MTAC supports ConnDOT grant application
MTAC is supporting a Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT) application for a INFRA grant which will partially fund the Charter Oak Bridge project. The Charter Oak Bridge project will relieve congestion at one of CT’s worst freight bottlenecks by doing several things. It will widen I-91 NB from Interchange 27 to Interchange 29; replace and…
MTAC is supporting a Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT) application for a INFRA grant which will partially fund the Charter Oak Bridge project. The Charter Oak Bridge project will relieve congestion at one of CT’s worst freight bottlenecks by doing several things. It will widen I-91 NB from Interchange 27 to Interchange 29; replace and relocate the I-91 NB Exit Ramp at Interchange 29 with major diverge; and widen Route 15 NB from the Charter Oak Bridge to the Silver Lane Underpass.
Federal INFRA grants fund critical freight and highway projects all across the country, and the grant process is very competitive. Connecticut has seven of the top 100 freight bottlenecks in the country, and the Charter Oak Bridge is one of them. Accordingly, this project is worthy of a federal grant which will ease congestion and benefit interstate commerce.
MTAC President Joe Sculley wrote to USDOT Secretary Elaine Chao urging her to award a INFRA grant for the Charter Oak Bridge project. He wrote, “On a daily basis, there is a back-up of trucks and cars on Interstate 91 Northbound waiting to get on the Charter Oak Bridge. The Charter Oak Bridge (which carries Route 15) directly connects I-91 to another major interstate, I-84. We commend CONNDOT for moving affirmatively on a viable and reasonable proposal to provide additional capacity by widening a section of Interstate 91, replacing the one-lane ramp to the Charter Oak Bridge with a two-lane major diverge, and making other improvements on the bridge. There is no doubt this will ease congestion so freight can move more efficiently.”