Every time I drive on Route 85 between the Crystal Mall area and Salem Four Corners, I think how much better the trip would be if they only finished Route 11. Just the other day around 5:00 p.m., my 20-mile trip from New London to Colchester took over 50 minutes thanks to pure volume snaking its way from the Chesterfield Road intersection and the Route 161 merge in Montville back down to Waterford. Think about how much time people waste here each day, how many serious accidents occur on this stretch of Route 85 and how there would be no way to successfully evacuate the shoreline via this road. Route 11 - all 7.42 miles of it - is one of the least stressful drives on a limited access highway in a region infamous for overcrowded interstates and treacherous two-lane state highways. Planners had envisioned an expressway running from Route 2 all the way down to I-95 near the 395 split. A drive to and from New London could be a breeze. Funding ran out and in 1972 the road opened only half finished, ending at Route 82 in Salem. Despite painstaking proposals for a "greenway" to limit environmental impacts, promises from politicians and support from local residents, the funding never materialized. In this economic climate, I won't hold my breath for Route 11 dollars to flow, and we can only wonder how much the completion of Route 11 would have saved lives and been a shot in the arm to southeastern Connecticut.
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