I-95 exit in Stratford gains traction Exit 33 ramps were never built

Construction continues on one of the I-95 approach bridges in Stratford, part of the larger Moses Wheeler Bridge replacement project, on Wednesday, April 9, 2014. The project will include a new I-95 exit and onramp, finally completing the exit 33 interchange. less Construction continues on one of the I-95 approach bridges in Stratford, part of the larger Moses Wheeler Bridge replacement project, on Wednesday, April 9, 2014. The project will include a new I-95 exit and ... more Photo: Brian A. Pounds Buy photo Photo: Brian A. Pounds Image 1 of / 6 Caption Close I-95 exit in Stratford gains traction 1 / 6 Back to Gallery

STRATFORD -- When Interstate 95 was completed through Stratford in the late 1950s, a pair of ramps were purposefully left out -- the southbound exit 33 off-ramp and its corresponding on-ramp on the northbound side.

This was to done to make it unwieldy for drivers to snake around the Stratford toll plaza on local streets.

That toll plaza is long gone, pulled out after a spectacular crash on Jan. 19, 1983, in which a tractor-trailer with its driver asleep at the wheel slammed into a line of cars waiting to pay.

Four women and two children were killed that afternoon; so horrific was the scene that state troopers could only figure out the number of casualties by counting the heads of the dead. A third child died the next day.

The tolls on all highways in the state were gone two years later.

Now, progress is being made on construction of these two "missing" ramps, the northbound on-ramp that would extend from Ferry Boulevard to I-95, and a southbound off-ramp that would terminate near the intersection of Barnum Avenue Cutoff and Veterans Boulevard.

Both ramps would tie into the expressway just west of the new Moses Wheeler I-95 Bridge over the Housatonic River.

"For 50 years, we've been suffering without full access to I-95," said Mayor John Harkins, who began pushing for the full interchange while a representative from the town's 120th House district. "People would say, `I can see Home Depot and I can see BJ's, but I can't get there.' "

Today it's difficult to envision what the completed ramps would look like; the ongoing construction of the Moses Wheeler Bridge, along with the replacement of two smaller I-95 bridges on the Stratford side has necessitated a huge, linear and unending construction site along the superhighway in the town's South End, one that seems almost bewildering to the layman.

The two new ramps are still not quite a certainty. Money will have to be allocated, public hearings will have to be staged and lengthy engineering work will have to be completed.

State Department of Transportation spokesman Kevin Nursick said the Moses Wheeler project will have to be completed first before work can begin on the two new ramps. Construction likely won't begin on the ramps until the spring of 2017, Nursick said.

But it could face opposition from those living nearby. The local streets in that part of town are notorious for their lack of pedestrian safety. Stratfordites, weary of the Moses Wheeler construction that's been going on since April 2011, would have to stomach another two or more years of rumbling heavy equipment, mounds of soil moved about and the dust and noise that will accompany all of this.

It isn't as if I-95 suffers from a lack of exits. There are 18 off-ramps between exit 40 in Milford and exit 24 on the Bridgeport-Fairfield line, all in a 16.3-mile stretch. On average, there's one off-ramp every 0.9 mile, although the stretch between exit 34 (Route 1 in Milford) and exit 32 (West Broad Street in Stratford) is 2.4 miles.

"Years ago, the thinking may have been to build the ramps at the same time as Moses Wheeler, but now it certainly looks like it'll have to wait," he said. "It would cause a traffic disaster if it were to begin while Moses Wheeler was under construction."

Harkins agreed it was hoped the new ramps would go up as part of the Moses Wheeler project, but that was found to be unworkable.

"That (Moses Wheeler) became a separate project, one that was on its own path," he said.

The state Department of Transportation began looking into the matter in 2001 and some regulatory and environment hurdles have been surmounted, officials said.

"The area has been in-filled with a number of business over the years which does necessitate the need for a full interchange at 33," Nursick said. "There's definitely more work to do -- it's not going to begin next year. But we have a basic fundamental design in mind and some connection points."

Building the two ramps would cost about $35 million, according to the DOT. The job would include improvements to local streets, particularly Barnum Avenue and Ferry Boulevard. Officials said Veterans Boulevard would be made one-way southbound and the entrance to the Stratford Square shopping center would be reconfigured.

The exit 33 off-ramp would require a bridge spanning Route 1 below before it can join local streets.

As for the cost, Harkins said that it would be borne by the state.

The old toll station was more or less in line with the billboard in the parking lot behind the Regal Stratford Stadium 14 multiplex. Today, there's little evidence that it was ever there.

"It seems like this is one of those things that we've been working on forever," said state Rep. Laura Hoydick, R-Stratford. "There are a number of reasons for this, not the least of which is public safety -- it would allow easier evacuations from the town's shore in the event of a hurricane."

She added the new ramps will help the effort to redevelop the former Army Engine Plant, and it will make it easier for Metro-North commuters to get home from Stratford platforms, particularly after parking is expanded.

Stratford has three full interchanges, at Surf Avenue, Honeyspot Road and West Broad Street.

"I've always supported exit 33 -- it a no-brainer," said Councilman Jason Santi, who is also a member of the town's Economic Development Commission. "But it was something that was kept in limbo for a time because of all the misinformation that was out there."

He said all of these concerns were addressed in a 2006 joint federal and state report on the "full interchange" idea. That 267-page report addressed everything from the flow of rainwater to soil quality to its visual appearance.

"Governor (Dannel) Malloy and (DOT) Commissioner (James P.) Redeker have been behind this all the way," Santi said. "All the planets are lined up now for this, and if it doesn't go forward now, it never will."

jburgeson@ctpost.com; 203-330-6403; http://twitter.com/johnburgeson