Connecticut Route 3
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the Route 3 that existed in the 1920s, see Route 3 (New England).
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| Route 3 |
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| Length: | 14.48 mi (23.30 km) | ||||||||
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| Formed: | 1941 (extended 1991) | ||||||||
| South end: |  Route 66 in Middletown |
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| Major junctions: |
 I-91 in Wethersfield |
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| North end: |  Route 2 at the Glastonbury-East Hartford town line |
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Route 3 is a 14.48-mile long route connecting Middletown to the Glastonbury-East Hartford town line. It passes through the towns of Cromwell, Rocky Hill, Wethersfield, and Glastonbury.
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[edit] Route description
Route 3 begins at Route 66 in Middletown. It is a secondary, minor arterial road from Middletown up to its interchange with Interstate 91 in Wethersfield. It crosses, but does not have a direct interchange with the Route 9 freeway in Cromwell (access is via Route 372) and with Interstate 91 in Rocky Hill. The last 3.5 miles of Route 3 from the Interstate 91 interchange in Wethersfield to East Hartford is freeway. The Route 3 freeway crosses the Connecticut River on the William H. Putnam Memorial Bridge from Wethersfield into Glastonbury. The freeway has one intermediate exit into Glastonbury. Route 3 ends at an interchange with the Route 2 freeway just after crossing into East Hartford. The last 0.75 miles of Route 3 is the merging ramp from Route 3 northbound to Route 2 westbound.
[edit] Special designations
Route 3 through the town of Rocky Hill is also known as the Disabled American Veterans Memorial Highway.
[edit] Town by town
| Town | Road names | Major junctions | Milepost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Middletown (2.96 miles) |
Newfield Street | Route 66 | 0.00 |
| Cromwell (2.47 miles) |
Shunpike Road | Route 372 To Route 9 | 3.37 |
| Rocky Hill (2.79 miles) |
Cromwell Avenue Maple Street |
SSR 411 To I-91 | 6.59 |
| Route 160 | 7.21-7.40 | ||
| Wethersfield (3.64 miles) |
Maple Street Route 3 Expressway |
Route 287 | 10.21 |
| Route 99 | 10.37 | ||
| I-91 | 11.28 | ||
| Glastonbury (1.98 miles) |
Route 3 Expressway | Route 2 (exit ramp as main line) |
13.68 |
[edit] History
Route 3 was commissioned in 1941. It originally ran from West Street/Berlin Road in Cromwell, which was part of the Route 72 at the time (now Route 372), up to the Silas Deane Highway (Route 99) in Wethersfield.
In late 1958, as part of the planned Interstate 491 (a southeastern bypass of Hartford), a freeway from I-91 to Route 2, crossing the Connecticut River on the Putnam Memorial Bridge, was opened. The Route 3 designation was temporarily extended along this freeway pending completion of I-491. In 1973, I-491 was finally cancelled due to local opposition and the Route 3 designation along this freeway segment became permanent.
In 1991, when the Route 9 freeway through Berlin and New Britain was completed, Route 72 was truncated to end at Route 9 in New Britain. The east-west portion of the old alignment of Route 72 was reassigned to an extended Route 372 (running along Berlin Road/West Street to end at Route 99 in Cromwell). The north-south portion of Route 72 from Cromwell to Middletown (ending at Route 66) was reassigned to Route 3.
