[Konig1985]

.........................
Let me wear my armor suit and helmet before I say this:

Why not simply introduce toll highway that prices its access based on peak/non peak time and supply demand dynamics? It has worked in most countries and force people to take public transports and carpool and not drive unnecessarily.

ok you guys can throw your stones at me now

[MetsNY]

Originally Posted by Konig1985

.........................
Let me wear my armor suit and helmet before I say this:

Why not simply introduce toll highway that prices its access based on peak/non peak time and supply demand dynamics? It has worked in most countries and force people to take public transports and carpool and not drive unnecessarily.

ok you guys can throw your stones at me now

Prices people on peak non peak times?

So everyone that is forced to go to work at "peak times" because they need to make a living have to suffer even more because they are the ones causing the traffic? So the ones who work in Stamford/Norwalk but can't afford to live there because the prices are so high are now going to have to shell out more money when they can barely survive in the first place because they are causing traffic congestion....never.

[Nexis4Jersey]

That wouldn't work , becuz the MTA / CDOT raises fares during peak hrs. They really want you to travel off peak....

[Konig1985]

Originally Posted by MetsNY

Prices people on peak non peak times?

So everyone that is forced to go to work at "peak times" because they need to make a living have to suffer even more because they are the ones causing the traffic? So the ones who work in Stamford/Norwalk but can't afford to live there because the prices are so high are now going to have to shell out more money when they can barely survive in the first place because they are causing traffic congestion....never.

Im not sure which is more: shelling out for the toll or shelling out for the gas during congestion and time.

In that case make merritt toll and i95 free for all. At the end of the day only a market solution is going to solve a supply demand inbalance situation.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by lizardman860

The Merritt parkway needs to be expanded to 3 lanes in each direction and made into a real interstate. Forget the "prettiness" of the road. It's a major thouroughfare, not some backwoods road in the litchfield hills.

It won't happen, at least not in our lifetime. The Merritt has been designated as a Scenic Highway and its bridges are historic. Anything that significantly changes it will not be allowed. Jay

[AnonChick]

Actually I kind of like the idea of peak vs. non-peak tolls for 15. The Merritt stretch is, as Jay says, a designated Scenic Highway. It's an historical landmark. It isn't intended to be a superhighway, but it's being treated like one. I think that's the most significant reason why traffic is so bad there. The peak thing might get at least some of those people off that highway and either onto other highways, or relying more on mass transit. Or (here's a novel idea) - working and living in the same state.

[Stylo]

Originally Posted by JayCT

It won't happen, at least not in our lifetime. The Merritt has been designated as a Scenic Highway and its bridges are historic. Anything that significantly changes it will not be allowed. Jay

Which seems silly to me. 80 year old overpass bridges in the US considered "historic". Many more historic structures were razed in NYC in the name of progress and no one has a problem with it.

[JayCT]

The Merritt also passes through some of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the country. Not many will want a super highway in their backyards. Jay

[gmdealerguy]

Originally Posted by JayCT

The Merritt also passes through some of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the country. Not many will want a super highway in their backyards. Jay

I understand your point........but something has to be better than having a parking lot in your backyard. I commute from Exit 56 to White Plains everyday. Not every backyard is on the Merritt......theres some room for widening here or there......Believe me the rich people will live......
But seriously ,SOMETHING needs to be figured out. I commute because my wife and I have jobs 15 minutes from each other. She rides down with me. Maybe when or if the economy is normal, then we can find jobs closer to home. Im in the same field for 23 years and i have job security......not risking that so I deal with the traffic. For me its hit or miss with traffic.....but when it hits.....it sucks!

[AnonChick]

Originally Posted by gmdealerguy

I understand your point........but something has to be better than having a parking lot in your backyard. I commute from Exit 56 to White Plains everyday. Not every backyard is on the Merritt......theres some room for widening here or there......Believe me the rich people will live......
But seriously ,SOMETHING needs to be figured out. I commute because my wife and I have jobs 15 minutes from each other. She rides down with me. Maybe when or if the economy is normal, then we can find jobs closer to home. Im in the same field for 23 years and i have job security......not risking that so I deal with the traffic. For me its hit or miss with traffic.....but when it hits.....it sucks!

Here's a novel idea: stop commuting to another state to work. And then, you won't have to worry about all that traffic. Encourage everyone you know, who works in one state and lives in another, to stop doing that. And then, the traffic will be more bearable for everyone, not just for you.

The Merritt is one of the most beautiful stretches of highway in the country. It is that, BECAUSE of how it was built, and BECAUSE of those bridges. Driving the Merritt during fall foliage used to be a huge huge deal for people who wanted to take a day-trip. Thanks to commuters who demand that they use a scenic route to get to another state to work, it is no longer such a great drive.

I say, deter all that traffic. Don't accommodate it. If you accommodate it, you lose one of the main reasons why people move to Connecticut in the first place: because it's a beautiful state. The Merritt is a historic part of that beauty.