The state Department of Transportation is planning to install wrong-way detection systems at 42 off-ramps in Connecticut, following a bill signed into law by Gov. Ned Lamont on June 13.
House Bill 6746 requires the DOT to expand efforts to implement wrong-way driving countermeasures. It also requires driver’s education programs to include instruction on ways to reduce wrong-way driving and actions to take when encountering a vehicle heading in the wrong direction.
The DOT said design plans for the wrong-way detection systems should be completed this month. The agency plans to go out to bid for the project in August.
The systems may include radar, video or thermal cameras that detect wrong-way vehicles, according to the DOT. When a wrong-way vehicle is detected, the systems will activate flashing red lights on wrong-way signs to alert the driver.
When a driver continues in the wrong direction, the systems will notify state police as well as the DOT.
The DOT has identified 42 high-risk locations for wrong-way drivers where the systems will be installed. They include:
- East Hartford – Route 15 northbound at Exit 90
- East Hartford – I-84 eastbound at Exit 58
- East Hartford – Route 15 southbound at Exit 90
- Enfield – I-91 northbound at Exit 49
- Enfield – I-91 northbound at Exit 47E
- Enfield – I-91 southbound at Exit 49
- Enfield – I-91 northbound at Exit 46
- Hartford – I-84 westbound at Exit 48
- Hartford – I-84 eastbound at Exit 48A
- Manchester – I-84 westbound at Exit 62
- Manchester – I-384 westbound at Exit 4
- New Britain – Route 9 southbound at Exit 35
- South Windsor – I-291 eastbound at Exit 4
- Southington – I-84 westbound at Exit 28
- Southington – I-691 eastbound at Exit 4
- Vernon – I-84 westbound at Exit 65
- Vernon – I-84 westbound at Exit 65
- West Hartford – I-84 westbound at Exit 40
- Windsor – I-91 southbound at Exit 38A-38B
- Windsor – Route 20 eastbound at Hamilton Road
- Windsor – I-91 northbound at Exit 34
The state legislature made driving safety a priority in its most recent session, after state Rep.
Rep. Quentin “Q” Williams, D-Middletown, was killed in a head-on crash with a wrong-way driver while returning home from the governor’s inaugural ball.
Wrong-way driving crashes in Connecticut tripled in 2022, according to information from Lamont’s office. That includes 13 wrong-way crashes that resulted in 23 deaths, compared to four wrong-way crashes in 2021 and two in 2020.
