I-84 Hartford Project Asks for Public Involvement

The I-84 Hartford Project held a public information meeting on Tuesday to inform about State Project No. 63-644 and to get people involved in what the CT DOT calls the early planning process.

“We’re here really kicking off public involvement,” Richard Armstrong of the CT DOT said. On Tuesday, they were not “rolling out” any “design solutions.”

Building the Case for Rethinking the Elevated Highway

The section of I-84 being analyzed is between Flatbush Avenue and the I-91 interchange, including the Sisson Avenue, Sigourney Street, and Asylum Street/Capitol Avenue/Broad Street ramps. Of that 2.5 mile corridor, the raised highway (“Aetna Viaduct”) is considered to be most important. In actuality, there are 4.5 miles of bridges when the highway ramps are included. Armstrong said “it’s safe to drive on,” but “periodic repairs are expensive.”

Mike Morehouse, a senior project manager with Fitzgerald & Halliday, said that $60 million has been spent on repairing bridges in the last decade. Another $50 million in repairs are expected in the next three years.

The superstructure conditions in the area of Broad Street ranged from “satisfactory” to “serious” (the worst).

Besides the elevated structure having reached the end of its intended lifespan, the highway was said to suffer from congestion, traffic and safety deficiencies, and present challenges to the community. Morehouse said that two automobile crashes occur per day in this corridor, and on the typical day, there are 6-7 mile traffic jams.

Those who regularly travel this section of roadway do not need the poster (above) to explain how dropped lanes and left exits contribute to the high rate of crashes.

Considerations

Only one year after the completion of I-84, the Federal Highway Administration and Connecticut Department of Transportation recognized that the Interstate had a “dramatic” and “overwhelming” impact on its environment. Now, with the National Environmental Policy Act and Connecticut Environmental Policy Act in effect, engineers are forced to work within some boundaries.

Accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists along the corridor was named as a consideration. The Frog Hollow neighborhood, which has I-84 serving as one of its boundaries, has 42.8% of its families living in poverty. This means a large reliance on public transportation, cycling, and walking as modes of transportation. Two of those modes are made difficult for those needing to access the northern part of the city because of I-84, the railroad, vast fenced off parking lots, and the under construction busway.

Audience members brought up the idea of tunneling, basically burying the highway and using the surface as a greenspace. Morehouse said that in Seattle, a project is experiencing major delays because the tunneling machine broke. Boston, he said, still has unfinished pieces from its own project. In Hartford, the Park River Conduit would present an obstacle in places, such as the area of Flower Street.

The many potential and ongoing other projects in the area need to be looked at as plans are made for I-84. This includes the existing East Coast Greenway and rail, along with the under construction New Britain-to-Hartford busway.

Values

Including freight, 175,000 vehicles use this corridor daily.

Anne Hayes, the director of parking and mass transit for Travelers, asked how CTfastrak will impact congestion. Morehouse said he did not know, but thought the project team was working on crunching those numbers.

Though acknowledged that fewer people are driving now than in recent years, (but still dramatically more than when the highway was completed) there was no mention of any plan to encourage people to make lifestyle changes that would further reduce the current congestion.

Audience member Mike Riley, president of the Motor Transport Association of Connecticut, said that the project’s focus should be on improving the ability to move freight through the corridor, not on how walkable or bikeable the area is for residents. He said planners should remember the original purpose of the highway, and that it is part of a national network.

Who Pays?

No budget information was provided for this complex project. A member of the public noticed that finance was at the bottom of the timeline provided. He said he hoped that did not mean that the brainstorming and planning would happen, only for ideas to be tossed when the budgeting was considered later.

How will it be funded?

“It’s going to be awhile before we understand how that’s going to happen,” Morehouse said.

They do know enough for Armstrong to have declared the possibility of a tunnel to be “problematic from a cost perspective.”

A partial tunnel could work, but two miles of tunnel would not.

Who Weighs In?

During the earlier part of the open house, most participants self-identified as living outside of Hartford. The Frog Hollow NRZ and Board of Education meeting were taking place at the same time across town.

An audience member asked, “will there be meetings in West Hartford and outlying towns because they are affected and it’s hard to get out here and park.”

Next Steps

The I-84 Hartford Project will be finalizing its Purpose and Need Statement, then it will begin to develop and test project alternatives. Assessing environmental impacts will follow, with a selection of the preferred alternative and determination of financing.

An audience member asked if Hartford could look at other cities with a similar issue and see what they are doing. Morehouse said there is “no direct analog” to I-84 through Hartford.

No future meeting dates were named, but Morehouse said there are a variety of ways the public can provide input, from sending email to connecting with social media.

Possible completion date for all this? 2025.