There been a one-year delay in the start to a Department of Transportation project in Newtown. The Newtown Bee reports that the $17.7 million I-84 exit ramp reconfiguration is now not slated to start until the Spring of 2021.
The exit 11 project will add a new on-ramp.
The delay is due to stormwater drainage and public utility relocations. Spokesman Kevin Nursik told the Bee that they assumed stormwater capacity could be added to a drainage line on Wasserman Way, but an analysis showed that couldn't be done. The drainage system redesign took several months.
The project will also widen and generally improve adjacent state roadways to alleviate chronic traffic congestion on Berkshire Road, Route 34, and Wasserman Way, which is not posted with route markers. The Bee reports that the new on-ramp extending from Berkshire Road will allow motorists to travel in either direction on I-84, eliminating the need for those motorists to pass through two signalized intersections to enter I-84.
