DOT Completes Waterbury Mixmaster Improvements

By Joe O’Leary

November 13 @ 9:30 am

After six years and extensive work in the area, a project to rehabilitate and extend the life of Waterbury’s Mixmaster was completed as of Oct. 31, according to the state Department of Transportation.
The $223 million project, which began in 2018 with an update of a 50-year-old bridge, has since involved extensive repairs and rehabilitation of the Route 8/I-84 exchange that had previously dogged commuters for decades. The interchange now offers the city an interchange that has caught up to the demands of traffic for the next quarter-century.

The Mixmaster project repaired more than 2.77 miles of road and included work on 10 separate bridges in order to meet interchange’s long-term needs.

In a press release, DOT Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto said the agency and its contractors overcame several unforeseen obstacles before completing the multi-year initiative.

“Now that the Mixmaster Rehabilitation Project has been successfully completed, we look forward to continuing engaging the community and stakeholders with our New Mix Program, as we plan for the long-term future of the interchange,” Eucalitto said.

While the agency said the Mixmaster’s lifespan should extend to the middle of this century, its New Mix Program will see continuous consideration of long-term rehabilitation and replacement options to improve its safety and functionality.

Now traversed by up to 190,000 vehicles daily, the Mixmaster was not designed to handle such traffic when it was first constructed in the 1960s. Growing populations and increased highway use have heightened pressure from I-84 and Route 8 over the ensuing decades.

Its condition degraded as traffic increased to the point that the Department of Transportation listed the Mixmaster as “dangerous” in 2005, with substandard ramps and rapidly changing speed limits causing an average of 1.4 crashes per day.

The agency broadened the scope of construction after workers approached and studied the area and concluded that more work was necessary. According to the DOT, the project’s costs swelled to account for repairs to six of 11 ramps and four bridges, complete deck replacement on two bridges and facelifts, localized repairs and partial and full deck repairs for others.

Traffic in the area is now more streamlined than six years ago, when the Mixmaster was known to snarl traffic and cause serious backups. However, even as the project reaches fruition, the New Mix looms over the future, as the Mixmaster will reach the end of its serviceable lifespan in 2045. Studies and discussions over its replacement are already underway, according to the DOT.

The agency and an infrastructure design firm have begun work on the project and brainstormed as many as two dozen possibilities for a replacement. The work has focused on reconnecting neighborhoods and supporting Waterbury residents while ensuring the up-to-225,000 vehicles traveling through daily by 2045 can get from point A to point B without issue.