U.S. Route 7 in Connecticut

In the state of Connecticut, U.S. Route 7 runs from Canaan to Norwalk.

Route description

U.S. 7 in Connecticut (also known as the Route 7, Ethan Allen Highway and Super 7) is mostly a surface road but has two short expressway sections in the Norwalk and Danbury areas. US 7 begins in Norwalk with a 4-mile (6.4 km) expressway to nearly the Wilton town line. There are three exits on this short section, signed as "The Forty Third Infantry Division Memorial Highway". Exit 1, just past Interstate 95 (the southern terminus), leads to the Central Norwalk Business District and US 1. Exit 2 leads to Route 123 which extends from US 1 in Norwalk to the New York State line, passing through the town of New Canaan. After Exit 2, the expressway reduces to four lanes from six. Exit 3 leads to Route 15 southbound, also known as the Merritt Parkway. This interchange was half built and only allows southbound access from the expressway; northbound access is gained via Route 123 at Exit 2. The expressway section ends at Grist Mill Road in Norwalk, about one-half mile past Exit 3.

Near Danbury, another expressway section was built beginning 1-mile (1.6 km) south of Interstate 84 near the Danbury Airport. This section is also signed as "The Forty Third Infantry Division Memorial Highway". Through Danbury proper, Route 7 overlaps with I-84 for about 4 miles (6 km). Through this section of expressway, Routes I-84, U.S. 7, U.S. 6 and U.S. 202 are concurrent. Routes 7 and 202 then leave I-84 at exit 7 and travel on their own expressway for approximately 8 miles (13 km) to just south of the New Milford line. On this section there are two exits. At Exit 11 (Federal Road), US 202 exits the expressway and at Exit 12, Route 202 crosses back over Route 7. On southbound Route 7, the exit for Interstate 84 Eastbound is signed as exit 13. There is no exit number for I-84 West because of the concurrency. The Route 7 expressway then bypasses Brookfield to the west and terminates at an intersection with Route 202 at the Fairfield/Litchfield county line. Construction on the section between I-84 and Exit 12 began in 1974 and completed in 1976. The Brookfield bypass segment between Exit 12 and the current expressway terminus opened in November 2009, after two years of construction. The former US 7 route through Brookfield is now signed solely as US 202.

Route 7 is cosigned with U.S. 202 until central New Milford, where Route 202 turns east with Route 67 while Route 7 continues north. Recent construction has also made large parts of Route 7 between the terminus of the expressway and New Milford a four-lane divided highway with at-grade intersections. North of New Milford center, Route 7 remains a two-lane road through the rest of Connecticut.

History

Junction list

References

External links