Officials on June 20 broke ground on the I-95/I-91/Route 34 Interchange, the last major phase of the I-95 New Haven Harbor Crossing Corridor Improvement Program in Connecticut.
The I-95/I-91/Route 34 project consists of rebuilding the interchange to accommodate the new 10-lane Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge, or Q Bridge, under construction. The new bridge will be the first of its kind in the United States combining the characteristics of the concrete box girder bridge and the cable-stayed bridge.
The interchange project, slated for completion in 2016, extends one mile along I-95 from Interchange 46 to about East Street. The reconstruction will eliminate left-lane exit and entrance ramps and will result in the replacement of 21 bridges. The project will add lanes on I-95 and lane connections to I-91 to reduce bottlenecks in the area.
The larger New Haven corridor originally was designed and built in the 1950s for daily traffic volume of 40,000; it now accommodates close to 140,000 vehicles a day. The I-95 New Haven Harbor Crossing Corridor Improvement Program – estimated at $2.2 billion, including the $356 million interchange – consists of 12 contracts for operational and safety improvements on about 7.2 miles of I-95 in New Haven, East Haven and Branford. It extends from Interchange 46 to Interchange 54 on I-95.
