Connecticut Route 3

"CT 3" redirects here. For the congressional district, see Connecticut's 3rd congressional district.

For the Route 3 that existed in the 1920s, see U.S. Route 6 (Connecticut).

Route 3
Route information
Maintained by ConnDOT
Length:	14.48 mi (23.30 km)
Existed:	1941 (extended 1991) – present
Major junctions
South end:	Route 66 in Middletown
	I-91 in Wethersfield
North end:	Route 2 at the Glastonbury-East Hartford town line
Highway system
Routes in Connecticut Special Service Roads • State Roads ← Route 2A Route 4 →

Route 3 is a 14.48-mile (23.30 km) long route connecting Middletown to the Glastonbury-East Hartford town line. It passes through the towns of Cromwell, Rocky Hill, Wethersfield, and Glastonbury. The northernmost 3 miles (4.8 km) 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. It is a secondary, minor arterial road from Middletown up to its interchange with Interstate 91 in Wethersfield. It crosses, but does not have a direct interchange with the Route 9 freeway in Cromwell (access is via Route 372) and with Interstate 91 in Rocky Hill. The last 3.5 miles (5.6 km) of Route 3 from the Interstate 91 interchange in Wethersfield to East Hartford is freeway. Then Route 3 freeway crosses the Connecticut River on the William H. Putnam Memorial Bridge from Wethersfield into Glastonbury. The freeway has one intermediate exit into Glastonbury. Route 3 ends at an interchange with the Route 2 freeway just after crossing into East Hartford. The last 0.75 miles (1.21 km) of Route 3 is the merging ramp from Route 3 northbound to Route 2 westbound.

Special designations

Route 3 through the town of Rocky Hill is also known as the Disabled American Veterans Memorial Highway.

History

Route 3 was established in 1941. It originally ran from West Street/Berlin Road in Cromwell, which was part of Route 72 at the time (now Route 372), to the Silas Deane Highway (Route 99) in Wethersfield.

In late 1958, as part of the planned Interstate 491 (a southeastern bypass of Hartford), a freeway from I-91 to Route 2, crossing the Connecticut River 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 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.

Junction list

Town	Mile	Destinations	Notes
Middletown	0.00	Route 66
Cromwell	3.37	Route 372 to Route 9
Rocky Hill	6.59	SSR 411 (West St) To I-91
	7.40	Route 160
Wethersfield	10.21	Route 287
	10.37	Route 99
	10.99	Elm Street	At-grade intersection Begin Expressway
	11.28	I-91 – Hartford, New Haven	No direct access Route 3 North to I-91 South
	Putnam Bridge (Connecticut River crossing)
Glastonbury	13.1	Main Street – Glastonbury
	13.68	Route 2 – East Hartford, Colchester

References

• Connecticut State Highway Log (2006)
• kurumi.com - Route 3
• kurumi.com - I-491