Route 9 cuts Middletown off from the beautiful Connecticut River, and cars idling at Route 9 stoplights in Middletown contribute to air and noise pollution. Learn more about how redesign projects may affect the environmental quality of the city and neighborhoods.
Click on the buttons below to reach a specific section.
Rt 9 Environmental Issues and Documents:
-
Return to the Riverfront Master Plan
The City of Middletown published the ambitious “Return to the Riverbend” master plan in spring 2022. The plan includes a series of parks along the riverfront and details ways to get involved. This masterplan offers the most comprehensive of the City’s vision for how Rt. 9 could look as it runs past Middletown.
-
Environmental Issues: Quotes from Stakeholders
I want to see people oriented to trains or more efficient modes of travel rather than this personal, private ecosystem that people can just drive at violent speeds and to other people when they’re not careful. … Cars are not that good. We’re just promoting car culture by fixing the highways and not investing in…
-
Emissions Reductions Report
One key argument in favor of removing stoplights on Route 9 in Middletown is that it would reduce emissions in Middletown. Those who advance this theory argue that idling cars waiting at the stoplights use fuel and thus emit carbon dioxide and other pollutants into the air in Middletown. If those cars were able to…
-
Rt. 9 & 17: Noise Analysis Report (2021)
CT DOT commissioned a study in 2019 to analyze the noise impact of a proposed new Route 9 & Route 17 interchange. The study was conducted in this area:
-
Tunnel Feasibility Study
CT DOT hired URS Corporation, an engineering and construction consultancy, to do a feasibility study on putting Route 9 in a tunnel through Middletown, published in 2003. URS found that constructing a 1540 ft. tunnel from Court to Green Street would cost approximately $557 million in 2010. See the full report here.
Reconnecting to Waterfront Cases/Stories:
-
Berkeley I-80: Bridge
Introduction: In Berkeley, California, this pedestrian and bicycle overpass crosses Interstate 80 approximately 0.3 km south of University Avenue. From Bolivar Drive at the north end of Aquatic Park, pedestrians, wheelchair users, and cyclists bridge Interstate 80 and the West Frontage Road to reach the Eastshore State Park and the Bay Trail. One of North…
Highway Removal Cases/Stories:
-
US DOT Report about Highway Removal Projects
A 2013 study hosted at the US Department of Transportation’s Repository and Open Access Portal that discusses the process and outcome of nine highway removal projects from around the world. Cases covered in the study include: San Francisco, Milwaukee, Chattanooga, Portland, New York City, Seoul, Toronto, Boston, Paris.
