Commute to Stratford (New Haven, Hartford, Stamford: work, moving, traffic)

[Moving to CT]

Wife and I live in Glastonbury (within a couple of miles of Rt. 2) and really like the town. Wife works in Hartford and I'm considering a position in Stratford (typical hours will be 8:30a.m to 6:00p.m.). Is a daily commute from Glastonbury to Stratford manageable? Any insight into the flow of traffic on 91 between Glastonbury and Meriden and on the Merritt between Meriden and Stratford would be appreciated.

[JayCT]

The commute from Glastonbury to Stratford really shouldn't be bad. You could do it in under an hour depending on where you live and where you will work. If you are going to Sikorsky Helicopter it should be less since it is right off the Parkway. The recently completed Sikorsky Bridge over the Housatonic River helped relieve the worst choke point on the trip. Traffic really bogs down when you get past Stratford now. You might have some slow traffic in Meriden getting onto the parkway too but not too bad from my experience. Jay

[CTlibrarian]

I agree with Jay that it won't be too bad. I just drove that way the other morning (Tuesday) when 84 was closed in Middlebury. That stretch of the Merritt is pretty much smooth sailing... there was a slowdown right before the tunnel in Hamden, but it only added an extra 5-10 minutes to the trip. I think it's fair to say that you could get to Stratford in about an hour from Glastonbury. To be honest, I can't speak to the afternoon traffic, so I don't know if it's any different.

[nhctguy]

agreed with the above comments re: the parkway. That stretch is usually pretty smooth. Watch out on Friday afternoons in the summer when traffic can be pretty slow anwywhere between the Sikorsky Bridge and the West Rock Tunnel. For whatever reason, the traffic seems to start moving again after the tunnel. Though again, that is usually a Friday evening issue and even it is nothing compared to the I95 Stamford-New Haven stretch.