Gov. Dannel Malloy, citing a new study, says widening state highways, including Interstate 95 in Darien, would cost billions but help the state’s economy. Interstate 95, frequently congested in lower Fairfield County, could be widened from the New York to the Rhode Island borders at a cost of $10.7 billion and take a decade to complete, Malloy said, citing the study. “According to the CTDOT [state Department of Transportation], adding a lane in each direction on I-95 across southern Connecticut will produce $15.5 billion in new business sales, add $9 billion to Connecticut’s gross state product, and add $6.3 billion in new wage income to workers,” Malloy’s office said in a news release. “The widening itself will cost $10.7 billion, according to CTDOT’s estimates, and support between 11,000 and 19,000 construction jobs over a 10-year ramp-up period.” On Wednesday, a 3 p.m. accident at Exit 14 on I-95, only a couple of miles from Darien, slowed the southbound-traffic lanes of the highway dramatically for hours — all three lanes of the highway weren’t back in operation until 9 p.m.
One side or the other of the highway is generally congested in this area during morning commuting times, nearly all afternoon each weekday and for long periods on weekends as well.
