U.S. Route 6 in Connecticut
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| Route 6 |
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| Length: | 116.33 mi (187.21 km) | ||||||||||||
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| Formed: | 1926 | ||||||||||||
| West end: |   US 6/US 202 in Southeast, NY |
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| Major junctions: |
 US 7 in Danbury I-91 in Hartford I-395 in Killingly |
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| East end: | US 6 in Foster, RI |
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Route 6 is the portion of the cross-country U.S. Route 6 within the state of Connecticut. West of Hartford, the route either closely parallels or runs along Interstate 84. Interstate 84 has largely supplanted Route 6 as a through route in western Connecticut. East of Hartford, the route serves as a primary route for travel between Hartford and Providence. Route 6 is 116.33 miles (187.21 km) in length.
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[edit] Route description
[edit] Western Connecticut
Route 6 begins at the New York state line east of the village of Brewster, entering the city of Danbury overlapped with U.S. Route 202. US 6/202 runs for 3.8 miles (6.1 km) in Danbury as a minor arterial road then overlaps with Interstate 84/Route 7 (at Exit 4). The 4-way concurrency of I-84/US 7/US 6/US 202 continues for 3.3 miles (5.3 km), after which Routes 7 and 202 split off from I-84. Route 6 follows I-84 for another 0.8 miles (1.3 km) before returning to surface roads (at Exit 8). The route then goes through the towns of Bethel and Newtown and then overlaps with I-84 again for 6.4 miles (10.3 km) between Newtown and Southbury (from Exits 10 to 15).
After exiting I-84 in Southbury, Route 6 is a surface road again as it passes through the northern Waterbury area suburbs of Southbury, Woodbury, Watertown and Thomaston. US 6 has a 1.0-mile (1.6 km) overlap with the Route 8 expressway in Thomaston.
[edit] Hartford area
Route 6 continues as a surface road through the towns of Plymouth, Bristol and Farmington. In Farmington, Route 6 again joins I-84 as it passes through West Hartford, Hartford, East Hartford and Manchester (13.4-mile overlap from Exits 38 to 60). U.S. Route 44 briefly joins I-84/US 6 (for 0.2 miles) as they cross the Connecticut River on the Bulkeley Bridge. After exiting I-84 in Manchester, Route 6 is joined again by Route 44 for 6.9 miles (11.1 km) up to Bolton near the eastern terminus of I-384.
[edit] Eastern Connecticut
In Bolton, Routes 6 and 44 split. Route 44 follows a more northerly route while Route 6 continues through Bolton, Coventry, Andover and Columbia. It then becomes a freeway in Columbia (at a junction with Route 66), passing through Coventry (again), Windham, Mansfield and Windham (again), ending at the eastern terminus of Route 66. This freeway portion is 5.3 miles (8.5 km) long and bypasses Willimantic center. Route 66 is the local alternate route serving the town center.
Route 6 then continues as a surface road to the towns of Chaplin, Hampton, Brooklyn and Killingly. The unsigned portion of the Connecticut Turnpike (SR 695) then meets with Route 6 just at the Rhode Island state line. Route 6 is a two-lane freeway in the vicinity of its junction with Interstate 395 in Killingly.
[edit] History
Before the creation of the U.S. Highway system in 1926, most of the proposed routing in Connecticut was part of New England Interstate Route 3 (NE-3). There were two places where NE-3 and US 6 were not overlapped. NE-3 began in Bedford, New York at New York State Route 22 and entered the state via modern Route 35. It then continued north to Danbury via the old non-expressway alignment of U.S. Route 7. US 6, on the other hand, traveled from Brewster, New York on its current alignment, meeting with NE-3 in downtown Danbury.
Another difference in routing is between Manchester and Windham. US 6 originally used a more northern alignment via Coventry, running along present U.S. Route 44 then modern Route 31. NE-3 used current US 6 for its routing. East of Windham, the routes overlapped into Rhode Island. Between 1926 and 1932, NE-3 and US 6 were cosigned where they overlapped. NE-3 was finally deleted in 1932.
As originally signed in 1926, Route 6 took the following route in Connecticut:
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Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. |
[edit] Environmental issues bog down Route 6 bypass plans
The Connecticut Department of Transportation had planned since the 1960s to upgrade the segment between Bolton and Columbia to an expressway, connecting I-384 to the existing expressway segment in Windham.[citation needed]. However, this particular segment of Route 6 passes through an environmentally sensitive area centered around the Hop River. Construction was originally planned to begin in the late 1980s, but federal, state, and local officials could not reach an agreement on a feasible route that avoided the Hop River wetlands and development within the towns of Andover, Bolton, Coventry, and Columbia. The affected towns, CONNDOT and the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection favored a northern alignment (Alternative 133B), which would avoid the town centers and nearby wetlands. The Environmental Protection Agency, Army Corps of Engineers, and Federal Highway Administration favored a southerly alignment (Alternative 133 18/25) that would cut through residential and commercial areas as well as the Hop River's adjoining wetlands.
Despite opposition from CONNDOT, the Connecticut DEP, and affected towns, the FHWA issued a Record of Decision and the Army Corps of Engineers issued required permits for Alternative 133 18/25 (southern alignment) in 2001. State and local officials continued to press the Corps of Engineers to approve the northern alignment. Due to the impasse between state, local, and federal officials, federal funds for the bypass were withdrawn in 2003. In 2005, the Capitol Region Council of Governments and CONNDOT removed the Route 6 bypass from planning, hence CONNDOT effectively abandoned further study of the bypass in lieu of upgrading the existing road.
As of 2007, CONNDOT is making safety improvements and capacity upgrades to the existing US-6 through Andover, Bolton, and Columbia.
[edit] Alternate routes
There have been several routes signed as US 6A in the state. No bannered routes currently exist.
- Newtown-Southbury: original surface routing before creation of expressway later to become I-84; currently SR 816
- Plymouth-Hartford: Currently US 6. At this time, the old US 6 went along Route 64 to downtown Waterbury then along Route 10 to Farmington.
- Woodbury-Willimantic: West of Meriden, this was the original alignment of US 6. When US 6 was reassigned to the former 6A from Plymouth-Farmington, this became 6A. This 6A was subsequently extended through Meriden to Willimantic along modern Route 66. An expressway upgrade was planned for this 6A. Only a portion of the highway was built and is now Interstate 691.
- Coventry-Windham: became 6A when NE-3 was deleted. Swapped with the old US 6 in 1939 and finally deleted in 1942 when 6A became Route 31.
- Danielson: old routing prior to construction of the 2-lane freeway
[edit] Junction list
See Interstate 84 exit list for junctions while overlapped with I-84.
| Town | Road names | Major junctions | Milepost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Danbury (5.76 miles) |
Mill Plain Rd, Lake Ave Ext, I-84/Yankee Expwy, Newtown Rd | I-84 at Exit 2 | 3.77 |
| I-84 overlap (Exits 4 to 8) | 4.15-8.26 | ||
| SR 806 (Old Route 6) | 8.50 | ||
| Bethel (1.26 miles) |
Stony Hill Rd | ||
| Newtown (2.04 miles) |
Mount Pleasant Rd, Main St, Church Hill Rd, I-84/Yankee Expwy | Route 25 | 11.57-14.26 |
| SR 816 (Old Route 6) | 15.19 | ||
| I-84 overlap (Exits 10 to 15) | 15.52-21.96 | ||
| Southbury (2.06 miles) |
I-84/Yankee Expwy, Main St North | ||
| Route 67 | 22.19-23.76 | ||
| Woodbury (5.10 miles) |
Main St South, Main St North | Route 64 | 25.94 |
| Route 317 | 26.90 | ||
| Route 47 | 27.60 | ||
| Route 61 | 31.48 | ||
| Watertown (3.91 miles) |
Woodbury Rd, DeForest St, Cutler St, Thomaston Rd | Route 63 | 34.57 |
| Route 262 | 35.81 | ||
| Thomaston (1.60 miles) |
Watertown Rd, Pine Hill Rd, Route 8/James Darcey Memorial Hwy, East Main St | Route 109 | 38.61 |
| Route 254 | 39.12 | ||
| Route 8 overlap (Exits 38-39) | 39.40-40.39 | ||
| Route 222 | 40.61 | ||
| Plymouth (2.64 miles) |
Main St | Route 262 | 41.28 |
| Route 72 | 44.15 | ||
| Bristol (2.64 miles) |
Terryville Ave, North St, Farmington Ave | Route 69 | 44.86-47.25 |
| Route 229 | 48.30 | ||
| Farmington (2.64 miles) |
Scott Swamp Rd, Colt Hwy, I-84/Yankee Expwy | Route 177 | 50.95 |
| Route 10 (grade separated) | 53.08 | ||
| SR 549 (to Route 4) | 55.15 | ||
| I-84 overlap (Exits 38 to 60) | 56.34-69.71 | ||
| West Hartford | I-84/Yankee Expwy | ||
| Hartford | |||
| East Hartford | I-84/Wilbur Cross Hwy | ||
| Manchester | I-84/Wilbur Cross Hwy, Middle Tpke West, Center St, East Center St, Middle Tpke, New Bolton Rd | ||
| U.S. Route 44 (begin overlap) | 70.09 | ||
| Route 83 | 72.67 | ||
| Bolton | New Bolton Rd, Boston Tpke, Hop River Rd | Route 85 | 75.84 |
| I-384 | 76.76 | ||
| U.S. Route 44 (end overlap) | 76.99 | ||
| Coventry | Willimantic Tpke | ||
| Andover | Jonathan Trumbull Hwy, Willimantic Rd | Route 316 | 82.68 |
| Route 87 | 83.91 | ||
| Columbia | Willimantic Rd, Route 6 Expressway | Route 66 | 87.81 |
| Coventry | Route 6 Expressway | ||
| Windham | Route 32 (grade separated) | 89.73 | |
| Mansfield | Route 195 (grade separated) | 91.94 | |
| Windham | Route 6 Expressway, Boston Post Rd | Route 66 | 93.15 |
| Route 203 | 95.00 | ||
| Chaplin | Willimantic Rd, Hampton Rd | Route 198 | 96.96 |
| Hampton | Hartford Tpke, Providence Tpke | Route 97 | 101.30 |
| Brooklyn | Hartford Rd, Providence Rd | Route 169 | 107.44 |
| Killingly | Providence Pike | Route 12 | 110.97-111.32 |
| I-395 (at Exit 91) | 111.81 | ||
| SR 607 (Old Route 6) | 113.42 | ||
| SR 695 | 116.06 |
[edit] Miscellanea
An 11-mile (18 km) stretch of highway that traverses Bolton, Coventry, Andover, and Columbia is known as "Suicide 6".[1] Along with other sections of U.S. 6, including one which runs through western Rhode Island, this stretch has one of the highest rates of fatal injuries of any road in the country and was listed as one of "America's Most Dangerous Highways" by Reader's Digest in November 2000. Because Route 6 connects two major cities, Hartford and Providence, the road is used as an expressway despite the fact that most of it is a two-way highway with houses and businesses abutting it. With a lack of stop signs and traffic lights, there is major concern involving drivers pulling out of one of the many small side roads into high speed traffic lanes. Posted signs tell drivers they must keep headlights on at all times.
[edit] References
| U.S. Route 6 |
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| Previous state: New York |
Connecticut | Next state: Rhode Island |
