The Connecticut Department of Transportation is moving ahead with plans for a flex lane on Interstate 84 in Danbury aimed at easing daily gridlock. The proposal would use the left shoulder between Exits 3 and 7 as a travel lane during peak hours, controlled by overhead signs, with speeds reduced to 45 miles per hour when activated. CTDOT says the highway now carries about 110,000 vehicles a day and modeling shows evening eastbound travel times could drop 74 percent, from 31 minutes to 8 minutes. Morning westbound trips toward New York could fall by 22 percent. The project is estimated at $250 million, with construction targeted for 2028 and expected to take about three years. Public meetings are scheduled next week to gather input.
Ed Histed
Ed launched his radio career in 1975 and has spent more than five decades in the broadcasting industry. During that time, he has served in a wide range of roles including Air Personality, News Director, Sales Manager, Operations Manager, and General Manager at numerous radio stations in various markets across the country. Beyond on-air and management responsibilities, Ed has also worked extensively on the technical side of broadcasting. His background includes RF engineering and information technology, with particular experience configuring digital automation systems and remote voice-tracking platforms used by stations across the country. Ed was also among a select group of industry professionals invited by Google to its California headquarters following the company’s acquisition of Scott Studios. He was one of just 12 broadcasters nationwide chosen to participate in discussions and provide input during the design and rollout of Google’s digital broadcast automation platform. Although the majority of Ed’s career—spanning roughly four decades—was rooted in music radio, he transitioned into news and information programming in 2012. He says the move into spoken-word broadcasting was a natural evolution after decades of experience in multiple areas of the industry.