A Look at Where Tolls May Be Popping Up Along I-84 Through Greater Danbury

We already told you about the possibility of tolls coming soon to Connecticut highways, but where would they be along I-84 in Greater Danbury? Today, we take a look at that.

With a new Governor Elect ready to take office in January, there's a pretty good chance we'll be seeing tolls on all the major highways in Connecticut by 2023. It's been projected by a recent Department of Transportation study that tolls could produce up to a billion dollars a year in added state revenue.

So just where will these tolls be located? According to the new study, I-95 was broken into two corridors, generally west and east of New Haven. I-84 was also subdivided into I-84 West — between New York State and Hartford, and I-84 East — between Hartford and the Massachusetts line.

Here's a look at the Greater Danbury area and where the state says you could see these tolls set up:

Now keep in mind that there will be different charges for peak and non-peak hours, and trucks will be charged more. Plus, the average overall spacing for these tolls is about 6.6 miles apart. Slightly longer average spacing has been proposed for the more rural routes with less congestion, and in a few more congested corridors, closer spacing is possible. This arrangement would allow for some measure of toll-free travel on the existing routes. No tolls would be established on interchange ramps.

Here's a look at the passenger car charges once the toll system is set up: If you have a CT E-Z pass, you get a 30% discount and will pay 4.4 cents during non-peak and 5.5 cents during peak. If you are a frequent user and have a CT E-Z pass, you'll be charged 3.5 cents for non-peak, and 4.4 cents during peak hours. Regular E-Z pass users will pay 6.3 cents non-peak and 7.9 cents peak.

Some of the local improvements that could come from these tolls would be some long range road upgrades on I-84. A fourth lane would be added in each direction between exits 3 and exit 8 in Danbury, and a major upgrade project at the "Waterbury Mix Master" that would provide three through lanes in each direction on I-84.

So are these tolls definitely coming to area roads? According to the study, there needs to be a substantial amount of additional information provided to the legislature before they could even authorize tolls in the state and get the required approval by the Federal Highway Administration.