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Revision as of 23:50, 30 March 2006

The Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT) maintains a system of state highways to serve the predominant flow of traffic between towns within Connecticut, and to towns in surrounding states. State highways also include roads that provide access to federal and state facilities (Special Service Roads). The state highway system consists of roads indicated on the official ConnDOT map and highway log. As of January 1, 2005, the state highway system contains a total of 3,721 miles of roads (not including ramps and interchange connections), corresponding to approximately 20% of all roads in the state. All state highways are state-maintained except for several segments (totaling 4 miles) that are locally maintained. All interstate highways and U.S. highways in the state are part of the state highway system.

All state highways are given a number designation. Most state highways are assigned Route numbers (including U.S. highways and interstates). Route numbers are in the 1-399 range, with the exception of Interstates 684 and 691. State highways that are special service roads are assigned SSR numbers and are unsigned. SSR numbers are in the 400-499 range. Another set of unsigned state highways are called State Roads and are given SR numbers. These state roads are either feeder roads that interconnect state highways together, or long entry/exit ramps to freeways (often called connector roads). SR numbers are in the 500-999 range. Signposted state highways that are not U.S. highways or interstates are signed with the square Connecticut state highway shield.

History

1913 trunk line system

In 1900, the State Highway Department proposed a statewide system of trunk line routes. By 1913, the system consisted of 10 north-south highways and 4 east-west highways, including the lower Boston Post Road. The system convered roughly 1400 miles. The 14 trunk lines were numbered on paper but were never actually signposted.

New England Interstate Routes

The first public route numbering came with the advent of the New England Interstate Highways in 1922. This highway numbering system was used throughout New England and consisted of 32 routes. 9 of the routes passed through Connecticut. In this system, interstate routes would be numbered 1-99 and state routes numbered 100 and up. The New England Interstate route system was soon eclipsed by the national U.S. highway system.

U.S. Highways

In 1926, the U.S. highway system was implemented. U.S. Routes 1, 5, 6, and 7 were used as designations on several primary state highways, replacing New England routes 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. The other New England routes that were not re-designated as U.S. routes became ordinary state highways but kept their number designation, which are used even today (with some realignment).

1922-1931

The State Highway Department classified state roads as either State Highways (SH) or State Aid Roads (SA). These roads were given number designations -- 100-299 for primary routes and 300+ for secondary routes. Some state roads were signposted and some were not.

1932 renumbering

The state abandoned its old numbering system and renumbered almost all of their state highways in 1932. Most of the present route numbers were formed during this renumbering. The only route numbers that survived were U.S. Routes and a few state highway routes. Shortly after the renumbering, in 1935, two new U.S. Routes were commissioned: US 44 (taking over part of New England Route 17) and US 202.

Interstate highways

In 1958, Connecticut received approval for the route numbers of its three primary Interstate highways: I-84, I-91, and I-95. State highways with the same number designation as the Interstate highways were renumbered to avoid duplication of route numbers.

1963 renumbering

In 1963, the state passed the Road Reclassification Act to fix the by now fragmented state highway system. Many state highways had state maintenance gaps and several highway segments were even isolated from the rest of the system. State highways were classified into primary, secondary, and service roads. Primary routes were essentially left unchanged, while minor realignments, additions/deletions, and extensions occurred in many secondary routes. About 1/3 of all routes were changed to some degree by this renumbering. The current system of unsigned ("secret") routes, including the special service roads, was also created during this renumbering. The state highway system has not had any major changes since then.

List of state routes

Below is a list of current state highways in Connecticut:

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items.

Routes 1-99

• U.S. Route 1/1A
• Route 2/2A
• Route 3
• Route 4
• U.S. Route 5
• U.S. Route 6
• U.S. Route 7
• Route 8
• Route 9
• Route 10
• Route 11
• Route 12
• Route 14/14A
• Route 15
• Route 16
• Route 17/17A
• Route 19
• Route 20
• Route 21
• Route 22
• Route 25
• Route 27
• Route 30
• Route 31
• Route 32
• Route 33
• Route 34 -- (See also: Oak Street Connector)
• Route 35
• Route 37
• Route 39
• Route 40
• Route 41
• Route 42
• Route 43
• U.S. Route 44
• Route 45
• Route 47
• Route 49
• Route 53
• Route 55
• Route 57
• Route 58
• Route 59
• Route 61
• Route 63
• Route 64
• Route 66, originally Alternate US-6
• Route 67
• Route 68
• Route 69
• Route 70
• Route 71/71A
• Route 72
• Route 73
• Route 74
• Route 75
• Route 77
• Route 78
• Route 79
• Route 80
• Route 81
• Route 82
• Route 83
• Route 85
• Route 87
• Route 89
• Route 94
• Route 97
• Route 99

Routes 100-199

• Route 100
• Route 101
• Route 102
• Route 103
• Route 104
• Route 105
• Route 106
• Route 107
• Route 108
• Route 109
• Route 110
• Route 111
• Route 112
• Route 113
• Route 114
• Route 115
• Route 116
• Route 117
• Route 118
• Route 120
• Route 121
• Route 122
• Route 123
• Route 124
• Route 125
• Route 126
• Route 127
• Route 128
• Route 130
• Route 131
• Route 132
• Route 133
• Route 134
• Route 135
• Route 136
• Route 137
• Route 138
• Route 139
• Route 140
• Route 145
• Route 146
• Route 147
• Route 148
• Route 149
• Route 150
• Route 151
• Route 152
• Route 153
• Route 154
• Route 155
• Route 156
• Route 157
• Route 159
• Route 160
• Route 161
• Route 162
• Route 163
• Route 164
• Route 165
• Route 166
• Route 167
• Route 168
• Route 169
• Route 171
• Route 172
• Route 173
• Route 174
• Route 175
• Route 176
• Route 177
• Route 178
• Route 179
• Route 181
• Route 182/182A
• Route 183
• Route 184
• Route 185
• Route 186
• Route 187
• Route 188
• Route 189
• Route 190
• Route 191
• Route 192
• Route 193
• Route 194
• Route 195
• Route 196
• Route 197
• Route 198
• Route 199

Routes 200-299

• Route 200
• Route 201
• U.S. Route 202
• Route 203
• Route 205
• Route 207
• Route 209
• Route 213
• Route 214
• Route 215
• Route 216
• Route 217
• Route 218
• Route 219
• Route 220
• Route 222
• Route 229
• Route 234
• Route 243
• Route 244
• Route 254
• Route 262
• Route 263
• Route 272
• Route 275
• Route 286
• Route 287
• Route 289

Routes 300-399

• Route 302
• Route 305
• Route 309
• Route 313
• Route 314
• Route 315
• Route 316
• Route 317
• Route 318
• Route 319
• Route 320
• Route 322
• Route 334
• Route 337
• Route 341
• Route 343
• Route 349
• Route 354
• Route 361
• Route 364
• Route 372

Interstate highways

• Interstate 84
  • Interstate 384
  • Interstate 684 -- 1.41 miles in Connecticut; maintained by the state of New York
• Interstate 91
  • Interstate 291
  • Interstate 691
• Interstate 95
  • Interstate 395

Special Service Roads 400-499

• Special Service Road 401 (Bradley International Airport Connector)

State Roads 500-999

• State Road 598 (Whitehead Highway)
• State Road 695 (Connecticut Turnpike eastern end)
• State Road 732 (Black Rock Turnpike)

External links

• CT State Highway Endpoint Photos
• Routes Page by Kurumi
• Connecticut State Numbered Routes and Roads as of December 31, 2004 (PDF)

• Lists of roads
• Connecticut state highways