Report: Connecticut’s Worst Traffic Bottlenecks

04.22.2021
Issues & Policies

Connecticut is a small state geographically, but as anyone who lives and drives here knows, we’re big when it comes to traffic jams.

That fact was recently highlighted in the American Transportation Research Institute’s annual report on the top 100 truck bottlenecks in the U.S. for 2021, with Connecticut home to seven of the nation’s top trouble spots.

The list is assembled using a full year of GPS data from over one million freight trucks to calculate the top chokepoints.

These Connecticut highways and interchanges made the list:

  • Interstate 84 at I-91 in Hartford (30)
  • I-95 in Stamford (34)
  • I-95 in Norwalk  (40)
  • I-84 at Route 8 in Waterbury (41)
  • I-91 at Route 5 in Hartford (75)
  • I-95 at I-91 in New Haven (87)
  • I-95 at Routes 8 and 25 in Bridgeport (90)

Economic Cost

CBIA Assistant Counsel Wyatt Bosworth said Connecticut policymakers must address the state’s highway traffic congestion because it costs employers and the economy time and money.

“Every year, Connecticut residents waste countless hours due to deficient roads and bridges, which translates into Connecticut employers hemorrhaging millions of dollars in lost productivity annually,” Bosworth said.

“Lawmakers need to address the systemic underfunding of the Special Transportation Fund and support a bipartisan transportation funding plan that provides the necessary resources to rebuild and modernize our crumbling infrastructure.”

This year’s report acknowledges the nationwide drop in traffic in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Construction

In fact, a March 2020 analysis by ATRI found average truck speeds at some of the worst truck bottlenecks improved by 100% or more as car drivers sheltered in place and trucks kept moving to deliver essential goods.

“By April and into May, ATRI’s truck activity index began to improve across the states analyzed, signaling a return to pre-pandemic freight demand,” the report said.

“An additional impact on traffic congestion in 2020 was the number of roadway construction projects that were able to commence and/or advance at a faster pace due to fewer vehicles on the road during the pandemic.”

The East Coast lays claim to the nation’s worst bottleneck—I-95 at Route 4 in Fort Lee, N.J.

National Top 10

Rounding out the top 10 are:

  • I-71 at I-75 in Cincinnati
  • I-285 at I-85 north in Atlanta
  • I-20 at I-285 west in Atlanta
  • I-45 at I-69/U.S. 59 in Houston
  • I-290 at I-90/I-94 in Chicago
  • I-75 at I-74 in Chattanooga
  • I-64/I-55 at I-44 in St. Louis
  • I-95 at I-287 in Rye, NY
  • I-10 at I-15 in San Bernardino, CA

For more information, contact CBIA’s Wyatt Bosworth (860.244.1900) | @WyattBosworthCT.

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1 thought on “Report: Connecticut’s Worst Traffic Bottlenecks”

  1. Doesn’t matter says:

    This state doesn’t have much to offer so traffic should never be this way. It’s disgusting stressful and unacceptable. Traffic backing up has caused so many civilians to get hurt because of others rage or just not paying attention. This state cannot handle this amount of backflow through our main highways . Get it together!

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