Travel routes that DO NOT make sense...
I often wondered why on earth is there multiple highways getting in and out of almost every major city in the United States... allowing the traveler the ease of connecting to another major city... all except Hartford and Providence.
Hartford is located right smack in the north-central part of Connecticut. There are two major interstates slicing through the city... I-91 follows the banks of the Connecticut River, separating the city from the waterfront.... and of course I-84 slicing right through Bushnell Park by the State Capitol and through downtown Hartford. There are auxiliary highways such as Rt. 6, which becomes one with I-84 at several points.. and Rt. 44. Also, CT Rt 9 brings passengers near the city into West Hartford.
In Providence, there is I-95. Need I say more? There is also I-195 which brings travelers from Providence to Cape Cod and the Rhode Island East Bay.
Now, those two cities are relatively near each other. Why on earth is there not a highway to link them??? Travel times would be cut in almost two. Connecticut has done wonders recently in trying to correct US Rt. 6 that connects the two cities. New pavement, less curves, more lanes. Rhode Island has done jack shit. Uneven pavement, narrow roads, potholes to China, etc.
I remember reading on Wikipedia.com about a highway that was to link the two cities. I-84 originally continued through Hartford into East Hartford and utlimately into Providence. The stretch of present I-84 from Hartford to Sturbridge, Massachusetts was originally intended as I-86. I-86 never came to fruition, or at least the original intentions of that route. Rhode Island scraped the idea when seeing the proximity of the highway to the Scituate Reservoir. I seriously think an alternative route can be established to allow a highway linkage between the two capitol cities.
It normally takes me 2.5 hours on average to go from Southington to Fall River. If there were a highway connecting Hartford and Providence, I seriously think my travel time would be down to almost 1.5-1.75 hours. I think I would be able to shave off a half hour to 45 minutes from my travel time.
Sigh.. if only..