Connecticut Route 20
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
|||||||||||||
| Route 20 |
|||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||
| Length: | 31.56 mi (50.79 km) | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Formed: | Main route: 1932 Connector: 1961 |
||||||||||||
| West end: |  Route 8 in Winchester |
||||||||||||
| East end: |  I-91 at the Windsor Locks–Windsor town line |
||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
Route 20 is a 31.56 mile state highway in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It extends from Route 8 in rural Winchester to I-91 in Windsor. Route 20 consists of two distinct sections: a long, winding scenic road, and a freeway linking I-91 to Bradley International Airport.
Contents |
[edit] History
Before 1932, Route 20 was much longer and straighter than it is now, as it also comprised the old state highways 105 and 133. Currently, Route 20 also circumnavigates the Barkhamsted Reservoir, which was filled in the 1940s and was not present when the original route was constructed. Route 20 was also shifted south around the same time to make way for an air base, which is now Bradley International Airport.
[edit] Bradley Airport Connector
The Bradley Airport Connector was the original name of the 5 mile stretch of freeway built to connect Bradley International Airport to I-91, in Windsor, for faster and easier access to the airport.
The project to build this connector was proposed in the early 1950s, but was not started until 1958. Three years later, on July 3, 1961, the four-lane expressway was open to traffic.
The highway cost $3.9 million to construct.
The Route 20 designation runs along only the first 3.9 miles of the freeway. The 1.1-mile stretch of road from Route 20 to Bradley Airport is part of Special Service Road 401 (or SSR 401).
SSR 401 continues beyond Bradley Airport (for another 1.2 miles) as a 4-lane surface road (Schoephoester Road), to connect with Route 75 in Windsor Locks. These "secret" SSR or SR roads are only named so that state workers can identify them; the roads are unsigned.
On October 10, 1999, the connector was renamed the 82nd Airborne Memorial Highway. According to ConnDOT, the connector carries about 50,200 vehicles per day.[1]
[edit] Expansion of Route 20
Since the 1960s, it was suggested that the connector be elongated to serve other northern Connecticut towns. The highway would extend westward to U.S. Route 44 in Barkhamsted and go eastward over I-91 and along Route 190 to I-84. This proposal never went anywhere.
Another similar porposal was made in 1967. This one stated that the expressway would go west into Granby center and east to I-84. This proposal also never followed through.
[edit] Roads of Route 20
Route 20 passes through several towns of Connecticut and each one has a different name for the road that is Route 20. Here is a list of roads in each town, from west to east:
| Roads of Route 20 | |
|---|---|
| Road Name | Town |
| Riverton Rd. | Winchester, Barkhamsted, Hartland |
| Center St. | Hartland |
| Morrison Hill Rd. | Hartland |
| N. Hollow Rd. | Hartland |
| Hartland Blvd. | Hartland |
| Hartland Rd. | Granby |
| W. Granby Rd. | Granby |
| N. Granby Road | Granby |
| E. Granby Rd. | Granby |
| Turkey Hills Rd. | East Granby |
| Rainbow Rd. | East Granby |
| Bradley Field Connector | Windsor Locks, Windsor |
