Connecticut Route 3

Route 3
Route information
Maintained by ConnDOT
Length:	14.48 mi (23.30 km)
Existed:	1941 (extended 1991) – present
Major junctions
South end:	Route 66 in Middletown
	I‑91 in Wethersfield
North end:	Route 2 at the Glastonbury-East Hartford town line
Location
Counties:	Middlesex, Hartford
Highway system
Routes in Connecticut Interstate U.S. State Special Service Roads ← Route 2A Route 4 → ← I‑484 I‑684 →

Route 3 is a 14.48-mile-long (23.30 km) route connecting Middletown to the Glastonbury-East Hartford town line. It passes through the towns of Cromwell, Rocky Hill, Wethersfield, and Glastonbury. The northernmost 3 miles (4.8 km) of Route 3 is an expressway that was originally intended for the cancelled Interstate 491.

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 (5.6 km) of Route 3 from the Interstate 91 interchange in Wethersfield to East Hartford is freeway. Then 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 (1.21 km) of Route 3 is the merging ramp from Route 3 northbound to Route 2 westbound.

History

Route 3 was established in 1941. It originally ran from West Street/Berlin Road in Cromwell, which was part of 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.

Junction list

County	Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
Middlesex	Middletown	0.00	0.00	Route 66 – Middletown, Portland, Meriden
	Cromwell	3.37	5.42	Route 372 to Route 9 – Middletown, Cromwell, Hartford, Berlin, New Britain
Hartford	Rocky Hill	6.59	10.61	To I‑91 / SSR 411 (West St) – Hartford, New Haven, Dinosaur State Park
		7.40	11.91	Route 160 east – Rocky Hill	Eastern end of Route 160 overlap
		8.11	13.05	Route 160 west – Berlin	Western end of Route 160 overlap
	Wethersfield	10.21	16.43	Route 287 west – Newington
		10.37	16.69	Route 99 – Hartford, Rocky Hill
		10.99	17.69	Elm Street	At-grade intersection, Begin Expressway
		11.28	18.15	I‑91 – Hartford, New Haven	No direct access Route 3 North to I-91 South
	Connecticut River	12.71	20.45	Putnam Bridge
	Glastonbury	13.19	21.23	Main Street – Glastonbury
		13.68	22.02	Route 2 – East Hartford, Norwich	Route 2 exit 5D, trumpet interchange
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

References

• Connecticut State Highway Log (2006)
• kurumi.com - Route 3
• kurumi.com - I-491

External links

Route map: Bing

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Connecticut Route 3.