[newyls]

My fiance and I are moving to the area. I'll be going to YLS. He has a job offer in Windsor (just north of Hartford). We were thinking of living between the two, maybe in Meriden or Wallingford... but we really don't know anything about commute time and what rush hour traffic is like on I-91. Any help would be great!

[Dragondog]

I would avoid Meriden firstly;
Wallingford is ok, also consider Cromwell, or even Middletown.

Traffic on I 91 can be hectic and slow at rush hour- from just north of New Haven into town, and south of Hartford to about Rocky Hill, and north to about Windsor. Past this it thins out and is not too bad. It all depends of course on weather conditions, construction and accidents. If you are coming from a very large area like NYC, DC Boston L.A it will be a breeze, if from a smaller area, you will have to go with the flow, have patience and do not become too frustrated.

[dusesean1986]

If you don't have a toll lane pass unfortunately you will be in heavy traffic.

[njohnson]

I-91 traffic is horrendous, especially in New Haven and Hartford. Hartford because of the 84/91 merge and in New Haven because of the 91/95 bottleneck.

You may have the option of taking 15 down to New Haven to avoid the traffic. I used to drive on 15 to stratford from Meriden for 4 years and while the traffic was fairly heavy it wasn't nearly as bad as 91 by new haven in the morning. Unfortunately there aren't many other options to go to Windsor. 84 is just as bad as 91.

[newyls]

and if I do have a toll lane pass?
how do you get one?

[mels]

Originally Posted by dusesean1986

If you don't have a toll lane pass unfortunately you will be in heavy traffic.

What does that mean? CT doesn't have any tolls....

[Dragondog]

I think dusesean was referring to the 'Diamond' lanes' or multi occupied vehicles;. where this is a minimum of two in the vehicle. There are no tolls in CT.

[shwee]

Originally Posted by njohnson

I-91 traffic is horrendous, especially in New Haven and Hartford. Hartford because of the 84/91 merge and in New Haven because of the 91/95 bottleneck.

You may have the option of taking 15 down to New Haven to avoid the traffic. I used to drive on 15 to stratford from Meriden for 4 years and while the traffic was fairly heavy it wasn't nearly as bad as 91 by new haven in the morning. Unfortunately there aren't many other options to go to Windsor. 84 is just as bad as 91.

If you're headed down to Yale, you can get off of I-91 before hitting the worst of the I-91/I-95 bottleneck and take the local streets, so it'll be bearable. For your husband, there's really no other option to get through Hartford other than I-91, but relative to other metro areas, it's not that bad.

[metaljaybird]

Isn't the Merritt Parkway a viable alternative for the two of them?

[mels]

Originally Posted by metaljaybird

Isn't the Merritt Parkway a viable alternative for the two of them?

Absolutely. Unless there is an accident, there is no traffic between Meriden and New Haven going on Rt. 15 (Wilbur Cross Parkway) during rush hour (heavy, but no stop and go). At worst, the traffic on I-91 south in the morning will be backed up from exit 8 down to the merge of 91/95 which sucks. The Rt. 15 traffic is only bad from Milford (Sikorsky Bridge area) on south through Fairfield County.

As for 91 in the morning, the only traffic I have ever seen going north is getting off of the 84 East exit (exit 28 I think?). Other than that you may just hit a slow spot from exit 27 up to the 84/91 interchange. Coming south in the evening it will likely be slow from Windsor until the 84/91 interchange, but traffic moves and it isn’t bad.