Harkins to Ask Malloy for New Exit 33 Ramps

The Town Council authorized Mayor John Harkins Monday to urge the governor to support new exit and entrance ramps for Exit 33 on I-95.

It was the third such resolution passed by the Town Council and has the support of the town’s Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Commission.

"I think it’s a strong message that the town does want a full interchange at that location," Harkins said after the vote.

Exit 33 is on the Stratford side of the Moses Wheeler Bridge over the Housatonic River. The state is replacing the Moses Wheeler Bridge with a new $400 million span.

Harkins said when the highway was originally built in the 1950s, Exit 33 was supposed to have been a full interchange, with exit and entrance ramps on both sides.

But then the state decided to put a toll station on the Stratford side of the river, so the southbound exit ramp and the northbound entrance ramp were eliminated to discourage motorists from using local roads to avoid paying the toll, he said.

The state eliminated the toll following a fatal 1983 accident in which a large truck hit several cars stopped at the tollbooth, killing seven people.

Harkins said adding the southbound exit ramp and northbound entrance ramp would benefit economic development in Stratford.

He said it would also benefit Milford by reducing traffic congestion on Route One in Devon, and eliminate the potential traffic problems that might occur if the drawbridge on Route One were to get stuck.

Some of the work for the additional ramps is already done, including an environmental impact study, said Harkins.

Critics of the ramps include residents living near Exit 33 who claim it would increase air pollution in that area and damage the river environment.

State Sen. Kevin Kelly (R-21) said he would work with the mayor’s office to see what he could do in Hartford to get approval of the additional Exit 33 ramps.