Stamford Corridor of I-95 Named the Most Congested in U.S.

On Tuesday (1/10/23) Forbes Magazine published an article about traffic congestion in the U.S.

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The article had very little to do with the State of CT, except for one blurb. Forbes published transportation study findings from INRIX about time spent in traffic. The study set out to determine which cities in America were the worst for time stuck in traffic.

The study went into greater detail, not only determining hours lost in traffic but money lost. In the end, the heavy-hitters were not surprising, cities like New York, Boston & Chicago (The Top 3) cost their drivers thousands of dollars a year.

As I kept reading I learned America's transportation infrastructure is in worse shape than I'd thought. Then, in the 11th paragraph of the article I got a jolt of electricity. It's the kind of shock you get when you hear Danbury mentioned on Seinfeld. I saw that Stamford was more than a blip on the traffic radar. This is what Forbes had to say:

"INRIX says that drivers traversing I-95 through Stamford, CT suffered the most congestion in the country, with the 30-mile corridor taking an average extra 34.5 minutes per day in the morning rush hour and a half hour in the evening heading out. At 240 work days on the calendar, those drivers would have wasted an average 246 hours during 2022."

I'm sorry to be the constant bearer of bad news for Connecticut. I don't enjoy sharing these alarming stats and forecasts with you everyday. I live in CT and it pains me to bring our bleak picture into sharp focus because the more we scrutinize it, the worse it gets.

This information is not news to you, if anything it just reinforces what you already know. The leadership in Connecticut wants us to leave. What is the end game? I don't know, maybe a state insulated from financial reality. In the future, Connecticut will be a place where only the richest of the rich can live. This can be an independent nation for the 1% in this country.

These are the Top 5 worst cities for time and money lost in traffic:

Chicago - 155 Hours Delayed - $2,618 (gas wasted)

Boston - 134 Hours Delayed - $2,270 (gas wasted)

New York - 117 Hours Delayed - $1,976 (gas wasted)

Philadelphia - 114 Hours Delayed - $1,925 (gas wasted)

Miami - 105 Hours Delayed - $1,773 (gas wasted)\

See the entire list here, including the top 10 globally.

P.S. The results here are a bit confusing. The Top 10 list is city versus city as a whole. Stamford's distinction is for the worst individual stretch of road. The devil is in the details, I don't want state officials accusing me of going out of my way to make CT look bad. It just looks bad.

Poll Ranks Greater-Danbury Towns 1-7 for Traffic Problems, Hat City Wins + Loses

Recently, I ran a poll to find out which town has the worst traffic problems in the Greater-Danbury area. I set out to rank the towns in order of the aggravation.

The towns up for consideration were:

Danbury
Brookfield
Bethel
Newtown
Ridgefield
New Milford
New Fairfield

The respondents were all current or former residents of the Greater-Danbury Area. I also made sure that I gathered some hilarious comments. #1 is the worst, having the most complaints and #7 is the best of the towns, receiving the least complaints. I counted all the votes from the respondents, and this is how it all worked out.

7 Danbury Roads to Avoid if You're in a Rush

The truth is, there are few roads that you can travel in Danbury when you're in a rush. If you find yourself rushing, you'll end up being late. Here are 7 Danbury Roads to Avoid if You're in a Rush.

Warning: this list will leave you feeling hopeless.

Some of Danbury's Best Gas Stations When You Are in A Rush

Whether stopping for gas, getting a coffee or just grabbing a snack, gas stations/convenience stores should be convenient, but that is not always the case. Sometimes you wait in long pump lines, some gas station lots have an odd configurations, the staff can be slow to ring you out or you get stuck behind people buying 50 Lotto tickets. These Danbury gas stations have cracked the code, they don't fall into the common mistakes that make a gas station stop a headache. These are "Some of Danbury's Best Gas Stations When You Are In a Rush."

If you like discussing Connecticut issues, check out the Ethan, Lou & Large Dave Podcast on Apple and Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. It's the same show we do on the radio but with limited commercials and no music. Or, listen live by streaming the show on the I-95 Rock Mobile app, or tune into I-95 (95.1FM).

Photo: Aurora Photography

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