Tag Archives: I-95 Exit 17

About That I-95 Exit 17 Project …

Posted on March 18, 2023 | 6 comments

The ongoing, noisy, environmentally gruesome work being done at and around I-95 Exit 17 has many “06880” readers wondering: “WTF?”

Here’s the official word, from the Connecticut Department of Transportation’s “Welcome to the I-95 Norwalk Westport Project” website:

The Connecticut Department of Transportation announced the start of construction for the I-95 Resurfacing and Median Reconstruction Project to begin July 2022. Anticipated end date is November 1, 2024.

The purpose of this important roadway job is to improve driver safety. This will be achieved by;

  • Reconstruction of the center median and right shoulders along with resurfacing of the highway mainline and ramps at Interchanges 16 and 17.
  • Median will be reconstructed consistent with other stretches of I-95 to provide a 6-foot-wide capped concrete barrier section.
  • Wider left and right shoulders where possible.
  • Improve drainage by replacing and re-routing drainage structures
  • Replacement of the existing highway illumination system
  • Install new realigned Incident Management System (IMS)
  • Install new guide rail
  • Utilize wet retroreflective pavement markings to provide increased visibility of pavement markings in wet conditions.

Connecticut Department of Transportation I-95 project.

Additionally, several bridges along the corridor will have repairs and specifically, the I-95 over Route 33 (Saugatuck Avenue) will be replaced. A synopsis of the anticipated bridge improvements include:

  • The bridge reconstruction of I-95 over Saugatuck Ave. (Route 33/136) will be replaced, utilizing an Accelerated Bridge Construction Methods called Lateral Slide, which minimizes the disruption to I-95 commuters.
  • The I-95 over Franklin Street and I-95 over Saugatuck River bridges will have concrete deck repairs, the replacement of expansion joints and installation of new standpipes
  • A portion of the structure will be replaced over a weekend, in which 2 lanes of traffic will be provided in each direction.

Proposed landscaping at and around I-95 in Saugatuck. (Click on or hover over to enlarge.)

Other improvements will include the expansion of the Hendricks Ave Park and Ride commuter lot, improved storm water quality treatment, utility relocation, I-95 NB Exit 16 on-ramp extension and the extension of the Yankee Doodle Trail.

Traffic will be maintained at all times during the 6 stages of construction to minimize disruptions to the traveling public.

That’s the official word.

“06880” reader Scott Singer has his own thoughts:

Do you or your sources have any info on who among our elected officials are responsible for monitoring the CT DOT work at Exit 17?

They have thus far removed every possible tree and natural sound/visual boundary, despite their map and plan of maintaining existing trees. It looks like a war zone there.

Exit 17 (Photo/Leslie Ogilvy via Westport Front Porch, Facebook)

For all the worry about Saving Saugatuck and trestle bridge repair, nothing is being done to care for the primary entrance to town.

What is the plan to replant? It’s horrendous there.

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Posted in Categories, Transportation

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Roundup: Thanksgiving 2022, I-95 Exit 17 …

Posted on November 25, 2022 | 1 comment

Scenes from yesterday’s Thanksgiving, all around town:

Homes with Hope provided two festive meals — lunch and dinner — for clients of their emergency homeless shelters and community kitchen yesterday, at the Gillespie Center.

The Thanksgiving feast was created by Aux Delices, and donated by the Smith family.

Homes with Hope director Helen McAlinden was awed by the generosity of Westporters. In addition to the Smith, residents stopped by all day with bags of groceries, and homemade pies and treats.

Diners ate off fancy dishes, with silverware — “as it should be,” Helen says.

Among the volunteers: 1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker.

1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker and Homes with Hope director Helen McAlinden (3rd and 4th from left), with staff members before yesterday’s Gillespie Center Thanksgiving.

At the annual Turkey Trot, the Levys were one of many families cheering the hundreds of runners on their route through Greens Farms (and to a well-deserved Thanksgiving dinner).

(Photo/Bob Levy)

On High Point Road, residents revived the tradition of a holiday walk. That’s another way to work up an appetite:

Jennifer Herbert-Coste’s dog Louis spotted a raccoon stuck beneath a flooded street drain on the corner of Compo Beach and Quentin Roads. Westport Animal Control and the Westport Fire Department took time out of their holiday to lift the 75-pound grill, and help the critter live another day.

We assume he was quite thankful.

(Photo/Jennifer Herbert-Coste)

Then, after a big meal, these kids headed to the Compo Beach playground …

(Photo/Patricia McMahon)

… while others romped on the sand, for some late-afternoon fun.

(Photo/Jonathan Prager)

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At least they waited until the end of the holiday:

The I-95 southbound Exit 17 on ramp will be closed at night on Monday and (if necessary) Tuesday (November 28 and 29). The Exit 17 off-ramp from I-95 southbound will be closed Wednesday and *if necessary) Thursday (November 30 and December 1). Workers will install conduits for the Incident Management System.

For more information, click here.

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Several readers have noted the enormous number of gulls at Sherwood Mill Pond this year.

Matt Murray provided proof, in today’s “Westport … Naturally” image.

(Photo/Matt Murray)

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And finally … in honor of the animal (above) freed by our excellent Animal Control and Fire Department employees:

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Posted in Saugatuck, Transportation, Westport life

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New Exit Numbers May Drive Us Crazy

Posted on July 31, 2022 | 14 comments

Since the 1950s — through name changes (Connecticut Turnpike  to Thruway to I-95), changes in speed limits and the removal of tolls — 2 things remained constant: Exit 17 was in Saugatuck, Exit 18 in Greens Farms.

For even longer — as Merritt Parkway signs changed from wood to metal, and actual arrows were replaced by symbolic ones — Westporters have known  2 truths: Exit 41 was near Wilton, Exit 42 by Weston.

As we’ve seen in many other areas of life, things are not always what they seem. There can be more than one “truth.”

Federal regulations mandate changes, for uniformity and emergency response reasons. With exits marked by miles from a standardized point — in these cases, Mile 0.0 at the New York state border — rather than simple numerical order,* I-95 exit 17 could  become Exit 18. The current Exit 18 would be Exit 20.

Exit 27 will now be Exit 1.

More drastically, Merritt Parkway Exit 41 would be renumbered Exit 21. Exit 42 would turn into Exit 22.

The dramatic — and so far, unreported — information comes from Neil Brickley. The 1971 Staples High School graduate is a civil engineer. His Wethersfield firm, Close, Jensen & Miller, works closely with the state Department of Transportation.

The mileage calculations are Brickley’s. They’re not yet official.

He notes that similar renumbering on limited access highways has already taken place in both eastern Connecticut, and the Middletown area.

The new Exit 18.

However, there’s good news for traditionalists. The Merritt Parkway project will not begin until 2025. I-95 will not be renumbered until 2029.

And once they’re done, signs with both the new and old numbers will remain for at least 2 years.

(Want to knw more? Click here, for a state DOT Frequently Asked Questions page.)

*There is no Merritt Parkway Exit 43 in Fairfield/ Legend has it that Greenfield Hill residents objected to on- and off-ramps in their neighborhood. When plans were scrapped, numbers had a already been assigned. Exit 43 was simply eliminated.

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Saugatuck May Face New Traffic Woes

Posted on October 29, 2020 | 30 comments

Saugatuck residents worried about over-development have spent years battling a proposed 187-unit complex on Hiawatha Lane.

Now they’ve got a new fear. And it’s out of Westport’s hands.

There’s a plan to built a warehouse and distribution center at 10 Norden Place.

That’s in East Norwalk. It’s accessible off Route 136 (Saugatuck Avenue/Winfield Street). And it is very close to Hiawatha Lane.

The proposed Norden Place warehouse and distribution center is shown in yellow. Tractor-trailer routes are marked in green and purple. Click on or hover over to enlarge.

What does “warehouse and distribution center” mean?

According to Save Old Saugatuck, the Norden property — which once housed an electronics company, then became an office park and has now added apartments — would be the site of a 330,000-square foot facility. It would draw 198 tractor-trailers — 62 to 67 feet long — and 376 cars each day.

SOS foresees “possible 24 hour operations.”

The distribution facility would include 19 loading docks, for 3 to 5 tenants occupying 60,000 to 100,000 square feet each.

The tenant mix would be unknown until the applicant receives zoning approval, purchases the building and begins leasing space.

Artists’ rendering of a distribution center.

Save Old Saugatuck warns, “This Norden Place warehouse will affect Westport’s Exit 17 and surrounding traffic.”

Tractor-trailers can’t fit under the railroad bridge (though god knows plenty of drivers try). So some would take the I-95 exit, head north on Riverside Avenue, then take a sharp turn onto Post Road West and continue on to Strawberry Hill Avenue.

“Our Norwalk neighbors came out to support us when we had to fight (the Hiawatha proposal) before the Norwalk Zoning Commission,” SOS says.

“It is critical for those of us who live in the SOS neighborhood to now give our support to our Norwalk neighbors. Support is in the form of petitions, emails, or open-to-public virtual meeting attendance.”

Emails can be sent to skleppin@norwalkct.org.

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Posted in Real estate, Saugatuck, Transportation

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