Interstate 91 in Connecticut

This article is about the section of Interstate 91 in Connecticut. For the entire route, see Interstate 91.

Interstate 91 marker

Interstate 91

Route information

Maintained by ConnDOT

Length:

58.00 mi^[1] (93.34 km)

Existed:

mid–1940s – present

Major junctions

South end:

I‑95 / Conn. Turnpike / Route 34 in New Haven

I‑691 / Route 15 / Route 66 in Meriden
Route 9 near Cromwell
I‑84 / US 6 / US 44 in Hartford
I‑291 in Windsor

US 5 in South Windsor and Enfield

North end:

I‑91 near Longmeadow, MA

Location

Counties:

New Haven, Middlesex, Hartford

Highway system

Interstate Highway System

Routes in Connecticut

←

Route 89

Route 94

→

Interstate 91 (abbreviated I-91) is a north–south Interstate Highway in the state of Connecticut. The interstate's southern end is in New Haven at Interstate 95. The highway leaves the state near Thompsonville. The Interstate passes directly through Connecticut's capital, Hartford. The route also passes through the cities of North Haven, Wethersfield, and Windsor Locks.

Route description

I-91 has an HOV Lane between Hartford and Windsor

Interstate 91 is the major north–south transportation corridor for the center of the state. It is the main route between the larger cities of New Haven, Hartford, and Springfield, Massachusetts. As such, it is almost always heavily trafficked (especially during rush hour), and maintains at least three lanes in each direction through Connecticut except for a short portion in Hartford at the interchange with Interstate 84. The three cities also serve as Connecticut's control points along its length of the Interstate. Overhead signs in each direction consistently feature one or two of the cities, although very few (if any) conventional highway mileage signs are placed along the Interstate in Connecticut that indicate the remaining distance between the cities.

The highway begins just east of downtown New Haven at the intersection with the Connecticut Turnpike Interstate 95 and Connecticut Route 34 at the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge, or Q Bridge as referred to by the locals. At the bottom of the ramp for Exit 5, U.S. Route 5 has its southern terminus and the first of its many interchanges with the freeway. Leaving New Haven, I-91 follows a northeastward trek through New Haven's suburbs of North Haven and Wallingford before entering the city of Meriden. In Meriden, about halfway between Hartford and New Haven, I-91 sees an interchange with its first spur route, Interstate 691. I-691 provides a westward link to Interstate 84 and the city of Waterbury. Leaving Meriden, I-91 travels briefly through Middletown before passing through Cromwell, Rocky Hill, and Wethersfield, eventually entering the Hartford city limits. Just south of Hartford, the highway begins to directly parallel the Connecticut River. In Hartford, I-91 interchanges with I-84 before leaving the city limits. I-91 will maintain an urban character throughout its distance to Springfield. Halfway between the two cities, Exit 40 provides direct access (via Connecticut Route 20) to the Bradley International Airport. I-91 runs through Windsor, Windsor Locks, East Windsor and Enfield (with several exits in each town) before crossing into Massachusetts at milepost 58.

I-91's final exit in Connecticut is Exit 49, which offers northbound travelers access to Longmeadow, Massachusetts, after which I-91 enters Massachusetts.

History

In the 1970s there were plans to extend I-91 across the Long Island Sound from New Haven, Connecticut to Long Island in New York. The extension would continue south to the southern shore of the island perhaps along the route of the current William Floyd Parkway in central Suffolk County. It would also provide easier access to New York City via the Long Island Expressway, as well as to The Hamptons via Sunrise Highway (New York State Route 27).

Auxiliary routes in Connecticut

	Interstate	City	Type	Notes
	Interstate 291	Hartford	Bypass route
	Interstate 691	Meriden	Bypass route

Exit list

County	Location	mi^[1]	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
New Haven	New Haven	0.00	0.00	—	I‑95 / Conn. Turnpike – N.Y. City, New London
		0.23	0.37	1	Route 34 west – Downtown New Haven	Southbound junction only
		0.64	1.03	2	Hamilton Street / Ives Place	Northbound exit is accessible only from the southbound lanes of I-95
		0.99– 1.02	1.59– 1.64	3	Trumbull Street	Yale University
		1.30	2.09	4	US 5 (State Street)	Southbound exit only (via Humphrey Street)
		1.37	2.20	5	US 5 (State Street) – Fair Haven	Northbound exit only
		1.44	2.32	6	Willow Street to Blatchley Avenue US 5	Signed for US 5 southbound
		2.15	3.46	7	Ferry Street – Fair Haven	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		2.68– 3.01	4.31– 4.84	8	Route 17 / Route 80 (Middletown Avenue) – North Branford
	North Haven	4.63– 4.79	7.45– 7.71	9	Montowese Avenue	SR 715 to Route 103
		6.26– 6.78	10.07– 10.91	10	Route 40 north – Hamden	Quinnipiac University
		7.56	12.17	11	Route 22 – North Haven	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; to US 5
		8.63– 8.79	13.89– 14.15	12	US 5 (Washington Avenue) – Wallingford, North Haven
	Wallingford	10.83– 11.08	17.43– 17.83	13	US 5 – Wallingford, North Haven	SR 702 to Wharton Brook State Park
		12.13– 13.40	19.52– 21.57	14	Route 150 (Woodhouse Ave.) (NB) East Center Street – Wallingford (SB)	East Center Street is SR 738 to Route 150
		15.71– 16.19	25.28– 26.06	15	Route 68 – Yalesville, Durham
	Meriden	18.71	30.11	16	East Main Street	Northbound junction only
		18.87– 19.74	30.37– 31.77	17	Route 15 north (Berlin Turnpike) to I‑691 / Route 66 – Newington, Meriden, Middletown Route 15 south (Wilbur Cross Parkway) – New Haven, N.Y.City	Signed for I-691 / Route 66 eastbound and Route 15 alone southbound
		19.99– 20.27	32.17– 32.62	18	Route 66 east – Middlefield, Middletown I‑691 west to Route 15 north (Berlin Turnpike) – Newington, Meriden, Waterbury	Signed for Route 66 northbound and I-691 southbound
		20.97	33.75	19	Baldwin Avenue, Preston Avenue	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
Middlesex	Middletown	22.95– 23.40	36.93– 37.66	20	Country Club Road, Middle Street
	Cromwell	25.78– 26.08	41.49– 41.97	21	Route 372 – Cromwell, Berlin
	Cromwell	26.92– 27.86	43.32– 44.84	22 N-S	N: Route 9 north – New Britain S: Route 9 south – Middletown	Split southbound into exits 22N (Berlin, New Britain) and 22S (Cromwell, Middletown)
Hartford	Rocky Hill	29.05– 29.57	46.75– 47.59	23	West Street To Route 3 – Rocky Hill	SR 411 to Dinosaur State Park
	Rocky Hill	31.66– 31.72	50.95– 51.05	24	Route 99 – Rocky Hill, Wethersfield
	Wethersfield	33.47– 33.88	53.86– 54.52	25	Route 3 – Glastonbury, Wethersfield Great Meadow Rd. – Old Wethersfield	Partial interchange; split southbound into exits 25N and 25S; access to northbound exit 26; signed for Route 3 only southbound
	Wethersfield	34.26	55.14	26	Great Meadow Rd. – Old Wethersfield	Northbound exit must use exit 25 ramp
	Hartford	35.87	57.73	27	US 5 / Route 15 south (Berlin Turnpike) – Newington, Wethersfield	South end of US 5/CT 15 overlap
		36.53	58.79	28	Airport Road to Brainard Road – Brainard Airport	Airport Road is SR 530
		36.82	59.26	29	US 5 / Route 15 north (Wilbur Cross Highway) to I‑84 / US 6 east – East Hartford	North end of US 5/CT 15 overlap
		37.57– 37.96	60.46– 61.09	29A	Whitehead Highway – Capitol Area
		38.45	61.88	30	I‑84 / US 6 / US 44 east – East Hartford, Boston	Southbound junction only
		38.45	61.88	31	State Street	Southbound junction only
		38.81	62.46	32 A-B	32A: I‑84 / US 6 west – Waterbury 32B: Trumbull St. – Downtown Hartford	Signed as exits 32A (I-84/US 6 west) and 32B (Trumbull Street)
		39.55	63.65		I‑91 north (Restricted Lanes)	Southern terminus of I-91 Restricted Lanes
		39.60– 40.05	63.73– 64.45	33	Jennings Road, Liebrt Road, Weston Street	HOV exit
	Windsor	40.98– 41.25	65.95– 66.39	34	Route 159 / N. Main St. – Windsor, Hartford
		41.63– 42.46	67.00– 68.33	35 A-B	35A: I‑291 east / Route 218 – South Windsor, Manchester, Windsor, Bloomfield	HOV exit; signed as exits 35A (I-291) and 35B (Route 218); I-291 exits 2A-B
		43.32– 43.80	69.72– 70.49	36	Route 178 (Park Ave.) – Bloomfield, Windsor
		44.29– 44.75	71.28– 72.02	37	Route 305 (Bloomfield Ave.) – Windsor Center	HOV exit
		46.03– 46.45	74.08– 74.75	38	Route 75 / Day Hill Rd. – Poquonock, Windsor	HOV exit; split southbound into exits 38A and 38B
		47.19	75.94		I‑91 south (Restricted Lanes)	Northern terminus of I-91 Restricted Lanes
		47.22	75.99	39, 41	Kennedy Road to Center Street – Windsor	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		47.81– 48.43	76.94– 77.94	40	Route 20 west – Bradley International Airport
	Windsor Locks	48.89	78.68	39, 41	Center Street – Windsor Locks	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	Windsor Locks	48.97– 49.49	78.81– 79.65	42	Route 159 – Windsor Locks, Windsor
	Connecticut River	49.58	79.79	Dexter Coffin Bridge
	East Windsor	50.21– 50.78	80.81– 81.72	44	US 5 south – East Windsor
	East Windsor	50.96– 51.19	82.01– 82.38	45	Route 140 – Warehouse Point, Ellington
	Enfield	52.82– 53.00	85.01– 85.30	46	US 5 – East Windsor, Enfield
		55.34	89.06	47 E-W	47E: Route 190 east – Hazardville, Somers 47W: Route 190 west – Suffield
		55.94– 56.26	90.03– 90.54	48	Route 220 (Elm St.) – Thompsonville, Enfield
		57.47– 57.92	92.49– 93.21	49	US 5 (Enfield St.) – Thompsonville, Longmeadow, MA
		58.00	93.34		I‑91 north – Longmeadow, Springfield	Continuation into Massachusetts
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus HOV only Incomplete access