Avon Mountain strikes again

[Lowerdeck]

I'm driving down I-84 today, and in West Hartford I see a sign saying Route 44 closed at Avon Mountain. And I'm just like ... oh God, not again.

A flatbed truck sped down the hill, ran out of control, gone into the opposite direction lanes, managed to avoid most cars, hit a berm, flew off the ground and then crashed into a furniture store.

I've never been down Avon Mountain way, but after hearing/seeing these reports time and time again about truck crashes and vehicles being unable to stop ... what does the state have to do to ensure safety of people traveling down Route 44 west of town?

[Theophrastus Bombastus]

I'm driving down I-84 today, and in West Hartford I see a sign saying Route 44 closed at Avon Mountain. And I'm just like ... oh God, not again.

A flatbed truck sped down the hill, ran out of control, gone into the opposite direction lanes, managed to avoid most cars, hit a berm, flew off the ground and then crashed into a furniture store.

I've never been down Avon Mountain way, but after hearing/seeing these reports time and time again about truck crashes and vehicles being unable to stop ... what does the state have to do to ensure safety of people traveling down Route 44 west of town?

[MadVlad]

As we speak, I am currently stuck in Simsbury. I took 185 here, and the traffic (I'm assuming detoured) going the other way was brutal. I'm not sure how I'm getting around it yet.

here's the thing. Speed, while maybe a factor, is not the reason for these crashes. The reason is the lack of areas for trucks to ditch out if they lose control/brakes. When I lived in Colorado, they had the ramps off to the side where trucks could drive into if they lost their brakes. And they had many of them. Avon Mtn needs 2 or 3 of those....

[drc72]

I'm not a bit surprised that this happened again.....

[shwoz]

A frikkin' BELTWAY around Hartford!!! I'm sure the technology exists to protect the Reservoirs!

http://www.kurumi.com/roads/ct/i291.html

[Yankee.Peddler]

So, Rell wants to ban trucks from using Route 44 over Avon Mountain. I think this is short-sighted. It will cause momentous headaches along Routes 4 & 10 in downtown Farmington and present new dangers along Route 185, which is -- in my view -- a far more trecherous route between the Farmington and Connecticut River valleys.

There are several safety measures I've seen in California (along grades much steeper than Route 44) that could be used along that stretch. Among them are rumbler strips, additional traffic signals for slowing traffic, and runaway truck ramps near the base of the mountain.

Yes, a Beltway around the northwest side of Hartford would have been nice. Today, it would be impossible. While the technology might be there, there's no money and probably no community support.