges along the highway.