Interstate 84 in Connecticut

Interstate 84
Route information
Maintained by ConnDOT
Length:	91 mi (146 km)
Existed:	1944 – present
Major junctions
West end:	I-84 near Brewster, NY
	US 7 / US 202 in Danbury Route 8 in Waterbury I-691 near Cheshire Route 9 near W. Hartford I-91 in Hartford Route 2 / Route 15 near E. Hartford I-384 / I-291 near Manchester
East end:	I-84 near Sturbridge, MA
Highway system
Main route of the Interstate Highway System Main • Auxiliary • Business Routes in Connecticut Special Service Roads • State Roads ← Route 83 Route 85 →

Interstate 84 is an East–West Interstate highway across the state of Connecticut into Danbury, Waterbury, Hartford and Union.

Contents 1 Route description 2 History 2.1 Road to Providence 2.1.1 Original route 2.1.2 Upgrades 2.1.3 Environmental concerns 2.1.4 Long-range plans 2.2 I-86 relation 2.3 Widening projects in Waterbury 3 Exit list 4 Auxiliary route 5 References 6 External links

Route description

The interstate's first exit is at the state line, where it enters the city of Danbury. Here it is designated the Yankee Expressway. Two miles to the east, where US 7 comes in from the south near Danbury Fair Mall to join I-84, it turns to the north. At the next exit, routes 6 and 202 join the highway.

The four-way concurrency ends after 3 miles (4.8 km), when 7 and 202 split off north towards New Milford. Route 6 leaves the interstate at the next exit, and I-84 continues east across the countryside. At Exit 11 it turns to the northeast and descends to cross the Housatonic River on the Rochambeau Bridge, into New Haven County, then climbs into higher ground to the city of Waterbury, which it passes on an elevated viaduct with the eastbound and westbound lanes on different levels. Here the CT 8 expressway intersects.

The eastern heading continues past Waterbury to Milldale, where Interstate 691 splits off to the east. This section has many left-hand exits and entrances and sharp curves, which were built for a planned network of freeways. I-84 heads northeast towards New Britain and Hartford, the state capital and the largest community along its eastern length. After intersecting Interstate 91, the road crosses the Connecticut River on the Bulkeley Bridge, oldest on the Interstate system, then becomes the Wilbur Cross Highway and continues towards the northeast.

The last exit in Connecticut is Exit 74, an exit for Route 171. I-84 crosses the Massachusetts border in the town of Union.

History

Road to Providence

Interstate 84 was originally to head east from Hartford, Connecticut to Providence, Rhode Island.

Original route

The original route of Interstate 84 would have used present-day Interstate 384 to Bolton, Connecticut, then along a never-built section of freeway that would have connected to the US 6 bypass around Willimantic, Connecticut. Another never-built freeway section would have connected it to Interstate 395 and extended I-84 onto State Road 695 in Connecticut, the easternmost portion of the Connecticut Turnpike in Plainfield, Connecticut. From there, it would have roughly followed US 6 through western Rhode Island to connect to the present-day US 6 freeway in Johnston. From there, a freeway from Olneyville Square to the Interstate 95–Interstate 195 interchange was briefly considered, but abandoned in favor of what later became the Route 6-10 Connector.

Upgrades

Sections of I-84 in Connecticut were reconstructed and widened in the 1980s. The former I-86 portion from East Hartford to the Massachusetts state line was completely rebuilt from a narrow 4-lane freeway to a much wider profile ranging from 6 lanes at the Massachusetts state line, expanding to 8 lanes in Vernon, to 12 lanes with HOV lanes in East Hartford. Another section through Danbury was widened from 4 lanes to 6 lanes in 1985 and 1986. Widening of the highway through Danbury was funded by Union Carbide as part of building its world headquarters in Danbury.^[1]

Environmental concerns

Though the route was basically set in stone in Connecticut, many issues remained in Rhode Island, the biggest of which were major environmental concerns about how the freeway would affect the Scituate Reservoir, which is the main drinking water supply for Providence.

Long-range plans

In the 1992 long-range transportation plan released by the Rhode Island Department of Transportation, a freeway has been added along the original route of Interstate 84 that will connect to the CT 695 freeway on the Rhode Island–Connecticut border.^[2]

I-86 relation

The section of I-84 between East Hartford, Connecticut (at the present-day junction with Interstate 384) and Sturbridge, Massachusetts (Interstate 90) was for a time signed as Interstate 86 (unrelated to present-day Interstate 86 in New York and Pennsylvania). Signs stating "I-84 Ends, I-86 to Boston" (eastbound) and "I-86 Ends, I-84 to Hartford" (westbound) were posted where the change took place. Exit numbering on I-86 was that of the road's predecessor, Route 15, in a sequence beginning on New York's Hutchinson River Parkway. Exits were renumbered to correspond with the rest of I-84 in Connecticut when the road was redesignated in 1984. The present I-384 as well as the present US 6 bypass near Willimantic, both of which were a part of what was then I-84's planned easterly continuation, were also numbered I-84 prior to 1984 even though they lacked any direct connection to the rest of I-84 at that time. (One had to use Silver Lane in East Hartford to travel between the two stretches of the highway.) These two sections were re-numbered I-384 and Rte 6 when what was then I-86 was re-numbered I-84.

Widening projects in Waterbury

A widening project along the congested stretch of I-84 through Waterbury and Cheshire, Connecticut has been beset by cost overruns, delays, and construction defects involving storm drains,^[3] as state and federal officials have launched criminal investigations stemming from this project. This episode has waned local enthusiasm for a proposed $2 billion reconstruction of the Mixmaster interchange in downtown Waterbury.^[4] Cost estimates for the Mixmaster replacement have increased to $3 billion.^[5] CT Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has begun a lawsuit against the contractor and an engineering firm in response to threats from the U.S. DOT to withhold funds from the project.^[6] On May 18, 2007, the Waterbury Republican-American reported this area had defective light poles,^[7] while Governor M. Jodi Rell released an audit report of the construction disaster.^[8] A number of DOT personnel were either fired or reprimanded following the scandal. Meanwhile the FBI and a federal grand jury are investigating the now-defunct construction company and the same DOT officials, which may eventually lead to criminal charges in the case.

Exit list

Town	Milepost	HOV	#	Destinations	Notes
Danbury	0.19		1	Saw Mill Rd. – Ridgebury
	1.13		2	Old Ridgebury Rd. – Ridgebury, Mill Plain	Access to the Connecticut Welcome Center eastbound
	3.44		3	US 7 south – Norwalk	West end of US 7 overlap
	3.63		4	US 6 / US 202 west (Lake Ave.) – Mill Plain	West end of US 6/US 202 overlap
	4.88		5	Route 39 to Route 37 / Route 53 – Downtown Danbury, Bethel, New Fairfield
	5.38		6	Route 37 – New Fairfield, Danbury	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	6.06		7	US 7 north / US 202 east – Brookfield, New Milford	East end of US 7/US 202 overlap
Danbury/Bethel	6.81		8	US 6 east (Newtown Road, SR 911) – Bethel	East end of US 6 overlap
Newtown	9.69		9	Route 25 – Brookfield, Hawleyville, Newtown
	13.00		10	US 6 west – Newtown, Sandy Hook	West end of US 6 overlap
	14.13		11	Route 34 east – Derby, New Haven	Connection to Route 34 is SSR 490 To Route 25 – Bridgeport
	16.13	Rochambeau Bridge over the Housatonic River
Southbury
	16.44		13	River Road – Southbury	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
	17.63		14	Route 172 – South Britain
	19.38		15	US 6 east / Route 67 – Southbury, Seymour, Oxford, Woodbury	East end of US 6 overlap
	22.06		16	Route 188 – Middlebury, Southford
Middlebury	26.69		17	Route 63 – Watertown, Naugatuck	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
Waterbury	27.13		17	Route 64 to Route 63 – Watertown, Middlebury, Naugatuck, Woodbury	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	28.25		18	Chase Parkway (SR 845) – Waterbury	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
	28.5		18	West Main St., Highland Ave. – Waterbury	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	28.88		19	Route 8 south – Naugatuck, Bridgeport
	28.88		20	Route 8 north – Thomaston, Torrington
	29.00		21	Meadow Street, Bank Street, Mixmaster
	29.38		22	Baldwin Street – Downtown Waterbury
	29.75		22	Union Street – Downtown Waterbury
	30.44		23	Route 69 (Hamilton Ave.) – Wolcott, Prospect
	31.06		24	Harpers Ferry Rd.	No entrance ramps; signed as exit 25 eastbound
	31.88		25	Reidville Rd., E. Main St., Scott Rd.	Eastbound exit is via exit 25 (Harpers Ferry Road)
	32.81		25A	Austin Rd. – Waterbury, Prospect
Cheshire	34.00		26	Route 70 – Cheshire, Prospect
	36.19		27	I-691 east – Meriden
Southington
	36.56		28	Route 322 – Marion, Milldale, Wolcott
	37.75		29	Route 10 – Milldale	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; connection is SR 597
	38.31		30	W. Main St., Marion Ave. – Downtown Southington, Plantsville
	40.06		31	Route 229 (West St.) – Bristol
	41.88		32	Route 10 (Queen St.) – Southington, Plainville
Plainville	44.94		33	Route 72 west – Plainville, Bristol	West end of Route 72 overlap
	45.94		34	Route 372 / Crooked St. – Plainville	No westbound exit
Plainville/New Britain	45.94		35	Route 72 east to Route 9 – New Britain, Middletown	East end of Route 72 overlap
New Britain	46.63		36	Slater Road
Farmington	48.81		37	Fienemann Rd. – New Britain, Farmington
	49.63		38	US 6 west – Bristol	West end of US 6 overlap
	50.00		39	Route 4 – West Hartford, Farmington	Connection is SR 508
	51.06		39A	Route 9 south – Newington, New Britain
West Hartford	51.81		40	Route 71 – West Hartford, New Britain (EB) Ridgewood Ave. – West Hartford (WB)
	52.75		41	Route 173 (S. Main St.) – West Hartford, Newington
	53.63		42	Trout Brook Drive – Elmwood	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	53.63		43	Park Road – West Hartford Center	Connection is SR 501
	54.56		44	Caya Ave., Prospect Ave. (EB) Kane St. (WB)
Hartford
	55.06		45	Flatbush Avenue	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; connection is SR 504
	55.88		46	Sisson Avenue	Connection is SR 503
	56.25		47	Sigourney Street	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	56.81		48A	Asylum Street	Signed as exit 48 westbound
	56.81		48B	Capitol Avenue	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
	57.19		49	Ann Uccello Street	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance.
	57.38		50	US 44 west (Main Street) – Downtown Hartford	West end of US 44 overlap
	57.63		51	I-91 north – Windsor Locks
	57.63		52	I-91 south – Wethersfield	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
	57.75	Bulkeley Bridge over the Connecticut River
East Hartford
	58.00		53	US 44 east (Connecticut Blvd.) – East Hartford	East end of US 44 overlap; no westbound exit; also connects with East River Drive
	58.44		54	Route 2 west – Downtown Hartford	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	58.44		55	Route 2 east – Glastonbury
	58.44		56	Governor Street – Downtown East Hartford	Connection is SR 500
	59.38		57	Route 15 south – Wethersfield, Newington	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance.
	59.81		58	Roberts Street (SR 518), Silver Lane (SR 502) – E. Hartford
	62.13		59	I-384 east – Bolton, Willimantic
Manchester	62.88		60	US 6 east / US 44 (Middle Turnpike West, Burnside Avenue) – Manchester, East Hartford	East end of US 6 overlap; westbound exit combined with exit 62
	63.38		61	I-291 west – South Windsor, Windsor
	64.56		62	Buckland St. – S. Windsor, Manchester
	66.25		63	Route 30 / Route 83 – Manchester, South Windsor
Vernon	67.63		64	Route 30 / Route 83 – Vernon, Rockville, Talcottville	Eastbound exit 65 leaves I-84 on the same ramp as exit 64
	67.63		65	Route 30 – Vernon Center	Eastbound exit is combined with exit 64
	69.63		66	Tunnel Road – Vernon, Bolton
	71.63		67	Route 31 – Rockville, Coventry
Tolland	75.06		68	Route 195 – Tolland, Mansfield	University of Connecticut
	77.88		69	Route 74 to US 44 – Willington, Putnam
Willington	79.44		70	Route 32 – Stafford Springs, Willington, Willimantic
	81.50		71	Route 320 (Ruby Road) – Willington
Ashford/Union	85.50		72	Route 89 – Westford, Ashford
Union
	86.81		73	Route 190 – Union, Stafford Springs
	90.56		74	Route 171 – Union, Holland

Auxiliary route

I-384, a spur route into Manchester.

References

External links

Interstate Highways in Connecticut Current 84 • 384  • 91  • 291  • 691  • 95  • 395

Interstate 84
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