The view of downtown Hartford’s skyline traveling along Interstates 91 and 84, particularly at night, is often mesmerizing.
But for those motorists on their way someplace else, who’s to know where to dine, where to sleep, where to shop? It’s a topic that’s top of mind for merchants as the tourism season opens.
Turns out the Connecticut Department of Transportation has a remedy that could help make downtown — and other state vistas — more appealing to both visitors and the natives.
The agency, as part of the state’s revved up tourism push, has revamped its format for putting some commercial signage along its limited-access highways to convince travelers to pull over and spend.
ConnDOT is preparing to erect at select roadside locations the first of its blue info billboards. At 11-feet tall by 19-feet wide, each sign is large enough for six 30-inch by 30-inch commercial logos promoting — free of charge — eligible local businesses, said spokesman Kevin Nursick.
To be eligible, businesses must fill out a survey-application, declaring how many potential visitors they hope to attract at various periods during the year, Nursick said. Those accepted must annually update ConnDOT on their visitor-traffic counts and other information.
The potential benefits to merchants, innkeepers, entertainment and cultural attractions are obvious. They, too, must sustain or boost their visitor counts annually to retain their state-billboard slots, Nursick said.
But the state wins, too: Collecting valuable intelligence about who is coming and when to its venues.
For more, visit www.ct.gov/dot/ Go to “About Us,” then “Department Bureaus,” then “Bureau of Engineering and Construction,” then “Division of Traffic Engineering,” then “Highway Signing Policy and Programs.”
— GREGORY SEAY
