Widen I-95 through Stamford? - Fuggedaboutit!

It's one of the most congested stretches of interstate highway in the nation - I-95 in Stamford. In the name of alleviating traffic, the Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT) is weighing options that call for widening the interstate by adding a lane in each direction or by adding an extra road running parallel to the highway. See the DOT presentation here.

The idea of widening the highway has attracted support from some drivers and businesses, but mostly from thousands of commercial truckers that traverse I-95 on a daily basis. They say there is an economic cost to traffic delays and that jams make highways less safe for drivers.

It's worth noting that the DOT is already doing some expansion to this section of I-95. Construction is underway on a pair of auxiliary lanes between exits 6 and 7 in order to allow drivers more time to merge onto the highway.

But local residents who have been following the DOT's work said they were caught off guard by the proposal to widen the highway, which they describe as an outdated - and thoroughly debunked - solution to the city's traffic woes. Residents said it was out of step with the national conversation about reconnecting communities that have been impacted by highway construction.

Studies have shown that in the long run highway widening does little to reduce congestion. The widening just creates "induced demand' where new lanes simply attract more cars to the area (Stamford) and the surrounding towns (Greenwich and Darien), thus negating the benefit. To solve the problem these groups encourage improvements to public transit (train and bus) and the implementation of congestion pricing for truckers.

For readers who want to weigh in on the conceptual alternatives (including widening), they can contact the DOT Project Manager, Jonathan Dean, by email here Jonathan.Dean@ct.gov. The public comment deadline is January 5, 2026.

Between the Lines: In a similar vein to the affordable housing mandates that strip away local control and home rule, our state leadership seems ok with sacrificing our small towns to the commercial interests of interstate traffic passing through them. Let's change the old saying, "Welcome to CT - the state you drive through to get between New York and Boston."

Story here