Connecticut Route 2

For the Route 2 that existed in the 1920s, see U.S. Route 5 in Connecticut.

Route 2 marker

Route 2

Route information

Maintained by ConnDOT

Length:

58.03 mi (93.39 km)

Existed:

1932 – present

Major junctions

West end:

Columbus Boulevard in Hartford

I‑84 / US 6 in East Hartford

I‑395 in Norwich

I‑95 in North Stonington

East end:

US 1 in Stonington

Location

Counties:

Hartford, New London

Highway system

Routes in Connecticut

←

US 1A

Route 2A

→

Route 2 is a state highway in Connecticut and is 58.03 miles (93.39 km) in length. It is a primary state route, with a limited-access highway section connecting Hartford to Norwich and an access highway section extending to Stonington.

Route description

Route 2 begins as a continuation of State Street (just east of Columbus Blvd) near Interstate 91 in downtown Hartford. It starts out heading east toward East Hartford. Route 2 then crosses the Connecticut River on the Founders Bridge and has a partial interchange with I-91 at the crossing. Immediately after crossing into East Hartford, there is a complex interchange with Interstate 84. Immediately after this interchange, Route 2 heads southeast in the direction of Glastonbury. There is a partial interchange with Route 15 about 0.75 miles (1.21 km) further. After East Hartford, Route 2 enters Glastonbury. At the East Hartford-Glastonbury town line, there is a full trumpet interchange with Route 3. About 1 mile (1.6 km) after this interchange, there is a partial interchange with Route 17. From Glastonbury, Route 2 passes into Marlborough. It continues into Colchester. In Colchester, Route 2 has a partial interchange with Route 11. After this interchange, Route 2 curves and heads east toward Norwich. Once Route 2 leaves Colchester, it passes through the towns of Lebanon and Bozrah. After Bozrah, Route 2 enters Norwich. Just after entering Norwich, Route 32 joins Route 2. Then, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) down Route 2, there is a partial cloverleaf interchange with Interstate 395. About 1.75 miles (2.82 km) further east from the I-395 interchange, the limited-access highway section of Route 2 ends at a four-way at-grade intersection with Town Street, Harland Road (Route 169), and Washington Street (Route 32/Route 2). Route 32 then separates in downtown Norwich after overlapping with Route 2 for 3.9 miles (6.3 km), following the west bank of the Thames River. Route 2 continues southeast from Norwich into Preston, and then into Ledyard. Just after entering Ledyard, Route 2 passes by the Mashantucket Pequot Reservation and then the Foxwoods Resort Casino. After passing through Ledyard, Route 2 continues into North Stonington. There is a roundabout with Route 184 and a partial interchange with Interstate 95 here. After leaving North Stonington, Route 2 heads into Stonington. Here, Route 2 is reduced to a minor arterial road. It has an interchange with Route 78 and terminates about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) later at the junction with US 1 just west of the Rhode Island state line.^[1]

Route 2 westbound in Hartford, just before exits 2E, 2W and 3.

Several Connecticut limited-access highways terminate at Route 2. Route 3 ends at Route 2 near the East Hartford-Glastonbury town line, Route 17 ends at Route 2 in Glastonbury, and Route 11 ends at Route 2 in Colchester. Route 78 also ends at Route 2, in Stonington. It is unusual that Route 78 intersects Route 2 where it is not a limited-access highway.

Special designations

The entire length of Route 2 is also known as the Veterans of Foreign Wars Memorial Highway.^[1]

History

Two early toll roads, the Hartford and New London Turnpike and the Colchester and Norwich Turnpike, followed the alignment of current Route 2 in the 1800s. In 1922, The New England Interstate system incorporated the future Route 2 alignment as Route 17. Upon the discontinuation of the New England routes in the 1932 state highway renumbering, the eastern half of old New England Route 17 was renumbered to Route 2. The western half of old New England Route 17 eventually formed part of U.S. Route 44.^[2]^[3]

Limited-access highway construction along the Route 2 alignment started in the 1950s and continued through the 1960s and early 1970s. The oldest limited-access highway segment, between exits 5A and 7, opened in 1952; the latest segment, between exits 20 and 22, opened in 1971. The state still maintains some segments of the older, access highway alignment, but does not sign these segments as state routes. The state remanded the remaining access highway segments to town jurisdiction.^[3]

Junction list

County	Location	mi	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Hartford	Hartford	0.0	0.0		Columbus Boulevard	Western terminus of Route 2; at-grade intersection; road continues as State Street
	Hartford	0.1	0.2		I‑91 south – New Haven	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
	East Hartford	0.3	0.5	1	Pitkin Street, East River Drive	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; milepost at off-ramp
		0.5	0.8	2	I‑84 / US 6 east – East Hartford, Boston	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; milepost at off-ramp
		0.9	1.4	2 N-E-W	2N: Governor St. – E. Hartford (SR 500) 2E: I‑84 / US 6 east – East Hartford, Boston 2W: I‑84 / US 6 west to I‑91 north – Waterbury, Springfield	Westbound exits and eastbound entrances; milepost at off-ramp
		1.0	1.6	3	Pitkin Street	Westbound exit only; milepost at off-ramp
		1.5	2.4	4	East River Drive (SR 502) To US 5 to Route 15 south / I‑91	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; milepost at Route 15 junction
		2.0	3.2	5	Riverside Drive, Willow Street (SR 516)	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		2.8– 2.9	4.5– 4.7	5A	High Street Main Street	SR 517; signed for High Street eastbound and Main Street westbound
		3.3	5.3	5B	Sutton Avenue	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		3.7	6.0	5C	Maple Street	Partial diamond interchange, eastbound exit only
		4.0	6.4	5D	Route 3 south – Glastonbury, Wethersfield	Trumpet interchange
	Glastonbury	4.7	7.6	6	Griswold St. – Glastonbury	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; no access to this exit from Route 3 entrance ramp
		5.1	8.2	7	Route 17 south – Portland, South Glastonbury
		5.6	9.0	8	Route 94 (Hebron Ave.) – Glastonbury Center
		7.1	11.4	9	Neipsic Rd. – Glastonbury	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		9.9	15.9	10	Route 83 north – East Glastonbury, Manchester	Full diamond interchange
		10.5	16.9	11	Thompson St., Wassuc Rd. – Glastonbury	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	Marlborough	13.6	21.9	12	West Road, Business Route – Marlborough	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		15.4	24.8	13	Route 66 – Willimantic, Marlborough	Full diamond interchange
		17.9	28.8	15	South Main Street – Marlborough	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
New London	Colchester	20.4	32.8	16	Route 149 / Westchester Rd. – Westchester, Moodus
		22.4	36.0	17	Business Route – Colchester	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		23.7	38.1	18	Route 16 – Colchester, Westchester
		24.4	39.3	19	Route 11 south – New London	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		25.0	40.2	20	Route 354 to Route 85 (Parum Rd.) to Route 11 south – Salem, New London	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		27.5	44.3	21	Chestnut Hill Rd. Business Route – Colchester	SR 616; signed as Chestnut Hill Road eastbound and Colchester Business Route westbound
	Lebanon	30.9	49.7	22	Scott Hill Rd. – Gilman, Lebanon	Full diamond interchange
	Bozrah	33.3	53.6	23	Route 163 / Haughton Rd. – Bozrah, Montville
	Bozrah	34.5	55.5	24	Fitchville Rd. – Fitchville	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; SR 608
	Norwich	35.9	57.8	25 27	Route 32 north – Franklin, Willimantic West Town Street – Yantic	Western end of Route 32 concurrency; SR 642; signed as exit 25 for Route 32 eastbound and exit 27 for West Town Street westbound
		36.3	58.4	27	Otrobando Ave., W. Town St. – Yantic	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; eastbound exit 27 is the same interchange as exit 25; milepost at off-ramp
		37.0	59.5	28 N-S	28N: I‑395 north – Providence, Worcester, Plainfield 28S: I‑395 / Route 2A south – New Haven, New London, Groton	Cloverleaf interchange; signed as exits 28S (I-395/Route 2A south) and 28N (I-395 north)
		37.7	60.7	29	New London Turnpike – Norwichtown	Full diamond interchange
		38.2	61.5		Route 169 north (Harland Rd.) – Taftville	End of limited-access highway; four way at-grade intersection
		39.6	63.7		Route 32 south / Route 82 – New London, Salem	East end of Route 32 concurrency
		40.2	64.7		Route 12 – Ledyard, Taftville
		40.5	65.2		Route 165 east – Preston
	Preston	43.0	69.2		Route 2A west / Route 117 south to I‑95 – Ledyard, Poquetanuck
	Preston	45.7	73.5		Route 164 north – Preston City
	Ledyard	47.3	76.1		Entrance to Foxwoods Resort Casino
	North Stonington	48.0	77.2		Route 214 west (Foxwoods Blvd.) – Ledyard Center
		51.1	82.2		Route 201 north – Ashwillet, Glasgo	North end of CT 201 concurrency
		53.3	85.8		Route 201 south – Stonington	South end of CT 201 concurrency
		54.4	87.5		Route 184 – Old Mystic, Groton, Providence
		55.3	89.0		I‑95 – Providence, New London, New Haven	I-95 Exit 92
	Stonington	56.0	90.1		Route 49 north – Sterling, Voluntown
		56.6	91.1		Route 78 – Westerly, RI, Misquamicut Beaches
		58.03	93.39		US 1 – Mystic, Stonington, Westerly, RI
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus Incomplete access