[pulpfiction]

I realize that the options along the 95 corridor are more limited. It can and MUST be done, however. Look at the Big Dig--in spite of all the controversy, traffic flow in boston is far smoother these days. The 95 corrdior's economic prosperity depends on it.

I worked in White Plains and lived in Stamford for a couple of years. The commute home could EASILY take an hour and a half...and its 15 miles!
I can only imagine what the commute to Stamford will be like 10 years from now..

Originally Posted by JayCT

I-95 does not have the right-of-way (or land) that I-84 and I-91 have so there is little or no room to widen it. The towns along the corridor are very vocal about further widening of the right-of-way for the highway and are resistant to change. Plus the cost to rebuild would be through the roof. The Q-Bridge project is now estimated to be about $2 Billion when it is complete. Where will the money come from. People are opposed to tolls. Also the current administration is now touting mass-transit as the answer so it is unlikely you will see a significant change anywhere on I-95. At best there may be spot improvements. Jay

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by pulpfiction

Look at the Big Dig--in spite of all the controversy, traffic flow in boston is far smoother these days.

Tell this to the Boston newspapers that are constantly hammering what is probably one of the largest, most complex and impressive engineering projects in the last century. All they do is critisize the Big Dig and highlight the problems and costs. Were there problems? Yes. Was it expensive? Yes. But look what it has done for the city. You are correct that something like this needs to be done along I-95 but there is really no politician with the vision and strength to do it these days. Certainly not in Connecticut. JMHO, Jay

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by pulpfiction

I realize that the options along the 95 corridor are more limited. It can and MUST be done, however. Look at the Big Dig--in spite of all the controversy, traffic flow in boston is far smoother these days. The 95 corrdior's economic prosperity depends on it.

I worked in White Plains and lived in Stamford for a couple of years. The commute home could EASILY take an hour and a half...and its 15 miles!
I can only imagine what the commute to Stamford will be like 10 years from now..

I agree that many of CT's roads are antiquated and congested. RT 8, RT 7, the Merritt, 95 ... all very congested roadways. I think as a nation we have realized that widening highways/roads is not the best way to reduce congestion. With more lanes comes more traffic. Take a look at Route 7- since they widened the stretch between Ridgefield and Danbury, more people drive (speed) on it, and when it narrows to one lane, it bottlenecks and becomes a nightmare. Instead of updating 95, we need to focus on updating Metro North and mass transit to and from the stations. If we can do something like the LIRR and have double deckers, along with ground transportation to and from, say, Fairfield's station to Easton, Monroe, Shelton and Trumbull - that would be a huge help. I know so many people who dread taking 95 and have looked into Metro North, but it just did not work unless they were commuting to the Bronx or midtown Manhattan.

As Jay said, there really is nothing they can do about 95 other than widening it, and that would drastically change the towns it passes through.

[brasscitybluenwhite]

Do you guys think that it would be better for the state if they stopped contracting Metro North and just operated the lines themselves? What if they modelled it like MARTA in atlanta? at least that worked for the first 25 years..

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by brasscitybluenwhite

Do you guys think that it would be better for the state if they stopped contracting Metro North and just operated the lines themselves? What if they modelled it like MARTA in atlanta? at least that worked for the first 25 years..

No, I think Metro-North does a fine job. Jay

[wanderintonc]

Yes, 95 and the other roads here in that area are awful. When I drive other places in the country, I realize, wow, those roads here really stink. I don't think we here realize how bad it can be until we see otherwise-we think it's normal. I dread 95.