Get Ready Meriden, Connecticut, Here Comes The Reconfiguration

As a lifelong Waterbury resident that lived through the recent Mixmaster realignment, I have some words of wisdom for Meriden, Wallingford, and Middlefield residents: Get ready, your multi-year reconfiguration is about to start disrupting your daily commute.

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont has just announced that a groundbreaking ceremony took place this morning at the intersection of one of the worst multi-highway merges in our state - The 91/691/Rt. 15 interchange - of the second phase of a three-phase project to reconfigure the highway connections between the three roadways where they meet up in Meriden. The project's first phase began in early 2023, with the first steps of repairing bridges, adding a travel lane to I-91 Northbound in the area, and widening a bridge due to the widening of I-91.

The second phase of the project got underway with the official ceremony this morning, and here's what will happen next:

• A new two-lane ramp from Rt. 15 Northbound to I-91 Northbound will be constructed
• The existing ramp from I-91 Northbound at Exit 17 to Rt. 15 Northbound will be permanently closed, and traffic will be re-routed off of Exit 16 to provide a two-lane exit ramp with a right-side merge onto 15 Northbound
• The Exit 68W Ramp from Rt. 15 Northbound to 691 Westbound will be expanded to handle two lanes of traffic
• The acceleration and deceleration lanes along Rt. 15 will be reconfigured to provide more room to speed up or slow down

What's coming next? During Phase 3 -

• A new two-lane ramp will be constructed from Rt. 15 Southbound to 91 Southbound
• A new two-lane ramp will be built from 91 Southbound to 15 Southbound
• Ramps will be widened from 691 Eastbound to 15 Southbound, and 91 Southbound to 691 Westbound.

Good luck to you Meriden, I think the most inconvenienced of you will be the nighttime and overnight commuters, but you never know what lane will have to shut down temporarily during the project.