Route 3 is a route connecting Middletown to the

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbur ...

East Hartford East Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 51,045 at the 2020 census. The town is located on the east bank of the Connecticut River, directly across from Hartford, Connecticut. It is home to aerospa ...

town line. It passes through the towns of Cromwell, Rocky Hill, Wethersfield, and Glastonbury. The northernmost of Route 3 is an expressway that was originally intended for the cancelled Interstate 491.

Route description

Route 3 begins at Route 66 in Middletown, and is a secondary, minor arterial road for its first up to its interchange with Interstate 91 in Wethersfield. After crossing into

Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

, 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 SR 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 International * European route E99 Australia * Springbrook Road, Queensland Canada * British Columbia Highway 99 * Ontario Highway 99 (former) * Saskatchewan Highway 99 China * G99 Expressway India * National Highway 99 (India) ...

. After the Silas Deane Highway (Route 99) intersection, it becomes a

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

for the last . After a partial interchange with Interstate 91 (no direct access to I-91 South from Route 3 North), it 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 Islan ...

on the

William H. Putnam Memorial Bridge The Putnam Bridge is a bridge in the state of Connecticut carrying the Route 3 (Connecticut), Route 3 Expressway over the Connecticut River, connecting Interstate 91 in Wethersfield, Connecticut, Wethersfield and Route 2 (Connecticut), Route 2 in ...

into

. 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

town line. The last 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

, which was part of Route 72 at the time (now Route 372), to the

Silas Deane Silas Deane (September 23, 1789) was an American merchant, politician, and diplomat, and a supporter of American independence. Deane served as a delegate to the Continental Congress, where he signed the Continental Association, and then became the ...

Highway ( Route 99) in Wethersfield.

1958-1973 (I-491)

In late 1958, as part of the planned Interstate 491 (a southeastern bypass of

Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...

), a freeway from I-91 to Main Street in Glastonbury, crossing the

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.''

References

Connecticut State Highway Log (2006)

External links

{{I-91 aux 003 Transportation in Hartford County, Connecticut Transportation in Middlesex County, Connecticut Middletown, Connecticut Cromwell, Connecticut Rocky Hill, Connecticut Wethersfield, Connecticut Glastonbury, Connecticut