The Berlin Turnpike is a 4-lane/6-lane divided

arterial road An arterial road or arterial thoroughfare is a high-capacity urban road that sits below freeways/motorways on the road hierarchy in terms of traffic flow and speed. The primary function of an arterial road is to deliver traffic from collector ro ...

mostly carrying

U.S. Route 5 U.S. Route 5 (US 5) is a north–south United States highway running through the New England states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont. Significant cities along the route include New Haven, Connecticut; Hartford, Connecticut; and Springfi ...

(US 5) and Route 15 in

New Haven County New Haven County is a county in the south central part of the U.S. state of Connecticut. As of the 2020 census, the population was 864,835, making it the third-most populous county in Connecticut. Two of the state's top 5 largest cities, New ...

and

Hartford County Hartford County is a county located in the north central part of the U.S. state of Connecticut. According to the 2020 census, the population was 899,498, making it the second-most populous county in Connecticut. Hartford County contains the ...

in the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

state of

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. The road begins one mile south of the Meriden-

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

town line where Route 15 on the

Wilbur Cross Parkway The Wilbur Cross Parkway (also known locally as "The Merritt" in conjunction with its counterpart) is a limited access road in Connecticut, comprising the portion of Route 15 between Milford and Meriden. It is named after Wilbur Lucius Cross, ...

merges with US 5 along North Broad Street in Meriden and terminates at the Hartford city line. The local name of the street varies as it passes through multiple towns. south of the Hartford city line, US 5 and Route 15 leave the turnpike and follow the

Wilbur Cross Highway The Wilbur Cross Highway is the designation for a highway beginning at Wethersfield, running along a portion of Connecticut Route 15 and U.S. Route 5 to East Hartford, Connecticut, and then continuing northeast as a section of Interstate ...

northeast through Hartford towards the

Charter Oak Bridge The Charter Oak Bridge is one of the three highway bridges over the Connecticut River in Hartford, Connecticut. The twin steel stringer bridge carries the Wilbur Cross Highway ( Route 15/U.S. Route 5) over the river, connecting downtown Hartford ...

. The Berlin Turnpike continues north as part of Route 314 for , and then as the unsigned State Road 543 for before entering Hartford as the municipally-maintained Maple Avenue.

Route description

The Berlin Turnpike begins at a fork interchange between Route 15, which continues south as the limited-access

, and US 5, which continues south as a local road named Broad Street. The turnpike is the only segment of Route 15 that is not limited-access, as it has multiple

at-grade intersection An intersection or an at-grade junction is a junction where two or more roads converge, diverge, meet or cross at the same height, as opposed to an interchange, which uses bridges or tunnels to separate different roads. Major intersections a ...

s, some with traffic lights, as well as businesses on both sides of the road. The turnpike has grade-separated interchange with Route 9 and Route 372 in

, as well as Route 175 on the border between Newington and Wethersfield. In Wethersfield, US 5 and Route 15 leave the turnpike for the

heading towards Hartford. This is the western terminus of Route 314, which takes a right turn onto Jordan Lane soon after to actually proceed in the eastbound direction. From Jordan Lane to the city line, the turnpike is unsigned SR 543. At the city line, the road becomes Maple Avenue and continues north towards Downtown Hartford.

History

The Hartford and New Haven Turnpike was a

toll road A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or ''toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented ...

chartered in 1798 and built in 1798-99 to connect the cities of

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

and Hartford in the U.S. state of

. The turnpike was built to connect the

courthouse A courthouse or court house is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English-spe ...

s of New Haven and Hartford in as straight of a route as allowed by the terrain. Its southern terminus was at Grove Street, which forms the northern boundary of the original nine squares of New Haven. The road's straight line principle caused several intermediate town centers to be bypassed. Since the turnpike's original construction, the roadway has been realigned and substantially widened to become the Berlin Turnpike that it is today — a major commercial thoroughfare. Many parts of the original alignment are maintained as local roads or unsigned state roads.

Speeding issues

The long straight trajectory of the Berlin Turnpike has allowed it to become prone to excessive speeding and deadly accidents. In June 2007, a driver was clocked driving at a speed of , despite a posted speed limit of .

Major intersections

References

External links

{{Portal, Connecticut
Kurumi's Berlin Turnpike page
B Transportation in Hartford County, Connecticut U.S. Route 5