Connecticut Route 3

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For the Route 3 that existed in the 1920s, see U.S. Route 6 (Connecticut).
Route 3
Length: 14.48 mi (23.30 km)
Formed: 1941 (extended 1991)
South end: Route 66 in Middletown
Major
junctions:		 I-91 in Wethersfield
North end: Route 2 at the Glastonbury-East Hartford town line
Routes in Connecticut
< Route 2A Route 4 >
Special Service Roads – State Roads

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. The northernmost three miles of Route 3 is an expressway that was originally intended for the cancelled Interstate 491.

Contents

[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] History

Route 3 was established 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), 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 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 old Route 72 from Cromwell to Middletown (ending at Route 66) was reassigned to Route 3.

[edit] Junction list

This is a list of intersections with state highways on the surface road portion of Route 3.

Town Road names Major junctions Milepost
Middletown Newfield Street Route 66 0.00
Cromwell Shunpike Road Route 372 To Route 9 3.37
Rocky Hill Cromwell Avenue, Maple Street SSR 411 (West St) To I-91 6.59
Route 160 7.21-7.40
Wethersfield Maple Street Route 287 10.21
Route 99 10.37

[edit] Exit list

This is the list of interchanges on the freeway portion at the northern end of the highway. Exits are not numbered.

Town Mile Destinations Notes
Wethersfield 10.99 Elm Street At-grade intersection
Begin Route 3 Expressway
11.28 I-91 – Hartford, New Haven No direct access Route 3 North to I-91 South
Putnam Bridge (Connecticut River crossing)
Glastonbury ~13.1 Main Street – Glastonbury
13.68 Route 2 – Norwich, East Hartford Northbound junction only
Exit ramp as main line
Northbound Route 3 merges onto westbound Route 2

[edit] References

Coordinates: 41°37′58″N 72°40′35″W / 41.632894, -72.676277