Traffic headaches in Waterbury are about to turn into a migraine.
For starters, two entrance ramps from Route 100 to Interstate 89 will be closed — one for the next year, one from 3 to 6 p.m. every weekday — as part of a reconstruction project involving both northbound and southbound bridges immediately adjacent to the interstate’s Exit 10.
On the interstate, traffic in both directions will be narrowed to a single lane during the bridge construction, and the on-ramp restrictions are intended to ease congestion on I-89.
The details:
• Starting this week, traffic heading north on Route 100 from Waterbury village will no longer be able to turn right onto a southbound on-ramp, said Theresa Wood, a community liaison for the Vermont Agency of Transportation. That on-ramp will be closed until next year at the earliest, when state officials will decide whether to reopen it.
• However, those drivers can turn left at a traffic signal onto a new connection to a southbound I-89 on-ramp, which in the past was only for drivers going south on Route 100. Those turns will be controlled by a traffic light.
• Drivers headed south on Route 100 will be unable to get on I-89 in Waterbury weekdays between 3 and 6 p.m., starting next Monday and continuing through the entire construction season.
Contractors will shut down the ramp during rush hour so that traffic will be less congested on I-89. As a result, drivers headed south on Route 100 will have to go through Waterbury’s Main Street to Route 2, and head for Exit 9 — the Middlesex/Moretown connection — to get onto I-89 south. That will dump a lot of traffic into downtown Waterbury every weekday afternoon.
“Temporary signals have been installed along the detour route and a team of traffic monitors will be initially stationed at key intersections to ensure that traffic is flowing properly,” said Erik Filkorn, a spokesman for Vtrans.
• On the interstate, both northbound and southbound, traffic will be reduced to a single lane near Exit 10, with crossovers to bypass work being done on the southbound bridge.
Vtrans plans to use electronic signs and traffic control devices to guide drivers through the new traffic pattern.
The state is posting daily traffic updates to watp.vtransprojects.vermont.gov.
(1) comment
They need tochange the set up here!!! How intelligent was it to put a three way light in a basically four way intersection. This is a VERY dangerous and negligent placement of lights. I don't even go that way often and already twice I have had people pull out in front of me that were just frustrated trying to get in and out of the restaurant and the businesses that were blocked in by the inadequate placement of these lights!!! Once exit 10 is closed completely this will get even worse. Come on VT Trans IF your going to reroute the traffic, at least consider ALL exits and entrances onto the roads. Your actions are suppose to be making things safer and for traffic to flow easy during the construction, your NOT suppose to be creating a danger zone.
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