Connecticut Route 2
| Route 2 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by ConnDOT | ||||
| Length: | 58.03 mi (93.39 km) | |||
| Existed: | 1932 – present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end: | Columbus Boulevard in Hartford | |||
| East end: | ||||
| Highway system | ||||
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Routes in Connecticut
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Route 2 is a state highway in Connecticut and is 58.03 miles (93.39 km) in length. It is a primary state route, with a freeway section connecting Hartford to Norwich and a non-freeway section extending to Stonington.
Contents |
[edit] Route description
Route 2 begins as a continuation of State Street (just east of Columbus Blvd) near Interstate 91 in downtown Hartford. It starts out heading east toward East Hartford. Route 2 then crosses the Connecticut River on the Founders Bridge and has a partial interchange with I-91 at the crossing. Immediately after crossing into East Hartford, there is a complex interchange with Interstate 84. Immediately after this interchange, Route 2 heads southeast in the direction of Glastonbury. There is a partial interchange with Route 15 about 0.75 miles (1.21 km) further. After East Hartford, Route 2 enters Glastonbury. At the East Hartford-Glastonbury town line, there is a full trumpet interchange with Route 3. About 1 mile (1.6 km) after this interchange, there is a partial interchange with Route 17. From Glastonbury, Route 2 passes into Marlborough. It continues into Colchester. In Colchester, Route 2 has a partial interchange with Route 11. After this interchange, Route 2 curves and heads east toward Norwich. Once Route 2 leaves Colchester, it passes through the towns of Lebanon and Bozrah. After Bozrah, Route 2 enters Norwich. Just after entering Norwich, Route 32 joins Route 2. Then, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) down Route 2, there is a partial cloverleaf interchange with Interstate 395. About 1.75 miles (2.82 km) further east from the I-395 interchange, the freeway section of Route 2 ends at a four-way at-grade intersection with Town Street, Harland Road (Route 169), and Washington Street (Route 32/Route 2). Route 32 then separates in downtown Norwich after overlapping with Route 2 for 3.9 miles (6.3 km), following the west bank of the Thames River. Route 2 continues southeast from Norwich into Preston, and then into Ledyard. Just after entering Ledyard, Route 2 passes by the Mashantucket Pequot Reservation and then the Foxwoods Resort Casino. After passing through Ledyard, Route 2 continues into North Stonington. There is a roundabout with Route 184 and a partial interchange with Interstate 95 here. After leaving North Stonington, Route 2 heads into Stonington. Here, Route 2 is reduced to a minor arterial road. It has an interchange with Route 78 and terminates about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) later at the junction with US 1 just west of the Rhode Island state line.[1]
Several Connecticut freeways terminate at Route 2. Route 3 ends at Route 2 near the East Hartford-Glastonbury town line, Route 17 ends at Route 2 in Glastonbury, and Route 11 ends at Route 2 in Colchester. Route 78 also ends at Route 2, in Stonington. It is unusual that Route 78 intersects Route 2 where it is not a freeway.
[edit] Special designations
The entire length of Route 2 is also known as the Veterans of Foreign Wars Memorial Highway.[1]
[edit] History
Two early toll roads, the Hartford and New London Turnpike and the Colchester and Norwich Turnpike, followed the alignment of current Route 2 in the 1800s. In 1922, The New England Interstate system incorporated the future Route 2 alignment as Route 17. Upon the discontinuation of the New England routes in the 1932 state highway renumbering, the eastern half of old New England Route 17 was renumbered to Route 2. The western half of old New England Route 17 eventually formed part of U.S. Route 44.[2][3]
Freeway construction along the Route 2 alignment started in the 1950s and continued through the 1960s and early 1970s. The oldest freeway segment, between exits 5A and 7, opened in 1952; the latest segment, between exits 20 and 22, opened in 1971. The state still maintains some segments of the older, non-freeway alignment, but does not sign these segments as state routes. The state remanded the remaining non-freeway segments to town jurisdiction.[3]
[edit] Junction list
| Location | Mile | Exit | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hartford | 0.0 | Columbus Boulevard | Western terminus of Route 2; at-grade intersection; road continues as State Street | |
| 0.1 | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance | |||
| East Hartford | 0.3 | 1 | Pitkin Street, East River Drive | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; milepost at off-ramp |
| 0.5 | 2 | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; milepost at off-ramp | ||
| 0.9 | 2N, 2E, 2W | 2N: East Hartford (SR 500) 2E: 2W: |
Westbound exits and eastbound entrances; milepost at off-ramp | |
| 1.0 | 3 | Pitkin Street | Westbound exit only; milepost at off-ramp | |
| 1.5 | 4 | East River Drive (SR 502) |
Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; milepost at Route 15 junction | |
| 2.0 | 5 | Willow Street (SR 516) | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance | |
| 2.8– 2.9 |
5A | High Street Main Street |
SR 517; signed for High Street eastbound and Main Street westbound | |
| 3.3 | 5B | Sutton Avenue | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance | |
| 3.7 | 5C | Maple Street | Partial diamond interchange, eastbound exit only | |
| 4.0 | 5D | Trumpet interchange | ||
| Glastonbury | 4.7 | 6 | Griswold Street | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; no access to this exit from Route 3 entrance ramp |
| 5.1 | 7 | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance | ||
| 5.6 | 8 | Westbound entrance and eastbound entrance | ||
| 7.1 | 9 | Neipsic Road | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance | |
| 9.9 | 10 | Full diamond interchange | ||
| 11 | Thompson Street, Wassuc Road | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance | ||
| Marlborough | 13.6 | 12 | West Road, Marlborough Business Route | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance |
| 15.4 | 13 | Full diamond interchange | ||
| 17.9 | 15 | South Main Street – Marlborough | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance | |
| Colchester | 20.4 | 16 | ||
| 22.4 | 17 | Colchester Business Route | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance | |
| 23.7 | 18 | |||
| 24.4 | 19 | |||
| 25.0 | 20 | |||
| 21 | Chestnut Hill Road Colchester Business Route |
SR 616; signed as Chest Hill Road eastbound and the Colchester Business Route westbound | ||
| Lebanon | 30.9 | 22 | Standish Road, Lebanon | Full diamond interchange |
| Bozrah | 33.3 | 23 | ||
| 34.5 | 24 | Fitchville Rd. – Fitchville | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; SR 608 | |
| Norwich | 35.9 | 25 27 |
West Town Street – Yantic |
Western end of Route 32concurrency; SR 642; signed as exit 25 for Route 32 eastbound and exit 27 for West Town Street westbound |
| 36.3 | 27 | Otrobando Avenue / West Town Street, Yantic | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; eastbound exit 27 is the same interchange as exit 25; milepost at off-ramp | |
| 37.0 | 28 | Partial cloverleaf interchange; signed as exits 28S (I-395/Route 2A south) and 28N (I-395 north) | ||
| 37.7 | 29 | New London Turnpike, Norwichtown | Full diamond interchange | |
| 38.2 | End of freeway; four way at-grade intersection | |||
| 39.6 | East end of Route 32 concurrency | |||
| 40.2 | ||||
| 40.5 | ||||
| Preston | 43.0 | |||
| 45.7 | ||||
| Ledyard | 47.3 | Entrance to Foxwoods Resort Casino | ||
| North Stonington | 48.0 | |||
| 51.1 | ||||
| 54.4 | ||||
| 55.3 | ||||
| Stonington | 56.0 | |||
| 56.6 | ||||
| 58.0 | ||||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | ||||
[edit] References
- ^ a b Connecticut State Highway Log (2006)
- ^ F.J. Wood, The Turnpikes of New England, (Marshall Jones, 1919)
- ^ a b nycroads.com - CT Route 2
Coordinates: 41°36′19″N 72°25′19″W / 41.605175°N 72.421875°W