Gov. Ned Lamont’s sweeping $21 billion transportation plan calls for major overhauls to long-troubled choke points across the state’s infrastructure system and the Metro North arteries.
The dozens of projects, detailed in documents released publicly for the first time late Tuesday night, focus particularly on improvements along the highway and rail lines along the coast from New Haven to New York City.
But they also include safety enhancements and technology upgrades throughout the state, including $475 million to be dedicated to statewide traffic signal technology upgrades.
Here is a look at some of the biggest and most expensive proposals to make the list.
Metro-North improvements
More than $1.4 billion, the largest single line item of the plan, would be set aside for bridge repairs and replacement along the Metro-North New Haven Line, including some bridges that are more than a century old, according to the documents.
Another almost $600 million would be dedicated to improving to track geometry and bridges along that line to support faster train speeds and shorter travel times.
Almost $716 million would represent continued funding for the replacement of the Walk Bridge in Norwalk that is more than 100 years old.
New rail cars
The plan also calls for $445 million to buy 71 additional coach rail cars and another six dual power locomotives to support service from the branch railroad lines into New York City, according to the documents.
I-95 widening
A $599 million widening and reconfiguration of the 6.3-mile stretch of I-95 from Bridgeport to the New York state line is designed to address “one of the key bottlenecks for congestion for the entire northbound direction,” according to the documents.
The project would end at the Route 8 connector and is expected to save 20 minutes of travel time for drivers along the entire area.
I-91 and Route 15 Interchange
Lamont’s plan proposes $276 million to reconfigure the interchanges of I-91, I-691 and Route 15 where they come together in Meriden in a bid to relieve major congestion during high-traffic times of day and address safety concerns along all three roadways.
I-84 and I-91 in Hartford
Projects totaling more than $276 million would target congestion at I-91 and I-84 in Hartford.
The changes would include reconfiguration of lanes, pavement marking re-striping and signing upgrades alongside “a broader investigation” of possible regional solutions to the congestion in the capital city, according to the documents.
Hartford Line
Additions to the Hartford Line could bolster the “already successful” commuter program with the capital city at its center.
About $90 million would fund additional track north of Hartford to support more trains on the line. Another $65 million could create a new station on the line in Windsor Locks to connect to Bradley International Airport and $50 million could create a new station in Enfield.
Wilbur Cross Parkway
Three projects along the Wilbur Cross Parkway costing more than $175 million would be designed to fix the most painful traffic jam spots along the major artery.
“Unlike other expressways in the central and southern portion of Connecticut, the Wilbur Cross experiences congestion chiefly during the peak-hour period and only in areas around its interchanges,” according to a plan summary. “Built to the standards of the 1940s and 1950s, the geometry of the interchanges are often inadequate for speeds and operating conditions of today.”
Exit 62 on the parkway is called out particularly for its insufficient acceleration and deceleration lanes, which causes congestion on the main travel lanes, so the plan envisions lengthening those lanes and replacing and expanding bridges there, according to the plan.
The plan also calls for improvements to the traffic flow to and from the parkway at Whitney Avenue in Hamden by redesigning the current looping ramps that exist there now.
Route 1 buses
A $100 million program could create “fast, frequent” high-performance bus service along the Route 1 corridor connecting Stamford, Bridgeport and New Haven, according to the plan. The new service would include additional passenger amenities for commuters.
