Survey shows support for Malloy's plan to widen highway
It's almost unavoidable — travel along the shoreline will mean that part your commute will include Interstate 95.
As part of The Day's series on Interstate 95, which used state and federal data pertaining to highway usage, accidents and safety, to take a deeper look into the highway, theday.com posted a survey on July 24 to get the opinions of people who drive on the interstate.
As of Sunday morning, there were 1,350 responses.
Of those who answered a question as to where they live, 86 percent said they live in New London County and the area they travel the most is between Old Lyme and North Stonington.
Fifty-seven percent of the 1,350, or 774, said they drive on Interstate 95 five or more times a week. More than 45 percent said they used the highway to commute to work or school.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy in February unveiled plans to invest over 30 years $100 billion in state and federal funds on its highways, bridges, railroads, bus lines, air and sea ports and bike paths. Malloy has proposed adding a lane along sections of I-95 from New York to Rhode Island to lessen congestion. He also has announced his intentions to rehabilitate the Gold Star Memorial Bridge, which connects New London and Groton, and reconfigure the I-95/I-395 interchange in East Lyme.
The plan to widen parts of I-95 had widespread support in the survey: 83 percent were in favor.
The survey showed drivers spend a lot of time on I-95: 42 percent said they commute 21-45 minutes each way; and 27 percent said they drive more than two hour for business.
Some of those who answered the survey shared their frustrations on using the highway to get to and from work.
"It is an embarrassment as I have lived all 62 years of my life in CT and have traveled over 70 miles one way for 30 plus years of work," one respondent said. "New Hampshire which is less populous has 4 lanes and half of Maine has 3 lanes for at least the last 10 years. The interstate is one reason why businesses are leaving the state. Why are surveys done year after year with the same results where the Highway needs to be widened."
The survey showed that of the 1,350 responses, 571 were supportive of Malloy's $100 billion plan, while 508 were neutral and 271 were not supportive.
Tolls did not receive the kind of support that widening did: 48 percent, or 648, of the responses were not in favor of installing tolls to pay for the overhaul.
"As for tolls, I've had it with this ridiculous expensive state," one respondent said. "We don't need more taxes or tolls."
Another person said, "Implementation of toll booths are a ridiculous notion. While I may be too young to really remember when CT had tolls previously, it is my understanding they were no longer used due to a fatal accident. Not only should this be reason enough to NOT implement them again since people may have forgotten, the amount of congestion and traffic is already so great that tolls will only exacerbate the problem."
Tolls were phased out in Connecticut after a January 1983 accident at a Stratford toll barrier in which a tractor-trailer crashed into waiting cars. The accident killed seven.
But 32 percent, or 436, responded that they were in favor of tolls.
"Regardless of a tragic accident at a toll booth, there are numerous accidents without them anyway," one response said. "Consider E-Z passes and/or exit & on ramp booths for obtaining ticket with destinations at off ramps as they have on the Jersey Turnpike. There have to be options for us to assist with road & bridge maintenance other than to keep taxing CT residents. Up & down the east coast other states have E-Z passes. Yes, I realize this costs money but could very well recoup in a few years."
The 50-question survey was created by newsroom editors with the help of Holly Nelson, an evolutionary psychologist with experience in developing surveys. Nelson said the survey does have some limitations, noting that it relied on respondents who chose to take the survey instead of being selected at random. She said it was possible that some respondents filled out the survey more than once, although the survey platform, Survey Monkey, is designed to minimize duplication.
Carlos Virgen, digital news director at The Day, said the survey was created to get input from readers.
"We wanted to include feedback from our readers in the project as a way to start what we hope will be an ongoing conversation about the possible solutions," said Virgen.
The survey was conducted exclusively online, so readers should keep in mind that drivers who aren't connected to the web are unlikely to be represented here.
The survey can still be taken online and can be found at www.theday.com/section/i95survey.
i.larraneta@theday.com
Twitter: @larraneta
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