Connecticut's first runaway truck ramp to open

Associated Press Photo

The Associated Press

2/21/2008

AVON, Conn. — A runaway truck ramp on Route 44 in Avon, Conn., is set to open Friday, more than two years after a fatal wreck and five months after a second crash, according to a Connecticut Department of Transportation official.

Work on the $2.8 million ramp began in November 2007 and is the first such ramp built in the state, according to acting Transportation Commissioner Emil Frankel.

Gov. M. Jodi Rell ordered safety measures in the area after a tractor-trailer lost its brakes and slammed into a furniture store last September. No one was seriously injured.

However, four people were killed in July 2005 when an out-of-control dump truck barreled into the same intersection and hit several vehicles, including a commuter bus.

The renovated ramp includes a retaining wall, a concrete barrier curb and a system of fiber nets designed to safely stop an 18-wheeler. The reconstruction features a Dragnet Vehicle Arresting Barrier System.  This system includes a series of fiber arresting nets and cables that are attached to self-contained energy absorbing units that are designed to safely stop a vehicle.

The ramp is still scheduled to be in full operation on or before Feb. 29 with the entire project expected to be completed on or before April 30.

Motorists can expect lane closures at all times, in either direction along this section of the highway, until the day of completion. At least one lane in either direction will be available at all times.