Connecticut Route 8

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Route 8

Length:

67.34 mi (108.37 km)

Formed:

1922

South end:

I-95 in Bridgeport

Major
junctions:

Route 15 in Trumbull

I-84 in Waterbury

North end:

Route 8 in Sandisfield, MA

Routes in Connecticut
< US 7		Route 9 >
Special Service Roads – State Roads

Route 8 is the portion of the multistate New England Route 8 within the state of Connecticut. It is a 67.34 mile state highway running north-south from Bridgeport, through Waterbury, all the way to the Massachusetts state line where it continues as Route 8. Most of the highway is a 4-lane freeway but the northernmost 8.8 miles is a 2-lane surface road.^[1]

1 Route description
2 Special designations
3 History
4 Exit List
5 See also
6 References

[edit] Route description

The southern terminus of Route 8 is at an interchange with Interstate 95 in Bridgeport. The first 3.75 miles in Bridgeport is co-signed with the freeway portion of Route 25. Approaching the split between Routes 8 and 25, the road expands to 6, 8, and even 10 lanes. Route 8 continues into Trumbull where there is an interchange with the Merritt Parkway.

From Trumbull, it passes through the towns/cities of Stratford and Shelton. It then crosses the Housatonic River and continues through Derby, Ansonia, Seymour, Beacon Falls, Naugatuck, and Waterbury, following along the Naugatuck River (a tributary of the Housatonic River). There is an interchange with Interstate 84 in Waterbury, known locally as the "Mixmaster". Route 8 then continues north through Watertown, Thomaston, Litchfield, Harwinton, Torrington, and Winchester. U.S. Route 6 runs briefly on Route 8 in Thomaston (0.99 miles).

The freeway portion of Route 8 ends at U.S. Route 44 in Winchester. After a short (0.33 mile) overlap with US 44, Route 8 splits off and continues as a surface road into the rest of Winchester town and the mainly rural town of Colebrook. Route 8 continues as a rural minor arterial road into Massachusetts.

[edit] Special designations

The section from I-95 to the Route 25 split is also known as the Colonel Henry Mucci Highway (designation continues on Route 25). The section from Shelton to Beacon Falls is known as the General Samuel Jaskilka Highway. The section from Constitution Boulevard in Shelton to Route 334 at the Seymour/Ansonia town line is known as the Ansonia-Derby-Shelton Expressway. The section from Waterbury to the freeway end in Winchester is known as the James H. Darcey Memorial Highway.

[edit] History

Most of the alignment of Route 8 was part of an improved toll road known as the Waterbury River Turnpike, which ran from Naugatuck, via Torrington, Winchester Center and Colebrook Center, to the Massachusetts state line. The turnpike was chartered in 1801 and collected tolls until 1862. Two other sections of Route 8 were also old turnpikes: the portion north of Torrington was known as the Still River Turnpike chartered in 1815; the potion between Seymour and Naugatuck was known as the Humphreysville and Salem Turnpike chartered in 1825.

In 1922, the six New England states began a region-wide highway numbering system. The trunk highway from Stratford through Waterbury to the Massachusetts state line became part of the multi-state New England Route 8. Route 8 remained unchanged in the 1932 state highway renumbering. The main road connecting Bridgeport and Shelton (following Noble Avenue, Huntington Turnpike, Shelton Road, Bridgeport Avenue, and Center Street), which was designated as State Highway 316 in 1922, was renumbered as Route 65 in the 1932 renumbering.

In 1951, the Ansonia-Derby-Shelton Expressway portion between Constitution Boulevard in Shelton and Pershing Drive in Derby (including the Commodore Isaac Hull Memorial Bridge opens to traffic. As part of the freeway upgrading of Route 8, the southern terminus was shifted west from Stratford to Bridgeport, taking over old Route 65. The original southern end of Route 8 was assigned to an extended Route 110. By 1957, the entire length of the Ansonia-Derby-Shelton Expressway portion is open with the extension from Pershing Drive to Route 334 at the Ansonia/Seymour town line complete.

In the 1960s and 1970s additional sections of the Route 8 freeway opened in stages: in 1960, the segment from Route 63 to South Main Street in Waterbury opens; in 1962, the section from Route 334 to Route 67, including the elevated highway portion through central Seymour, opens; in 1966, the Mixmaster interchange with I-84 is completed and the freeway was also extended to Route 262 in Watertown. An additional section from Route 118 in Litchfield to Kennedy Road in Torrington also opens. By 1970, the portion from Route 262 in Watertown to Route 118 in Litchfield opened. By 1972, the segment from I-95 to Route 108 in Trumbull, including the overlap with Route 25, was completed. The freeway was also extended from Kennedy Road in Torrington to its present terminus at Route 44 in Winsted. By 1975, the freeway was completed between Huntington Turnpike at the Trumbull/Shelton town line to Constitution Boulevard in Shelton.

The early 1980s saw the completion of the Route 8 freeway with the 4-lane surface route from Route 67 in Seymour to Route 63 in Naugatuck (originally built in the 1940s) upgraded to a freeway, including the portion that bypasses Beacon Falls. The last segment of freeway between Route 108 in Trumbull and Huntington Turnpike, including a new interchange with the Merritt Parkway was completed in 1982. The freeway from Bridgeport to Winchester is completed by this time, 35 years after construction began.

[edit] Exit List

Town	Exit #	Mile	Destinations	Notes
Bridgeport		0.0	Begin concurrency with Route 25
		0.2	Junction I-95 – New Haven, New York City	Main line merges to northbound I-95. Exit ramp as main line.
	1	0.4	Prospect Street – Downtown Bridgeport	Southbound exit, northbound entrance
	2	0.8	Fairfield Ave, Lafayette Sq	SR 700
	3	1.4	Main St, Washington Ave	Southbound exit, northbound entrance
	4	2.1	Lindley St	Northbound exit, southbound entrance
	5	2.8	Chopsey Hill Rd to US 1 (Boston Ave, North Ave)	SR 722
	6	3.8	Route 25 north – Trumbull To Route 15 south – New York City
	6	3.8	End concurrency with Route 25
Trumbull	7	4.2	Route 127 (White Plains Road/ East Main Street)	Southbound exit, northbound entrance To northbound Route 25
	8	5.4	Route 108 (Nichols Ave) – Stratford To Route 15 (Merritt Parkway) north
	9	5.8	Route 15 (Merritt Parkway) north	Northbound junction only
	10	5.8	Route 15 (Merritt Parkway) south	Southbound junction only
Stratford	11	7.1	Huntington Rd, Bridgeport Ave	SR 714
Shelton	12	9.2	Old Stratford Rd
	13	11.4	Constitution Blvd, Bridgeport Ave	SR 714
	14	12.3	Route 110 (Howe Ave) – Shelton
	Commodore Hull Bridge (Housatonic River Crossing)
Derby	15	12.8	Route 34 (Main St) – Derby, New Haven
	16	13.4	Pershing Drive	Northbound exit, southbound entrance SR 727
	17	13.7	Seymour Ave
	18	14.3	Division St	Northbound exit, southbound entrance
Ansonia	19	15.8	Route 334 (Wakelee Ave)
Seymour	20	16.6	Lower Derby Ave.	Southbound exit, northbound entrance
	21	17.4	Derby Ave to Route 67 – Oxford	Northbound exit, southbound entrance SR 728
	22	18.5	Route 67 (Bank St) – Seymour
Beacon Falls	23	21.0	Route 42 – Beacon Falls, Oxford	Northbound exit, southbound entrance
Beacon Falls	24	22.1	To Route 42 – Beacon Falls, Oxford	Southbound exit, northbound entrance SR 852
Naugatuck	25	24.1	Cross St
	26	25.3	Route 63 (South Main St) – Bethany
	27	25.8	North Main St, Maple St	SR 709
	28	26.5	To Route 68 – Union City, Prospect	SR 710
	29	27.3	South Main St, Platts Mill Rd – Waterbury	SR 847
Waterbury	30	29.2/29.5	Washington Ave, South Leonard St
	31	30.2	I-84 east – Hartford	The Mixmaster
	32		Riverside St – Downtown Waterbury
	33		I-84 west – Danbury
	34	30.6	West Main St – Downtown Waterbury	Southbound exit, northbound entrance
	35	31.2	Route 73 – Oakville, Watertown	Norhtbound exit, southbound entrance
	36	32.6	Huntingdon Ave, Colonial Ave
Watertown	37	34.3	Route 262 – Watertown
Thomaston	38	38.3	US 6 west – Thomaston, Watertown To Route 109, Route 254	US 6 joins northbound and leaves southbound
	39	39.7	US 6 east – Thomaston, Bristol To Route 222	US 6 leaves northbound and joins southbound
	40	40.3	Route 222 (North Main St) – Thomaston
Litchfield	41	44.1	Northfield, Campville
Harwinton	42	46.8	Route 118 – Litchfield, Harwinton
Torrington	43	49.2	Harwinton Ave
	44	49.9/50.0	US 202/Route 4 – Downtown Torrington
	45	51.8	Winsted Rd, Kennedy Dr
	46	55.5	Pinewoods Rd – Burrville
Winchester		58.3	Junction US 44 east	End of freeway; Exit ramp as main line Route 8 joins US 44 northbound and leaves southbound
		58.8	US 44 west	Route 8 leaves US 44 northbound and joins southbound Route 8 uses North Main St and Colebrook River Rd
		60.7	Route 20
Colebrook		67.3	MA Route 8	Massachusetts state line