Freezing Rain: The Only Thing That Slows Connecticut Down

I'll answer the most mocked social media question in all of Connecticut right now - 'How Are the Roads?' Awful. But I thought of something - The only thing that seems to slow drivers down in Connecticut is freezing rain.

We're in the midst of the first snowstorm of the season, and I live in the bullseye for this one, Northern Litchfield County. Home to the 'Ice Box of Connecticut, the Litchfield hills, and way colder temperatures than the Sound-warmed shoreline. An especially tough mix of snow/sleet/freezing rain started during morning rush hour, it's gone all day, and there's still a few hours to go.

Unlike every other nice day, my ride from Brookfield to Torrington was a 55-65 mile an hour average along 84 through Waterbury, but once I got above Watertown on Rt. 8 traffic came to a crawl. Rt. 8 was basically one plowed lane from Thomaston all the way up here. It was strange to see drivers behaving as they should, with lots of space, and measured speeds. Connecticut is usually great at snow removal, but ice? I see the stripes of sodium chloride that the D.O.T have been pre-treating the roads with, but it's just awful out there right now with numerous spinouts, rollovers, and vehicles careening off roads being reported.

It was a pretty wild feeling cruising along 84 at 60MPH today, with all three lanes of traffic behaving. Freezing rain and ice may just be the one thing that makes most ease off the gas.