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 84, part of which is also cosigned as
U.S. Route 6. The highway ends at a junction with the tolled
Massachusetts Turnpike in
Sturbridge, Massachusetts
Sturbridge is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. It is home to Old Sturbridge Village living history museum and other sites of historical interest such as Tantiusques.
The population was 9,867 at the 2020 census, with mo ...
. The entire route was formerly signed as Route 15.
Route description
Route 15 and U.S. Route 5
The Wilbur Cross Highway begins as a Y-interchange with the
Berlin Turnpike
The Berlin Turnpike is a 4-lane/6-lane divided arterial road mostly carrying U.S. Route 5 (US 5) and Route 15 in New Haven County and Hartford County in the U.S. state of Connecticut. The road begins one mile south of the Meriden-Berlin town l ...
in Wethersfield. South of here, Route 15 and U.S. Route 5 (US 5) continue south along the turnpike. The highway proceeds in a northeasterly direction and has an interchange with
Route 99
International
* European route E99
Australia
* Springbrook Road, Springbrook Road, Queensland
Canada
* British Columbia Highway 99
* Ontario Highway 99 (former)
* Saskatchewan Highway 99
China
* G99 Taiwan Ring Expressway, G99 Expressway
...
(Old
Route 9) before entering
Hartford and reaching interchanges with
Interstate 91 (I-91) and the
Hartford–Brainard Airport access road. The highway then crosses the
Connecticut River
The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Island ...
by way of 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 w ...
, curving to a more east-west direction, before merging into the median of
I-84 in
East Hartford.
Interstate 84
US 6 is cosigned with I-84 on the Wilbur Cross Highway from exit 57 in East Hartford to exit 60 in
Manchester.
History
The highway was built in the 1940s, before the
Interstate Highway
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...
era, as a continuation of the
Wilbur Cross Parkway, which itself is a continuation of the
Merritt Parkway – all of which were once signed Route 15. Originally, the parkways were to span continuously from Greenwich to Union, but with the opening of
Interstate 91, the planned segment between Meriden and Hartford was never built, and
Route 15 was instead routed along the
Berlin Turnpike
The Berlin Turnpike is a 4-lane/6-lane divided arterial road mostly carrying U.S. Route 5 (US 5) and Route 15 in New Haven County and Hartford County in the U.S. state of Connecticut. The road begins one mile south of the Meriden-Berlin town l ...
.
In 1958, the highway north of 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 w ...
was cosigned as
I-84, as part of the interstate highway's planned route through Connecticut. In 1968, this designation was moved to a proposed highway from Hartford to
Providence
Providence often refers to:
* Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion
* Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity
* Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...
, and the then-cosigned portion with Route 15 was renumbered to
I-86. The Route 15 designation remained cosigned with I-86 section south of the Massachusetts border until October 1, 1980, when it was truncated to its current northern terminus at exit 57 of I-84. The I-84 designation was restored in 1984 when the planned highway to Providence was cancelled.
From 1948 to 1982,
US 44
U.S. Route 44 (US 44) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that runs for through four states in the Northeastern United States. The western terminus is at US 209 and New York State Route 55 (NY 55) in Kerhonkson, ...
was signed along the highway from current exit 60 to current exit 69.
Charter Oak Bridge
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 w ...
, which carries the highway across the
Connecticut River
The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges at Long Island ...
, has been operational since 1942. Due to the bridge's failing condition and the clogging on the nearby
Bissell
Bissell Inc., also known as Bissell Homecare, is an American privately owned vacuum cleaner and floor care product manufacturing corporation headquartered in Walker, Michigan in Greater Grand Rapids.[Founders Bridge
The Founders Bridge is one of the three highway bridges over the Connecticut River in Hartford, Connecticut. The steel stringer bridge carries the Route 2 expressway, and also crosses over Interstate 91 (which runs parallel to the river). the ...]
s in the late 1980s, the Charter Oak Bridge and approach was completely rebuilt in 1991 to its current form.
Exit list
Exit numbers correspond to those of
Route 15 and
Interstate 84. Old exit numbers correspond to when the I-84 was signed as Route 15.
References
{{Attached KML
State highways in Connecticut
Interstate 84 (Pennsylvania–Massachusetts)
Transportation in Hartford County, Connecticut