The Highway from Radiohead's 'OK Computer' Album Cover May Be Demolished

Hartford, CT's I-84/I-91 interchange has been recommended for revelopment

BY Alex HudsonPublished Oct 23, 2023

It's difficult to recognize without all of the fancy graphic design, but the album cover of Radiohead's iconic 1997 masterpiece OK Computer shows a highway interchange in Hartford, CT. Now, that famous tangle of roads could be demolished as part of an extensive highway redevelopment.

The $12 billion USD project is being recommended following a three-year study released by Connecticut's Department of Transportation, and construction could take decades to complete.

An article from the Hartford Courant calls the I-84/I-91 interchange — the one from OK Computer's album cover — a "notorious bottleneck." It's the central part of the study, and the plan is to move the interchange a mile north.

Federal environment assessments must still be completed, as well as the ever-important matter of securing funding, before this project becomes a reality. This isn't the first time the interchange has been targeted for potential demolition; a 2017 article, also from the Hartford Courant, notes a plan to knock it down and replace it with tunnels.

In other words, Radiohead fans still have some time if they want to make the rather bleak pilgrimage to the OK Computer highway interchange.

Below, see the comparison of OK Computer's album cover with the interchange,
 
OK Computer IRL v2.0

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