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This won’t help the evening commute.
The state Department of Transportation is reporting Route 8 is closed on the northbound side between exits 14 and 15 in Derby because of a two-vehicle crash.
It could take up to two hours to clear the crash, the DOT estimates.
UPDATE: The accident has been cleared as of 5:07 p.m., according to the DOT.
A traffic report card issued this week showed that the Bridgeport region has the fifth worst traffic in the country.
According to the report — put out by INRIX, a leading international provider of traffic information and intelligent driver service — drivers in the Bridgeport metro (defined as stretching from Milford to Stamford) wasted 42 hours in traffic in 2011. The worst time to be on the road in our neighborhood? Friday from 5:30 to 5:45 p.m.
Keep that in mind as you head off on your Memorial Day getaway!
The report showed that Honolulu has the worst traffic, with drivers wasting 58 hours in traffic in that city in 2011. Click here to read the full release on the report card.
Jim Bak, the report’s co-author, said various factors weighed in coming up with the ranking, including congestion and travel times. Bak said the Bridgeport metro area actually fell in the rankings from last year’s report, when it was determined to have the fourth worst traffic in the country.
In fact, the was an overall 30 percent drop in traffic congestion in 2011, Bak said. He theorized that unemployment coupled with high gas prices could have played a role in the dip.
As for our fair state, Bak said Connecticut’s position — between New York and the other New England states — could be the reason for our crummy traffic. “Connecticut is a gateway for people traveling through to other places,” he said.
Whatever the reason, Connecticut’s status as a gridlock hotspot didn’t come as news to a lot people. For instance, Liz Glagowski, a Milford resident who works in Stamford, said traffic is a fact of her existence. “I’ve sat in two hours of traffic to go 25 to 30 miles, so I’m not surprised by this at all,” she said.
UPDATE, 9:10 a.m.: An accident in Newtown has stifled traffic on I-84W near exit 11.
Meanwhile, you can expect delays along I-84E near exit 23 in Waterbury.
UPDATE, 9 a.m.: Delays remain on I-95 Southbound from exits 26 to 21 in Fairfield and from exit 18 to 11.
Photo from DOT traffic camera at Saugatuck Avenue in Westport (exit 17):
The Merritt Parkway South is starting to clear up.
UPDATE, 8:12 a.m.: Expect delays if your commute takes you eastbound on I-84, particularly between exits 23 and 25 in Waterbury.
Also, authorities have shut down Route 133 in Bridgewater after a car traveling in the direction of Brookfield careened off a bridge and plunged into Lake Lillinonah.
UPDATE, 7:45 a.m.: There are delays on Route 8 South starting at Judd Road in Monroe and ending at the Route 8/25 connector in Bridgeport.
UPDATE, 7:35 a.m.: If you are heading south through New Haven this morning on I-95 Southbound on your way into Fairfield County, be ready for delays around exit 51, lasting to exit5 48.
Your trip along the southbound highway is then smooth sailing into Bridgeport, but the volume picks up there again, lasting from exits 26 to 21.
Congestion is also building on I-95 South in Darien between exits 15 and 13. It has been clear off and on, but be prepared for a bit of a slowdown through that area.
UPDATE, 7:30 a.m.: There are numerous sites along I-684 where road work is underway this morning that may lead to traffic delays:
-Road crews working between exits 9 and 10 have shut down the right lanes in both directions until 4 p.m.
-Pothole repairs are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. and will result in various lane closures until 2 p.m. in Southeast, N.Y., North Salem, N.Y. and the Putnam and Westchester County line.
-Road work is also scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. in both directions just south of exit 6. Several lanes are expected to be closed until 3:30 p.m.
-Exit 3 is expected to undergo road work in both directions at 10 a.m., leading to various lane closures until 3:30 p.m.
UPDATE, 7:16 a.m.: A disabled tractor trailer on Route 7 in New Milford at Candlewood Lake Road has led to traffic congestion along southbound lanes. This has also led officials to shut down the right lane.
Meanwhile, across the state line, an accident on I-84E, in the vicinity of exit 18, has shut down the right shoulder of the two-lane roadway.
Finally, low-visibility due to fog is quickly becoming a concern for commuters in several parts of the state.
7:03 a.m.: Volume is building in Bridgeport on I-95 Southbound stretching through Fairfield from exits 26 to 21.
There is moderate volume on the Route 8/25 connector in Bridgeport heading south into the city and towards I-95, but nothing major.
The Merritt Parkway is mostly clear with pockets of volume in the Fairfield area and in the Westport-Norwalk area.
But there have been no incidents or accidents to tie up traffic anywhere along the I-95 corridor or up Route 8, 25 or 7 so far this morning.
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