CTDOT presents $143 million Route 9 corridor redesign to reduce crashes and wrong‑way entries

Steven Hall, CTDOT project manager for the Route 9 corridor, told RiverCog members that a $143,000,000 package of safety and operational changes is designed to cut frequent crashes and wrong‑way entrances in downtown Middletown while preserving regional access.

Hall said the program would remove two closely spaced traffic signals on Route 9, build a new right‑hand off‑ramp at Exit 23 that connects to a three‑leg roundabout at River Road, reconfigure several downtown intersections (including converting Rapallo Avenue to one‑way toward Main Street), add a new pedestrian bridge over Route 9, and create a grade‑separated condition to eliminate conflict points at the Hartford Avenue intersection. The proposal also includes a potential roundabout at Exit 25 in Cromwell and changes to lane assignments and signing that CTDOT says will channel vehicles back to Route 9 rather than through dense local streets.

The presentation emphasized safety and modeling results. Hall said the short stretch of Route 9 now experiences “a crash every other day with an injury once a week,” and CTDOT’s microsimulation and origin‑destination analyses show that redesigning access can substantially reduce those incidents. "For a one‑ to one‑and‑a‑half‑minute extension in the travel time, we're getting rid of that crash every other day, that injury once per week," Hall told the board.

CTDOT showed results from a VISSIM microsimulation projecting conditions to 2045. In most travel paths the proposed plan reduced travel times; one movement (from Exit 23 to the Aragoni Bridge) showed a roughly one‑minute increase in AM travel time while producing free‑flow operations on Route 9 and eliminating backups that now spill into the North End neighborhood. CTDOT said the net effect would be fewer wrong‑way entries and substantially fewer high‑severity (angle) crashes through corridor access management and two roundabouts, which the presenter cited as a countermeasure with large reductions in fatal and injury crashes.

On environmental and permitting steps, Hall said CTDOT is finishing cultural resource and NEPA documentation and will request federal approval to start final design. Current project milestones shown in the presentation called for final design completion in June 2026, advertising in August 2026, and a contractor notice to proceed in December 2026; Hall added a cautionary note that permitting could alter the schedule. CTDOT estimated roughly four years for construction once work proceeds and emphasized staging strategies that would maintain traffic flow for most of the work.

Public engagement to date includes two public workshops in February 2024, a formal public meeting (April 30 at Wesleyan), dozens of verbal comments and 87 written comments, and ongoing monthly coordination with the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce and town officials. CTDOT offered a project email and web materials for further comment.

Why it matters: RiverCog members and adjacent municipalities (Middletown, Cromwell, Portland, East Hampton) have long sought safety improvements in the Route 9 corridor. CTDOT’s plan targets a reduction in high‑severity crashes by simplifying access and moving through traffic off local streets; it also triggers permitting, environmental review, and local coordination that will shape final design, staging and costs.

What's next: CTDOT will continue NEPA and cultural reviews, provide additional communications through the Chamber and RiverCog, and finalize the project schedule and permitting details before design approval. The board’s discussion noted concerns about downtown congestion and business access but generally accepted CTDOT’s modeling that the project pulls through traffic back to Route 9.