Connecticut Route 3
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 a freeway that was originally intended for the cancelled Interstate 491.
Route 3 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by CTDOT | ||||
| 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 | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Connecticut | |||
| Counties | Middlesex, Hartford | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
| ||||
| ||||
Route description
Route 3 begins at Route 66 in Middletown, and is a secondary, minor arterial road for its first 11 miles (18 km) up to its interchange with Interstate 91 in Wethersfield. After crossing into Cromwell, it intersects Route 372, which offers access to Route 9 just east of the intersection. After overpassing Route 9, it continues north into Rocky Hill and overpasses Interstate 91 without an interchange (access is via West Street [SSR 411]). After a brief concurrency with Route 160, it crosses into Wethersfield, where it meets the eastern end of Route 287 and crosses over Route 99. After the Silas Deane Highway (Route 99) intersection, it becomes a freeway for the last 3.5 miles (5.6 km). After a partial interchange with Interstate 91 (no direct access to I-91 South from Route 3 North), it crosses the Connecticut River on the William H. Putnam Memorial Bridge into Glastonbury. The freeway has one exit for Main Street (via Glastonbury Boulevard northbound and Putnam Boulevard southbound) before ending at a trumpet interchange with the Route 2 freeway at the East Hartford town line. The last 0.75 miles (1.21 km) of Route 3 is the merging ramp from Route 3 northbound to Route 2 westbound.
History
1941
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.
1958-1973 (I-491)
Interstate 491 | |
|---|---|
| Location | Hartford, Connecticut |
| Existed | 1958–1973 |
In late 1958, as part of the planned Interstate 491 (a southeastern bypass of Hartford), a freeway from I-91 to Main Street in Glastonbury, 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 the late 1980s, the freeway was extended so that it terminated at Route 2, rather than at Main Street.
1991
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.
Major intersections
As part of an upcoming sign replacement project on CT Route 3 between I-91 and CT Route 2, new mile-based exit numbers will be added along that stretch of freeway.
| County | Location | mi | km | Exit | 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 |  West Street (SSR 411) to I-91 – Hartford, New Haven, Dinosaur State Park | ||
| 7.21 | 11.60 |   Route 160 east – Rocky Hill | Southern terminus of Route 160 concurrency | |||
| 7.40 | 11.91 |  Route 160 west – Berlin | Northern terminus of Route 160 concurrency | |||
| Wethersfield | 10.21 | 16.43 |  Route 287 west – Newington | |||
| 10.37 | 16.69 |  Route 99 – Hartford, Rocky Hill | ||||
| 10.99 | 17.69 | Southern end of freeway section | ||||
| 11.31 | 18.20 | 11 | I-91 – Hartford, New Haven | No northbound access to I-91 south; signed as exits 11A (south) and 11B (north) | ||
| Connecticut River | 11.63– 12.09 | 18.72– 19.46 | Putnam Bridge | |||
| Glastonbury | 12.96– 13.27 | 20.86– 21.36 | 13A | Main Street – Glastonbury | Signed as exit 13 southbound; Access via Glastonbury Boulevard northbound, Putnam Boulevard southbound | |
| 13.51– 14.48 | 21.74– 23.30 | 13B-C | Route 2 – East Hartford, Norwich | Trumpet interchange; signed as exits 13B (west) and 13C (east); exit 4A on Route 2 | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
| ||||||
External links
| ||
1Former | ||