Interstate 84 (I-84) is an

Interstate Highway The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. T ...

in the

Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States, also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast, is a geographic region of the United States. It is located on the Atlantic coast of North America, with Canada to its north, the Southe ...

that extends from

Dunmore, Pennsylvania Dunmore is a borough in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States, adjoining Scranton. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania and was settled in 1835 and incorporated in 1862. Extensive anthracite coal, brick, stone, and silk interests ha ...

, (near

Scranton Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 U.S. census, Scranton is the largest city in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Wyoming V ...

) at an interchange with I-81 east to

Sturbridge, Massachusetts Sturbridge is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. It is home to Old Sturbridge Village living history museum and other sites of historical interest such as Tantiusques. The population was 9,867 at the 2020 census, with m ...

, at an interchange with the Massachusetts Turnpike (

I-90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, an ...

). Among the major cities that the road passes through is

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...

, and the road provides a major portion of the primary route between

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. Another highway named I-84 is located in the

Northwestern United States The Northwestern United States, also known as the American Northwest or simply the Northwest, is an informal geographic region of the United States. The region consistently includes the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. ...

Route description

, - , PA , , - , NY , , - , CT , , - , MA , , - , Total ,

Pennsylvania

I-84 starts in Pennsylvania at I-81 in Dunmore, a suburb east of

. After , I-84 interchanges with

I-380 Interstate 380 may refer to: * Interstate 380 (California) Interstate 380 (I-380) is a short east–west auxiliary Interstate Highway in the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California, connecting I-280 in San Bruno to US Route& ...

, with I-380 going southeast through

the Poconos The Pocono Mountains, commonly referred to as the Poconos , are a geographical, geological, and cultural region in Northeastern Pennsylvania. They overlook the Delaware River and Delaware Water Gap to the east, Lake Wallenpaupack to the north, Wy ...

and I-84 continuing almost due east into Wayne and Pike counties. Pennsylvania began replacing sequential exit numbers with mile-based numbers in 2001. This section of Pennsylvania is very lightly populated, and there are no major settlements on or near I-84, although it offers access to popular outdoor recreation areas such as

Lake Wallenpaupack Lake Wallenpaupack is a reservoir in Northeastern Pennsylvania. After Raystown Lake, it is the second-largest lake contained entirely in Pennsylvania. It comprises of shoreline, with a length of and a maximum depth of , and has a surface area in ...

and

Promised Land State Park Promised Land State Park is a Pennsylvania state park in Blooming Grove, Greene and Palmyra Townships, Pike County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The approximately park is mostly surrounded by Delaware State Forest. It is in the Poconos ...

. Its

right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

is very wide, with a large

median strip The median strip, central reservation, roadway median, or traffic median is the reserved area that separates opposing lanes of traffic on divided roadways such as divided highways, dual carriageways, freeways, and motorways. The term also a ...

between the two roadways as it passes through densely wooded country, except for the swampy areas in southern Wayne County. The only development along Pennsylvania's section of I-84 is where US Route 6 (US 6) and

US 209 U.S. Route 209 (US 209) is a long U.S. Highway in the states of Pennsylvania and New York. Although the route is a spur of US 9, US 209 never intersects US 9, coming within five miles of the route and making the short c ...

start to parallel closely and form a commercial strip just south of Matamoras, just west of the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, before ...

. I-84 reaches its highest elevation in Pennsylvania and in the east just west of exit 8 at .

New York

I-84 enters New York by crossing both the

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent ...

and Neversink rivers on a long bridge south of Port Jervis, the first large settlement near the highway. South of the road, at the confluence of the Delaware and Neversink rivers, is the Tri-States Monument, where

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

, New York, and Pennsylvania converge. The first mile () of the road in New York runs along the

state line, then curves to the north to climb the Shawangunk Ridge and cross Orange County, where it intersects

New York State Route 17 New York State Route 17 (NY 17) is a major state highway that extends for through the Southern Tier and Downstate regions of New York in the United States. It begins at the Pennsylvania state line in Mina and follows the Southern ...

(NY 17; future I-86) and later the

New York State Thruway , direction_a = South , terminus_a = {{Jct, state=NY, I, 95 at the The Bronx, Bronx–Yonkers, New York City line , junction = {{plainlist, * {{jct, state=NY, I, 287, Parkway, Saw Mill, NY, 119 in Elmsford, New York, Elmsford * {{jct, state=NY, ...

( I-87). I-84 includes the

Newburgh–Beacon Bridge The Hamilton Fish Newburgh–Beacon Bridge is a cantilever toll bridge that spans the Hudson River in New York State. The bridge carries Interstate 84 (I-84) and New York State Route 52 (NY 52) between Newburgh and Beacon and c ...

across the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between Ne ...

at Newburgh. East of the bridge and the city of Beacon, I-84 continues to head east across

Dutchess County Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later or ...

, beginning to turn south in the mountainous areas east of the

Taconic State Parkway The Taconic State Parkway (often called the Taconic or the TSP and known administratively as New York State Route 987G or NY 987G) is a parkway between Kensico Dam and Chatham, the longest in the U.S. state of New York. It follows ...

and into Putnam County. At Brewster, where I-684 heads south toward New York City, the road resumes its eastern course into Connecticut, closely paralleled by US 6 and US 202. The

New York State Department of Transportation The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) is the department of the Government of New York (state), New York state government responsible for the development and operation of highways, Rail transport, railroads, mass transit systems ...

(NYSDOT) began the process of converting exits in spring 2019 from sequential to mile-based numbering as part of a sign replacement project that now is expected to be completed in 2020.

Connecticut

The Interstate's first exit is at the state line, where it enters the city of

Danbury Danbury is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, located approximately northeast of New York City. Danbury's population as of 2022 was 87,642. It is the seventh largest city in Connecticut. Danbury is nicknamed the "Hat City ...

. Here, it is designated the Yankee Expressway. to the east, where US 7 comes in from the south near Danbury Fair to join I-84, it turns to the north. At the next exit, US 6 and US 202 join the highway. The four-way concurrency ends after , when US 7 and US 202 split off north toward New Milford. US 6 leaves the Interstate at the next exit, and I-84 continues east across the countryside. At exit 11, it turns to the northeast and descends to cross the

Housatonic River The Housatonic River ( ) is a river, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 in western Massachusetts and western Connecticut in the United S ...

on the Rochambeau Bridge, into

New Haven County New Haven County is a county in the south central part of the U.S. state of Connecticut. As of the 2020 census, the population was 864,835, making it the third-most populous county in Connecticut. Two of the state's top 5 largest cities, Ne ...

. It then climbs onto higher ground to the city of Waterbury, which it passes on an elevated

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...

with the eastbound and westbound lanes on different levels. Here, the Route 8 expressway intersects. The eastern heading continues past Waterbury to Milldale, where

I-691 Interstate 691 (I-691) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in Connecticut beginning at I-91 in Meriden and ending at I-84 near the Cheshire–Southington town line. According to the Federal Highway Administration, it is in length; howev ...

splits off to the east. This section has many left-hand exits and entrances and sharp curves, which were built for a planned network of freeways. I-84 heads northeast toward

New Britain New Britain ( tpi, Niu Briten) is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi the D ...

and

Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...

, the state capital and the largest community along its eastern length. After intersecting I-91, the road crosses the

Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Islan ...

on the Bulkeley Bridge, the oldest on the Interstate System, then becomes the Wilbur Cross Highway and continues toward the northeast. I-84 services the greater student body commuting to the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...

through exit 68 located in rural Tolland. The last exit in Connecticut is exit 74, an exit for Route 171. I-84 crosses the Massachusetts border in the town of Union.

Massachusetts

The Wilbur Cross Highway continues on I-84 after the highway crosses the state line. For a short distance (approximately eastbound and westbound), the Interstate passes through the town of

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former Provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

in Hampden County before crossing into

Sturbridge Sturbridge is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. It is home to Old Sturbridge Village living history museum and other sites of historical interest such as Tantiusques. The population was 9,867 at the 2020 census, with more ...

in Worcester County for the remainder of its length. I-84 has only three exits in Massachusetts, before ending at

, the Massachusetts Turnpike. I-84 ends at exit 78 (formerly exit 9) of I-90, which is located in Sturbridge, into the state, making the Massachusetts section of the highway the shortest distance within any of the four states it traverses.

History

I-84 was originally to head east from

, to

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

. The original route of I-84 would have used present-day I-384 to Bolton, Connecticut, then along a never-built section of freeway that would have connected to the US 6 bypass around Willimantic, Connecticut. Another never-built freeway section would have connected it to I-395 and extended I-84 onto State Road 695 (SR 695) in Connecticut, the easternmost portion of the Connecticut Turnpike in Plainfield, Connecticut. From there, it would have roughly followed US 6 through western

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

to connect to the present-day US 6 freeway in Johnston. From there, a freeway from Olneyville Square to the I-95/ I-195 interchange was briefly considered but abandoned in favor of what later became the Route 6-10 Connector. Sections of I-84 in Connecticut were reconstructed and widened in the 1980s. The former I-86 portion from East Hartford to the Massachusetts state line was completely rebuilt from a narrow four-lane freeway to a much wider profile ranging from six lanes at the Massachusetts state line, expanding to eight lanes in Vernon, to 12 lanes with high-occupancy vehicle lanes (HOV lanes) in East Hartford. Another section through Danbury was widened from four lanes to six lanes in 1985 and 1986. Widening of the highway through Danbury was funded by

Union Carbide Union Carbide Corporation is an American chemical corporation wholly owned subsidiary (since February 6, 2001) by Dow Chemical Company. Union Carbide produces chemicals and polymers that undergo one or more further conversions by customers befo ...

as part of building its world headquarters in Danbury. Though the route was confirmed in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...

, many issues remained in Rhode Island, the biggest of which were major environmental concerns about how the freeway would affect the Scituate Reservoir, which is the main drinking water supply for Providence. In an attempt to ease environmental concerns, an alternate route was briefly studied in Rhode Island that would have connected I-84 to the present-day Route 37 freeway. This would have allowed construction of I-84 south of the Scituate Reservoir. Major community opposition caused this plan, as well as all plans for a Hartford–Providence expressway, to be scrapped in the 1980s. In the 1992, long-range transportation plan released by the Rhode Island Department of Transportation, a freeway was added along the original route of I-84 that will connect to the SR 695 freeway on the Rhode Island–Connecticut border.

I-86 relation

The section of I-84 between

East Hartford, Connecticut East Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 51,045 at the 2020 census. The town is located on the east bank of the Connecticut River, directly across from Hartford, Connecticut. It is home to aero ...

, (at the present-day junction with I-384) and

, (

) was signed in the late 1970s and early 1980s as I-86 (unrelated to present-day I-86 in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

). Signs stating "I-84 Ends, I-86 to

" (eastbound) and "I-86 Ends, I-84 to Hartford" (westbound) were posted where the change took place. Exit numbering on I-86 was that of the road's predecessor, Route 15, in a sequence beginning on New York's Hutchinson River Parkway. Exits were renumbered to correspond with the rest of I-84 in Connecticut when the road was redesignated in 1984. The present I-384 as well as the present US 6 bypass near Willimantic, both of which were a part of what was then I-84's planned easterly continuation, were also numbered I-84 prior to 1984 even though they lacked any direct connection to the rest of I-84 at that time. (Drivers had to use Silver Lane in East Hartford to travel between the two stretches of the highway.) These two sections were re-numbered I-384 and US 6 when what was then I-86 numbering reverted to I-84.

Tolls

As I-84 was built with federal funds, there are generally no highway tolls. The exception is I-84's

crossing, the

. Since the bridge is under the New York State Bridge Authority, it carries an eastbound-only toll of $1.75 for passenger vehicles.

Transfer to New York State Thruway Authority

From 1992 through 2006, I-84 in

was a toll-free component of the

system. It was transferred by NYSDOT to the

New York State Thruway Authority The New York State Thruway Authority (NYSTA) is a public benefit corporation in New York State, United States. The NYSTA was formed in 1950 with the responsibility of constructing, maintaining, and operating the New York State Thruway, a syste ...

(NYSTA) in order to capitalize on that agency's steady revenue stream from upstate sources. In 1992, maintenance responsibility for I-84 in New York was transferred to the NYSTA and the monies for that purpose came from existing tolls on

I-190 Interstate 190 may refer to the following Interstate Highways in the United States related to Interstate 90: * Interstate 190 (Illinois), a spur into Chicago's O'Hare International Airport *Interstate 190 (Massachusetts), a spur from Worcester to Le ...

in downtown Buffalo, more than away. On October 30, 2006, the NYSTA began the process of returning maintenance and operation responsibilities to NYSDOT and the tolls in Buffalo were discontinued. The I-190 tolls were considered to be one of the principal causes of highway congestion in Buffalo. From 2006 to 2010, maintenance was performed by the NYSTA with funding provided by the state legislature. On October 11, 2010, NYSDOT resumed full control of I-84.

Widening projects in Waterbury

A widening project along the congested stretch of I-84 through Waterbury and

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county tow ...

, Connecticut, was beset by cost overruns, delays, and construction defects involving storm drains, as state and federal officials have launched criminal investigations stemming from this project. This episode diminished local enthusiasm for a proposed $2-billion reconstruction of the "Mixmaster" interchange in downtown Waterbury between Route 8 and I-84. Cost estimates for the Mixmaster replacement have increased to $3 billion. Former Connecticut Attorney-General

Richard Blumenthal Richard Blumenthal (; born February 13, 1946) is an American lawyer and politician who is the senior United States senator from Connecticut, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he is one of the wealthiest members of ...

began a lawsuit against the contractor and an engineering firm in response to threats from USDOT to withhold funds from the project. On May 18, 2007, the '' Republican-American'' reported this area had defective light poles, while Governor

Jodi Rell Mary Carolyn "Jodi" Rell (née Reavis; born June 16, 1946) is an American former Republican politician and the 87th governor of Connecticut from 2004 until 2011. Rell also served as the state's 105th lieutenant governor of Connecticut. Rell was ...

released an audit report of the construction disaster. A number of USDOT personnel were either fired or reprimanded following the scandal. Additionally, the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice ...

(FBI) and a federal grand jury investigated the now-defunct construction company and the same USDOT officials, although none of these investigations have yet to result in criminal charges.

Major intersections

;Pennsylvania : in Dunmore : in Roaring Brook Township : near Milford : near Matamoras ;New York : in Port Jervis : in Middletown : in Middletown : in Newburgh : in Newburgh : in Fishkill : in East Fishkill : in Brewster ;Connecticut : in

: in Waterbury : in Southington : in

: in Farmington : in Farmington : in

: in

East Hartford East Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 51,045 at the 2020 census. The town is located on the east bank of the Connecticut River, directly across from Hartford, Connecticut. It is home to aerospa ...

: in East Hartford : in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

: in Manchester : in Manchester ;Massachusetts : in

: in Sturbridge

Auxiliary routes

I-84 has two current and two former

auxiliary routes In road transportation in the United States, a special route is a road in a numbered highway system that diverts a specific segment of related traffic away from another road. They are featured in many highway systems; most are found in the In ...

. I-384 is a spur of I-84 in

Manchester, Connecticut Manchester is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town had a total population of 59,713. The urban center of the town is the Manchester census-designated place, with a population of 36,379 at the 20 ...

. I-684 connects I-84 in

Brewster, New York Brewster is a village and the principal settlement within the town of Southeast in Putnam County, New York. Its population was 2,390 at the time of the 2010 census. The village, which is the most densely populated portion of the county, was na ...

, with

I-287 Interstate 287 (I-287) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in the US states of New Jersey and New York. It is a partial beltway around New York City, serving the northern half of New Jersey and the counties of Rockland and Westchester in N ...

Harrison, New York Harrison is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States, northeast of Manhattan. The population was 28,218 at the 2020 census. History Harrison was established in 1696 by a patent granted by the British government to John Harrison ...

. I-284 was a planned but never built expressway relocation of US 5 to bypass

, along the eastern shore of the

. I-484 was slated to be built south of downtown

, (connecting with I-91), but that highway was never completed.

References

External links

*
I-84 in Connecticut @ Kurumibostonroads.com. Eastern Roads.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Interstate 84 (East) Interstate 84 84