Interstate 95 in Connecticut

This article is about the section of Interstate 95 in Connecticut. For the entire route, see Interstate 95.

Interstate 95
I-95 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by CTDOT
Length	111.57 mi (179.55 km)
Existed	1959–present
NHS	Entire route
Major junctions
South end	I-95 in Port Chester, NY
Major intersections	US 7 in Norwalk Route 8 / Route 25 in Bridgeport I-91 in New Haven Route 9 in Old Saybrook I-395 in East Lyme
North end	I-95 in Hopkinton, RI
Location
Country	United States
State	Connecticut
Counties	Fairfield, New Haven, Middlesex, New London
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Future Connecticut State Highway System Interstate US State SSR SR Scenic
← Route 94 → Route 97

Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running in a general east–west compass direction for 111.57 miles (179.55 km) in Connecticut, from the New York state line to the Rhode Island state line. I-95 from Greenwich to East Lyme is part of the Governor John Davis Lodge Turnpike, formerly known as the Connecticut Turnpike, during which it passes through the major cities of Stamford, Bridgeport, and New Haven. After leaving the turnpike in East Lyme, I-95 is known as the Jewish War Veterans Memorial Highway and passes through New London, Groton, and Mystic, before exiting the state at the Rhode Island border.

Route description

See also: Connecticut Turnpike

I-95 at the I-395 exit at the East Lyme/Waterford town line.

Interstate 95 enters the state as the Connecticut Turnpike in Greenwich at the New York state line. The Turnpike stretches for 128 miles (206 km) across the state, but only the first 88 miles (142 km) is signed as I-95. This portion of the highway passes through the most heavily urbanized section of Connecticut along the shoreline between Greenwich and New Haven, going through the cities of Stamford, Norwalk, Bridgeport, and New Haven, with daily traffic volumes of around 150,000 throughout the entire 48-mile (77 km) length between the New York state line and the junction with I-91 in New Haven. The Turnpike intersects with several major expressways, namely US 7 at Exit 15 in Norwalk, Route 8 and Route 25 at Exit 27A in Bridgeport (quickest way to I-84 from southwest CT), the Merritt and Wilbur Cross Parkways at Exit 38 (via the Milford Parkway) in Milford, and Interstate 91 at Exit 48 in New Haven.

North (east) of I-91, the Turnpike continues along the Connecticut shoreline with a smaller amount of volume. The six-lane highway is reduced to four lanes in Branford, interchanges with Route 9 at Exit 69 in Old Saybrook, crosses the Connecticut River on the Raymond E. Baldwin Bridge in a concurrency with US 1, and continues until the interchange with Interstate 395 at Exit 76 near the East Lyme-Waterford line. After Exit 76, the Turnpike continues on I-395, while I-95 continues east through New London, Groton, Stonington, and North Stonington towards the Rhode Island state line.

Going southbound, the last exit before the Connecticut Turnpike segment is Exit 80 for Oil Mill Road. The first exit northbound is Exit 81 for Cross Road. Just before the Cross Road exit is a weigh station. The road then enters Waterford and intersects with Route 85 at Exit 82. Exit 82A northbound is for a Frontage Road of I-95 and has access to shopping malls. Exit 83 differs in each direction. Going southbound, Exit 83 is for US 1 South, the Frontage Road, and the shopping malls. Going northbound, however, Exit 83 is for Route 32 and downtown New London.

Exits 84S, 84N, and 84E, only going southbound, are for Route 32, Norwich, and downtown New London. Exit 85 is northbound only and is for US 1 North as it leaves a concurrency with I-95 over the Gold Star Bridge, which crosses the Thames River. Exit 86 is in both directions for Routes 12 and 184 in Groton. Accessible from Exit 86 is the Groton Sub Base. Exit 87 is for Route 349, also known as the Clarence B. Sharp Memorial Highway. A mile after Exit 87, Exit 88 leaves for Route 117 and Noank. Just short of three miles (5 km) later, I-95 enters Mystic and interchanges with Allyn Street at Exit 89 and Route 27 at Exit 90. Route 234 interchanges three miles (5 km) after Exit 90 at Exit 91. Exit 92 is for Routes 2 and 49. Route 2 East provides access to Route 78, which leads to the beaches of southwestern Rhode Island, while Route 2 West provides access to Foxwoods Casino. Exit 93 is the final exit before Rhode Island and is for Routes 216 and 184. Interstate 95 then enters Rhode Island after 111.57 miles (179.55 km).

History

Interstate 95 in Connecticut has far more exits than typical Interstate Highways, particularly in Fairfield and New Haven Counties, with some exits less than one mile (1.6 km) apart. State transportation officials have said that the reason for the many exits stems from the state's original justification for building parts of the highway — to ease traffic congestion on Route 1 by providing a faster alternate route, even for drivers traveling short distances within the same community. To overcome potential opposition to the highway from towns through which the route would traverse, the State of Connecticut agreed to guarantee each affected town a certain number of access points to the highway. Rather than skirting urban areas, the highway was built directly through the most dense sections of Stamford, Norwalk, Bridgeport, and New Haven.

While most of I-95 was built as the Connecticut Turnpike, the route incorporated several pieces of already-built relocations, some to freeway standards, of U.S. Route 1 (the Turnpike split from the US 1 relocation in East Lyme, along the Old Lyme-New London section):

• Darien bypass, opened ca. 1952
• New Haven east of the Quinnipiac River, opened ca. 1951
• Old Saybrook-Old Lyme Raymond E. Baldwin Bridge over the Connecticut River and approaches, opened 1948
• Old Lyme-New London, opened by 1950 as a two-lane road
• New London-Groton Gold Star Bridge over the Thames River and approaches, opened 1943

Other improvements in the corridor included the New York-Meriden Merritt Parkway/Wilbur Cross Parkway, New Haven-Old Saybrook Route 80, and Groton-Rhode Island Route 184, the latter connecting in Rhode Island to Route 3, a shortcut to Providence.

Most of the Turnpike opened January 2, 1958, and was designated I-95 south/west of the split with the relocated US 1 by 1959. The rest of I-95 from I-395 to the Connecticut-Rhode Island border opened December 12, 1964. The Gold Star Bridge was twinned circa 1975, along with a reconstruction of its approaches, and in 1993 the Raymond E. Baldwin Bridge was replaced with a wider span.

The state installed cameras to watch traffic along the highway in the early 1990s. As of 2007, about 100 cameras have been set up and are monitored by state police and the state Department of Transportation. In Fairfield County, local emergency responders (fire departments and ambulance services) that serve the highway in individual towns have asked for direct feeds from the cameras to avoid mistakes. When travelers report an accident, they sometimes tell authorities that it occurred near an exit that is actually not the nearest to the scene, slowing down response time. The traffic feed from the cameras is available on the World Wide Web, but the service can be spotty, according to the Stamford, Connecticut and Norwalk, Connecticut fire chiefs, who said they were hoping that a proposed $40 million upgrade of the camera system, under consideration by the state in 2007, would provide them access. Feeds from these cameras are also used by local media outlets, as part of traffic report segments in news programming, and in some instances as a part of a designated "Traffic and Weather" Channel.

Disasters

In January 1983, a truck with a brake failure slammed into a line of cars waiting to pay a toll on I-95 in Stratford, Connecticut. Seven people were killed. This accident helped lead to the removal of toll barriers throughout Connecticut, which was completed six years after.

On the morning of June 28, 1983, a 100 foot (30 m) section of the Mianus River Bridge in Cos Cob collapsed, plunging northbound I-95 traffic into the Mianus River below, killing three. The collapse was blamed on the failure of the steel pins to hold the horizontal beams together and inadequate inspection prior to the collapse. Northbound traffic was diverted on this section of I-95 for 25 days. Southbound traffic was unaffected.

On March 26, 2004, a bridge on I-95 in Bridgeport, Connecticut was partly melted by the explosion of a tanker truck carrying over 11,900 gallons (45,000 L) of fuel oil. Repairs were estimated to take at least two weeks, but the highway was opened to northbound traffic in only a few days. Southbound traffic resumed about a week later after a temporary bridge was installed to carry traffic while the destroyed bridge was rebuilt.

At 10:20 AM on November 2, 2007, a tanker truck carrying heating oil plowed over the divider, knocking the side of a tractor trailer and striking several other cars in its path. Three people were killed, including the driver of the tanker and the occupants of two cars that were completely destroyed in the crash. The driver of the tractor trailer survived (his Pit Bull canine companion emerged completely unharmed) but the trailer was split open. At least three other cars were involved in this accident. A part of the road was damaged and took until the next morning to fully reopen, partly due to a cleanup after the accident.

Construction plans

While the corridor was designated "High Priority Corridor 65" in 2005, work along Interstate 95 in Connecticut has been ongoing for nearly 20 years.

Interstate upgrades

• Replace the bridge over the Connecticut River in Saybrook (completed in 1993)
• Replace the bridge over the Saugatuck River in Westport (completed in 2001)
• Widening and reconstruction of I-95 through Bridgeport (completed in 2006)
• Upgrade the median divider from New York state line to Waterford to meet current safety standards (segmented construction ongoing since 1993)
• Construction of a new extradosed Q Bridge (Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge) over the Quinnipiac River (completed in 2015)
• Reconfiguring the interchange between I-91, I-95, and Route 34 in New Haven (completed in 2016)
• Replace bridge over the West River in New Haven (completed in June 2018). Exit 44, southbound, was closed in April 2015, and the remaining ramps at Exit 45, northbound, and southbound were realigned and renumbered Exit 44.
• Reconstruct I-95/I-395 interchange in Waterford to accommodate proposed Route 11 Expressway connection (proposed).
• Replacement of the Moses Wheeler Bridge over the Housatonic River (underway)
• Widening and reconstruction of I-95 between Norwalk and Stamford — in December 2007 a 15-month, $5.5 million project was completed to add fourth (or "operational") lanes in each direction between the entrances and exits at Exits 10 and 11 in Darien. This project was completed in 2007. A similar project between Exits 11 and 13 began in 2008 and was completed in 2010. An earlier project added a fourth lane on the southbound side from the entrance at Exit 10 to Exit 8. After that lane was added, a state Department of Transportation study concluded that accidents were down on that stretch of the highway by 20 percent, amounting to about 160 fewer accidents per year.
• Widen I-95 mainline from Branford to the Rhode Island state line (proposed)
• Adding an operational lane between exits 14 and 15 in Norwalk (completed in 2016)

Fairfield Service Plaza (Southbound) in 2018

• From 2011 to 2015, all 10 of the service plazas along I-95 were rebuilt (pairs of plazas are located in Darien, Fairfield, Milford, Branford, and Madison, with a separate plaza for each direction of I-95). All of the renovated plazas feature modernized Mobil gas stations, Alltown convenience stores, Dunkin Donuts, and Subway shops. McDonald's is also available at eight of the ten plazas, while the largest plazas additionally feature Sbarro, Panda Express and various other quick-service options. The last of the plazas to be rebuilt, southbound in Madison, opened in August 2015.

Mass transit upgrades

These projects have been undertaken in large part to reduce traffic on the highway, which is often congested, particularly in Fairfield County:

• New train station near the Fairfield/Bridgeport city line (completed in 2011, fully operational in January 2012)
• Intermodal Transportation Center in Bridgeport (completed)
• New train station in West Haven (completed)
• Upgrade catenary power lines along the New Haven Line (underway through the 2010s)
• New train station in Madison
• Purchase new railroad cars and refurbish existing cars to increase capacity and reliability
• Construct new container barge ports at Bridgeport and New Haven
• Expansion of freight service on the New Haven Line
• Replace outdated bridges and straighten various sections of the New Haven Line to allow higher operating speeds for Amtrak and Metro-North trains

Auxiliary routes

• Interstate 395 is I-95's only auxiliary route in Connecticut, which runs from the junction with I-95 in Waterford north to the Massachusetts state line where it meets Interstate 90 / Massachusetts Turnpike and Interstate 290 south of Worcester, Massachusetts.

Scenic overlook

Between exits 89 and 90 northbound is the Jerome Hoxie Scenic Overlook. This overlooks Mystic Cove.

Panoramic View from the Jerome Hoxie Scenic Overlook. Photos were taken in March 2006.

Exit list

Exit numbers are currently sequential, but will be changed to mileage-based in the future.

County	Location	mi	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Fairfield	Greenwich	0.00	0.00	–	I-95 south (New England Thruway) – New York City	Continuation into New York
		0.80	1.29	2	Delavan Avenue – Byram
		2.00	3.22	Former toll plaza
		2.54	4.09	3	Arch Street – Greenwich
		3.73	6.00	4	Indian Field Road – Cos Cob, Greenwich
		4.35– 4.85	7.00– 7.81	Mianus River Bridge over the Mianus River
		5.53	8.90	5	US 1 – Riverside, Old Greenwich, Mianus
	Stamford	6.50– 6.62	10.46– 10.65	6	Harvard Avenue (northbound) / West Avenue (southbound)
		7.34	11.81	7	To Route 137 northModule:Jct warning: "road" parameter is deprecated	Access via Washington Boulevard (SSR 493); southbound exit is via exit 8
		7.68– 8.20	12.36– 13.20	8	Canal Street (northbound) / Elm Street (southbound)	Northbound signage changed from Atlantic Street after exit ramp was realigned in November 2017
		9.28	14.93	9	US 1 / Route 106 – Glenbrook
	Darien	10.75	17.30	10	Noroton	Access via Noroton Avenue
		11.61	18.68	11	US 1 – Darien, Rowayton
		12.23	19.68	12	Route 136 (Tokeneke Road) – Rowayton	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		13.16	21.18	13	US 1 (Post Road)
	Norwalk	14.83	23.87	14	US 1 (Connecticut Avenue) – South Norwalk	No northbound signage for US 1
		15.50	24.94	15	US 7 north – Norwalk, Danbury	South end of US 7
		15.91– 16.08	25.60– 25.88	Yankee Doodle Bridge over the Norwalk River
		16.24	26.14	16	East Avenue – East Norwalk
		18	29	Former toll plaza
	Westport	18.14	29.19	17	Route 33 / Route 136 – Westport, Saugatuck
		20.36	32.77	18	Sherwood Island Connector (SSR 476)	To US 1 and Sherwood Island State Park
	Fairfield	22.88– 23.12	36.82– 37.21	19	US 1 (southbound) – SouthportModule:Jct warning: "road" parameter is deprecated
		23.72	38.17	20	Bronson Road – Fairfield	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		24.38	39.24	21	Mill Plain Road – Fairfield
		25.03	40.28	22	Round Hill Road – Fairfield	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		25.22	40.59		Route 135 (North Benson Road) – Fairfield	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		25.73	41.41	23
		26.70	42.97	24	Black Rock Turnpike (US 1)	To Routes 58 and 59
	Bridgeport	27.44	44.16	25	Commerce Drive / State Street	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		27.66	44.51		Route 130 (Fairfield Avenue)	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		28.30	45.54	26	Wordin Avenue
		29.00	46.67	27	Lafayette Boulevard – Downtown Bridgeport	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		29.03	46.72	27A	Route 8 north / Route 25 north – Trumbull, Waterbury	South end of Routes 8 and 25
		29.15	46.91	27B-C	Lafayette Boulevard – Downtown Bridgeport	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		29.33– 29.81	47.20– 47.97	P.T. Barnum Bridge over the Pequonnock River
		29.87	48.07	28	Route 127 (East Main Street)	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		30.19	48.59	29	Route 130 (Stratford Avenue)Module:Jct warning: "road" parameter is deprecated
	Bridgeport–Stratford line	31.07	50.00	30	Route 113 (Lordship Boulevard)	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		31.30	50.37		Surf Avenue – Stratford	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	Stratford	32.12– 32.30	51.69– 51.98	31	Honeyspot Road (northbound) / South Avenue (southbound)
		32.87	52.90	32	West Broad Street – Stratford
		33	53	Former toll plaza
		34.00	54.72	33	US 1 / Route 110 / Route 130 – DevonModule:Jct warning: "road" parameter is deprecated	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
Housatonic River		34.25– 34.86	55.12– 56.10	Moses Wheeler Bridge
New Haven	Milford	35.37	56.92	34	US 1 – Milford, Devon
		35.85	57.69	35	School House Road / Sub Way / Bic Drive	To Subway headquarters
		36.69	59.05	36	Plains Road
		37.45	60.27	37	High Street	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		37.60	60.51	38	To Route 15 (Merritt Parkway / Wilbur Cross Parkway)	Access via Milford Parkway
		39.13	62.97	39	US 1 – Downtown Milford, Orange	Signed as exits 39A (south) and 39B (north)
		40.25	64.78	40	Old Gate Lane	Northbound access is via Woodmont Road
	Orange	41.80	67.27	41	Marsh Hill Road – Orange
	West Haven	43.93	70.70	42	Route 162 (Saw Mill Road) – West Haven
		44	71	Former toll plaza
		44.87	72.21	43	Campbell Avenue – Downtown West Haven	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; no commercial vehicles
		45.19	72.73		Route 122 (First Avenue, SR 745)	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	New Haven	46.06	74.13	44	Route 10 north (Ella Grasso Boulevard) to Route 34 west	Former exit 45 southbound
		46.82– 47.26	75.35– 76.06	46	Long Wharf Drive / Sargent Drive
		47.46– 47.75	76.38– 76.85	47	MLK Boulevard (Route 34) west – Downtown New Haven	East end of Route 34 (no longer signed)
		47.58– 47.91	76.57– 77.10	48	I-91 north – Hartford	South end of I-91
		47.80– 48.67	76.93– 78.33	Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge over the Quinnipiac River
		49.21	79.20	50	Woodward Avenue – Lighthouse Point	To Port Area and Route 337; northbound exit and southbound entrance
	East Haven	49.50– 50.22	79.66– 80.82	51	US 1 (Frontage Road) – East Haven	Southbound exit also signed for Lighthouse Point Park
		50.53	81.32	52	Route 100 (North High Street) – East Haven	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	Branford	51	82	Former toll plaza
		52.33	84.22	53	US 1 / Route 142 / Route 146 – Short Beach	Northbound exit and southbound entrance via SR 794
		53.24	85.68	54	Cedar Street (SR 740) – Branford
		55.19	88.82	55	US 1 (East Main Street) – North Branford
		56.25	90.53	56	Leetes Island Road – Stony Creek
	Guilford	59.32	95.47	57	US 1 (Boston Post Road) – North Branford
		60.23	96.93	58	Route 77 – North Guilford, Guilford
		61.49	98.96	59	Goose Lane (SR 718)
	Madison	63	101	Former toll plaza
		63.48	102.16	60	Mungertown Road	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
				Madison service plaza
		64.73	104.17	61	Route 79 – North Madison, Madison
		66.43	106.91	62	Hammonasset State Park	Access via Hammonasset Connector (SSR 450)
Middlesex	Clinton	68.61	110.42	63	Route 81 – Clinton, Killingworth
	Westbrook	70.78	113.91	64	Route 145 (Horse Hill Road) – Clinton
		73.14	117.71	65	Route 153 – Westbrook
	Old Saybrook	74.40	119.74	66	Route 166 (Spencer Plain Road)
		75.93– 76.74	122.20– 123.50	67	Route 154 (northbound) – Old SaybrookModule:Jct warning: "road" parameter is deprecated
		77.80– 78.28	125.21– 125.98	68	US 1 south – Old Saybrook	South end of US 1 concurrency; southbound exit and northbound entrance
		78.07	125.64	69	Route 9 north – Essex, Hartford	South end of Route 9
		78	126	Former toll plaza
Connecticut River		78.45– 78.93	126.25– 127.03	Baldwin Bridge
New London	Old Lyme	79.16	127.40	70	US 1 north / Route 156 – Old Lyme	North end of US 1 concurrency; US 1 not signed southbound
		83.49	134.36	71	Four Mile River Road
	East Lyme	84.02	135.22	72	Rocky Neck State Park	Access via Rocky Neck Connector (SSR 449)
		85.79	138.07	73	Society Road
		87.28	140.46	74	Route 161 – Flanders, Niantic
		88.05	141.70	75	US 1 – Waterford, Flanders
		88.48	142.39	76	I-395 north – Norwich, Plainfield	Original Connecticut Turnpike routing continues north via I-395; northbound exit and southbound entrance; south end of I-395
	Waterford	88.73	142.80	80	Oil Mill Road	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		90.12	145.03	81	Cross Road
		91.81	147.75	82	Route 85 (Broad Street) – Waterford
	New London	92.26	148.48	82A	Frontage Roads (SR 623) – New London	Southbound exit is via exit 83; to Coast Guard Academy and Mitchell College
		92.75– 93.15	149.27– 149.91	83	US 1 south – New London, Shopping MallsModule:Jct warning: "road" parameter is deprecated	South end of US 1 concurrency; southbound exit and northbound entrance
		93.35– 93.48	150.23– 150.44	84N	Route 32 north – Norwich	Signed as exit 83 northbound
				84E	State Pier, Hodges Square	Southbound exit and northbound entrance via William Street (SR 635)
				84S	New London Waterfront District	Southbound exit and northbound entrance via Route 32 south
	Thames River	93.59– 94.71	150.62– 152.42	Gold Star Bridge
	Groton	94.63	152.29	85	US 1 north – Downtown GrotonModule:Jct warning: "road" parameter is deprecated	North end of US 1 overlap; southbound exit is via exit 87
		95.33	153.42	86	Route 12 north / Route 184 north – U.S. Sub Base, Gales Ferry	South end of Routes 12 and 184
		95.98	154.46	87	Route 349 south (Clarence B. Sharp Highway) to US 1 north	No northbound signage for US 1; north end of Route 349
		97.50	156.91	88	Route 117 – Groton, Groton Long Point, Noank
		100.07	161.05	89	Allyn Street (SR 614) – Noank, Groton Long Point
	Stonington	101.31	163.04	90	Route 27 – Mystic Aquarium, Mystic Seaport
		104.11– 104.55	167.55– 168.26	91	Route 234 – Stonington BoroughModule:Jct warning: "road" parameter is deprecated
	North Stonington	107.78– 108.60	173.46– 174.77	92	Route 2 / Route 49 – North Stonington, Pawcatuck
		111.35	179.20	93	Route 216 – Clarks Falls, Ashaway, RI
		111.57	179.55		I-95 north – Providence, Boston	Continuation into Rhode Island
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Closed/former       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access       Unopened

External links

• kurumi - Connecticut Interstate 95

Template:Attached KML/Interstate 95 in Connecticut

KML is from Wikidata