Connecticut’s interstate highway network is among the most taxed and congested in the country, a recent study found, and the state’s infrastructure, especially highway bridges, are showing their age.
A report from the National Transportation Research Group, which analyzes surface transportation issues, determined that Connecticut has the eighth-most congested urban interstates in the U.S., as well as the 17th-worst highway bridges.
About 63% of the state’s urban interstates are considered congested at peak hours, researchers found, and 3% of Connecticut’s highway bridges are in poor or structurally deficient condition. The latter issue is not unique to Connecticut; the National Transportation Research Group pointed out that crumbling highway foundations are a nationwide problem, likely requiring massive federal investments to fix.
The state actually compares favorably with its two largest neighbors in terms of bridge repair. In New York, 6% of highway bridges are in poor shape, and the rate is even higher in Massachusetts at 7%.
Overall, Connecticut’s interstate highway system was found to be the 12th-busiest in the U.S.
The National Transportation Research Group used its most recent study — which shows widespread transportation infrastructure deficiencies far beyond Connecticut — to argue for sweeping upgrades, including the reconstruction of highways and bridges and the addition of new interstate lanes in particularly slow-going states.
“The long-term vision that helped establish the current Interstate Highway System 65 years ago is needed again today,” said Dave Kearby, the nonprofit’s executive director. “A modernized interstate system will be critical to the nation’s ability to fully recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and will require adequate investment in a federal surface transportation program that provides states and local governments the funding and flexibility they will need to restore the nation’s most critical transportation link.”
Overall, California topped the NTRG’s list of most congested states, with 87% of the state’s urban freeways gridlocked during the busiest daily travel hours. Close behind were Maryland, New Jersey, Delaware and Florida.
