New exit numbers coming to Merritt Parkway
Drivers may have already noticed the new signs popping up, with big garbage bags covering them for now, as the Connecticut Department of Transportation has been working to get ready for the changeover.
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All exits of the Merritt Parkway will soon have new numbers.
Drivers may have already noticed the new signs popping up, with big garbage bags covering them for now, as the Connecticut Department of Transportation has been working to get ready for the changeover.
"The federal government pushed out a mandate saying that all states need to move away from sequential exit numberings to go to mile-based exit renumberings," explained Josh Morgan, the communications director for the DOT.
By the end of 2030, the DOT says the change will be made on all of Connecticut's highways.
The idea is this will make it easier for emergency vehicles to know where they have to do go, and how far away they are.
However, since the federal government did not give any timeline with its mandate, the state says it has just been able to do the changes whenever they normally would have replaced the signs on each road anyway, something Morgan says makes the project "more cost effective in the long-run."
The official unveiling of the new signs and numbers on the Merritt is scheduled to start on Monday, July 28 at the New York border, and make its way in to the state.
The DOT expects the entire process will take about four weeks total.
"We'll alert the Googles and the Apples of the world, letting all the GPS providers know that these exits are changing," Morgan said. "Ultimately, when that gets pushed out and updated on their platforms - that's out of our hands."
To be safe, the DOT says that the signs will still have the old exits numbers on them for at least a few years.
There is also an interactive map to see what the new exit numbers will be.
