$712M overhaul of I-91, I-691, Route 15 interchange enters new phase: 'Going to be worth it'
Brianna Gurciullo
Joined by state officials, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal tried to assure Connecticut residents Monday that while backups will continue at the Interstate 91, Interstate 691 and Route 15 interchange for the next few years, “they’re going to be worth it.”
Blumenthal, Gov. Ned Lamont, state Department of Transportation Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto and other officials touted the progress made toward overhauling the interchange in Meriden, with about three years down and four to go.
“Anytime we’re trying to do a project of this size while keeping lanes open is always going to be difficult,” Eucalitto said about the ongoing backups. “Traffic protection is one of the hardest parts of any project, especially something this large, with this many vehicles. So I think the team has staged it to the best of our ability to keep traffic moving.”
State officials have long said the three-phase project will cost a total of more than $500 million, but on Monday they gave a new, more specific figure of more than $712 million.
The state funded the two-year, more than $83 million first phase of the project on its own. The federal government is contributing $200 million to the second phase, while $50 million is coming from the state. The third and final phase is expected to similarly be 80% federally funded and 20% state funded.
Blumenthal said Connecticut’s U.S. senators and representatives have had to fight for those federal dollars.
“It’s a proverbial knife fight, but we punch above our weight as a delegation,” he said.
The second phase of the project began in 2024 and is expected to finish up in 2028. The third phase is getting started this month and slated to end by 2030.
Eucalitto said the interchange “was built for a different era.” While I-691 west of I-91 was expected to handle 28,000 vehicles per day, it now sees 79,000, he said, and I-91 northbound was supposed to carry 40,000 vehicles, but 86,000 travel on it today.
During the three years before the project began, more than 850 crashes occurred at the interchange, including one fatal incident.
The problem: “Single-lane ramps, short merges and constant weaving create backups and increase the risk of crashes and fender benders,” Eucalitto said. The solution, he said, is to “untangle” the area.
“We’re reconfiguring the interchange with upgraded ramps, longer merge distances, improved sight lines, and modern bridges and roadways,” Eucalitto said. “The goal is to reduce congestion, reduce crashes and make it more reliable so you know when you leave your house, it’s going to take you X amount of time to get where you need to go.”
He said traffic is flowing better in the area of the completed first phase, which included widening the ramp from I-691 eastbound to I-91 northbound and adding a lane on I-91 northbound.
On Friday, a new bridge carrying Route 15 northbound over I-91 will open to traffic as part of the second phase, officials said. Half of the bridge still needs to be completed.
The third phase is focused on the southbound side of the roadways and includes work on the Murdock Avenue bridge.
Eucalitto noted the DOT plans to start issuing warnings and tickets from speed cameras at several work zones across the state, including the I-91/I-691/Route 15 interchange, in June.
Meriden’s director of economic development, Joseph Feest, partly attributed a recent uptick in commercial activity at Connecticut’s Research Parkway to the project.
“We’ve seen some distributors come in. We’ve seen some manufacturers. We’ve seen some commercial office space get taken,” Feest said. “We also have some science labs going in and a couple other things that, again, is all due to the central location of the city of Meriden, and money that is being invested by the state and federal government to do these projects.”
Massive new CT proposal would create 237 riverfront houses, townhomes, some dubbed ‘luxury’
Don Stacom
After abruptly dropping a similar plan last year, Crown Equities is proposing a massive residential development that would create 237 townhomes and one-family houses.
The homes would be along the Farmington River in the heart of Farmington.
Named The Enclave at Farmington River, the complex would be built across sections of an 80-acre vacant parcel behind the Riverbend assisted living center.
The Minnesota-based developer last spring informally put forward the idea of a nearly 300-unit plan for apartments and houses on the property. Public opposition appeared widespread; weeks later the company scaled that back to 228 houses and townhouses with no apartments. Just before it was to present that plan at a public hearing last July, Crown Equities withdrew altogether — until now.
The company’s current plan is for 158 townhomes; 128 would be rentals and 30 would be for sale. In addition, the complex would have 79 one-family homes for sale.
The site is just east of a planned 199-unit riverfront apartment project that stalled not long after the town’s zoning board approved it in 2022.
Some of the townhomes would have first-floor master suites aimed at seniors, according to plans submitted to the Town Plan and Zoning Commission.
Crown Equities said the one-family houses would have various lot sizes to enable a range of smaller and larger homes.
The plan is for “a nature-connected residential community along the Farmington River to support multigenerational living,” according to a memo by Robert Reeve, a local attorney representing Crown.
“The development will include luxury single-family homes overlooking the Farmington River, townhomes featuring first-floor master bedroom suites, and owner-occupied or rental townhomes with river views,” he wrote. “There is a strong demand in Farmington and throughout Connecticut for more diverse housing types to meet shifts in demographic trends. The mixture of multifamily townhomes and single-family homes at the Enclave addresses these changes in the marketplace.”
Community amenities would include a clubhouse, riverside gazebos, and kayak and canoe storage. Crown Equities promised walking trails along the river, and new roads connecting Bridgewater Road with Melrose Drive.
Much of the property would be be given to the town as open space, the company said.
Crown Equities hired the Goman + York consulting firm to prepare an economic impact report; it said the complex would generate about $1.6 million a year in new tax revenue after accounting for any necessary municipal services — including the effect of adding more students to the school system.
“As a result of demographic change, Farmington’s existing housing stock only generates 0.382 enrollments per occupied housing unit,” the report said. “From 2007 to 2023, Farmington added 1,130 newly constructed housing
units, while school district enrollments declined by 15 pupils — stagnant enrollment growth over 16 years.”
The complex would add about 50 new enrollments at the schools, costing taxpayers roughly $548,000 a year, the report said. New demand on other municipal services would cost roughly $346,000.
New gross tax revenue would amount to a little more than $2.3 million, the report said. That would leave the town with $1.6 million in new income, along with a one-time boost of about $1.1 million in one-time development fees.
The commission was expected to take up the plan at its meeting Monday and then set a public hearing.