Funding needs for expressway infrastructure are significant, and are incorporated into the New Visions 2030 financial plan.
One of the conclusions of the analysis performed for the New Visions 2030 Plan is that there is no feasible capital improvement such as widening that can eliminate daily recurring congestion in the peak periods. ITS, incident management and operational improvements represent the most effective strategies for expressway congestion management. The CDTC Regional Operations Committee will continue explore operational improvement to manage traffic.
The Plan identifies the future option of managed lanes on the expressway system. An example of a managed lane could be a “HOT” lane on the Northway—a premium service lane that allows carpoolers for free, other drivers for a toll, and allows transit service to bypass congestion. A HOT lane is identified as one of the unfunded “big ticket initiatives” in the Plan.
