New England Interstate Route 32
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|---|---|
| Route information | |
| Length: |
129.64 mi (208.64 km) Connecticut: 54.88[1] mi (87.36 km) Massachusetts: 66.98[2] mi (97.66 km) New Hampshire: 14.11 mi[3] (196.74 km) |
| Existed: | 1922 – present |
| Major junctions | |
| South end: |
 Route 1 in Groton, CT |
  Route 12 Route 17 in Norwich, CT Route 3 in Willimantic, CT Route 5 in Palmer, MA Route 7 in Athol, MA Route 7 in Phillipston, MA Route 12 in Winchendon, MA Route 9 in Hillsboro, NH Route 9 & Route 32A in Henniker, NH Route 32A in Bradford, NH Route 11 in Sunapee, NH | |
| North end: |
 Route 10 Route 11 in Newport, NH |
| Highway system | |
| New England road marking system | |
Route 32 is a multi-state north–south state highway in the New England region of the United States, running from New London, Connecticut through Massachusetts to Keene, New Hampshire. Its number dates from 1922, when it was a New England Interstate Route, also known as the Lake Sunapee Route. (The original route used to end near Lake Sunapee). The New Hampshire segment of the old New England route was completely deleted and the number was reassigned to a much shorter, completely unrelated route.
Route description
Connecticut
Connecticut Route 32 begins in New London and runs north to Norwich along the west bank of the Thames River. North of Norwich, it heads northwest going through Willimantic and Stafford before entering Massachusetts.
Massachusetts
Massachusetts Route 32 begins at the Connecticut state line in Monson. It crosses the Fays Bridge over the Quaboag River into Palmer, where it has junctions with both U.S. Route 20 and the Massachusetts Turnpike. From Palmer, it continues north through Ware, before crossing for short lengths through West Brookfield and back into a small segment of Ware, then through a very short segment of New Braintree before continuing through Hardwick in the village of Gilbertville, Barre, and Petersham before crossing U.S. Route 202 and Route 2 in Athol. In Athol it passes the former northern terminus of Route 21 during a concurrency with Route 2A. After splitting from route 2A, the route then goes through the western part of Royalston and continues into New Hampshire.
New Hampshire
New England Route 32 followed US 202, NH 114, and NH 103 to the routes original northern terminus at New England Route 10 in Newport. The modern NH 32 was never part of the interstate route.
History
New England Route 32 has had many major realignments particularly in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. In New Hampshire, the current route has actually no relation to the original New England route.
In 1932, Route 32 swapped places with Route 12 south of Norwich, Connecticut. The original route began in Groton instead of its current southern terminus in New London. In northern Connecticut, the alignment was also shifted west by several miles, entering Massachusetts at Monson instead of at Wales. The old alignment is now Route 19.
From Connecticut, the original New England route entered Wales, Massachusetts on what is now Route 19. It followed Route 19 into Brimfield, then west along current U.S. Route 20 until Palmer. The portion between Palmer and Athol more or less still follows the original route with only minor alignment changes. North of Athol, the old route went along current US 202 up to the New Hampshire state line.
In New Hampshire, the old New England Route was completely deleted sometime in the 1930s. The current alignment in New Hampshire was established later as a continuation of modern Route 32 from the Massachusetts line and is unrelated to the original route. The original route continued from the state line to Henniker along US 202, then along NH 114 to Bradford, and finally along NH 103 to its original Newport terminus west of Lake Sunapee at New England Route 10.
New England Interstate Route 32A
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| Location: | Henniker-Bradford, New Hampshire |
| Length: | 27 mi (43 km) |
New England Interstate Route 32A was an alternate route of the 1920s New England Route 32 in New Hampshire, between the towns of Henniker and Bradford. The main route went directly between the two towns along the Henniker-Bradford Road. Route 32A used a more circuitous route, first heading east from Henniker to Hopkinton then north through Warner, then west to meet up with the main route again in Bradford. Route 32A was about 27 miles (43 km) long. The current designations of old Route 32A are:
New Hampshire decommissioned its New England Route 32 (and 32A) in the early 1930s.