New England Interstate Route 10

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Route 10
Length:	237.22 mi (381.78 km) Connecticut: 54.28[1] mi (87.36 km) Massachusetts: 60.69[2] mi (97.68 km) New Hampshire: 122.25 mi [3] (196.74 km)
Formed:	1922
South end:	I-95 in New Haven, CT
Major junctions:	I-84 in Southington, CT I-90 in Westfield, MA I-91 in Northampton, MA Route 2 in Greenfield, MA I-89 from Grantham, NH to Lebanon, NH
North end:	US 302 in Haverhill, NH

Route 10 is a multi-state north-south state highway in the New England region of the United States, running from New Haven, Connecticut through Massachusetts to the village of Woodsville in Haverhill, New Hampshire. Its number dates from 1922, when it was a New England Interstate Route, also known as the Central New England Route.

Route 10 is often called the College Highway because it links Yale University, Trinity College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, Amherst College, the University of Massachusetts and Dartmouth College. Yale and Dartmouth are in the Ivy League and Smith and Mount Holyoke are in the Seven Sisters group of exclusive women's colleges.

[edit] History

Map of Connecticut showing the original 1920s route in green and the modern route in blue

Route 10 originally followed a different route south of Granby, Connecticut, starting in the town of Old Saybrook^[4] instead of at its current New Haven terminus. It moved to its current alignment along the Connecticut section of the College Highway in 1932, with the former alignment becoming the original Route 9. The original routing is now Routes 154, 99, and 189. During the 1960s Connecticut planned on building an expressway along the Route 10 corridor, but the only part of this plan actually constructed was Route 40 in the Mount Carmel area of Hamden, as well as several exit ramps connecting Route 10 to I-84 southwest of Hartford.

New England Route 10 also originally ended in Littleton, New Hampshire (at Route 18) but was subsequently truncated to end at its current northern terminus at US 302 in Woodsville. However, signage is still shown for Route 10 up to the junction with Interstate 93. The rest of the route has had only very minor changes and basically still follows its original alignment.

[edit] Route description

[edit] Connecticut

Route 10 begins at I-95 as Ella T. Grasso Boulevard in the city of New Haven. It then passes by the Southern Connecticut State University before entering the town of Hamden along Dixwell Avenue. Route 10 continues north through the towns of Cheshire, Southington, Plainville, Farmington, Avon (where a lengthy concurrency with US 202 begins), and Simsbury. The Southington section of Route 10 was dedicated on Aug. 6, 1960 (and rededicated on Oct. 6, 2007) as the Louis G. Tolles Memorial Highway in honor of the late Southington native and leader of the Connecticut State Grange (1885–1956).

Town	Milepost	Junction	Notes
New Haven	0.1	I-95
	1.3	US 1
	1.9-2.2	Route 34
	3.4	Route 63
Hamden	7.0	Route 15
	10.1	Route 40
	10.3	Route 22
Cheshire	15.8	Route 42
	16.9-17.1	Route 68/Route 70
	21.0	I-691
Southington	21.5	Route 322	Grade separated
	24.2	Route 120
	26.7	I-84
Plainville	28.1	Route 177
	29.8	Route 372	To Route 72
Farmington	32.2	US 6	One-way eastbound connector
	33.8	Route 4
Avon	39.4-40.2	US 44 US 202 (South)	Begin US 202 overlap
Simsbury	43.0	Route 185
	44.8	Route 167
	46.8	Route 315
Granby	50.8	Route 189	Begin 189 overlap Old Route 10 continues south on Route 189
	50.9	Route 20 Route 189	End 189 overlap

[edit] Massachusetts

An "Alabama 10" sign as mistakenly posted in Easthampton

Massachusetts section of Route 10

Route 10 crosses the border from Granby, Connecticut into Southwick, Massachusetts, overlapped with US 202. It runs north through the Pioneer Valley towns of Southwick, Westfield, Southampton, Easthampton, Northampton, Hatfield, Whately, Deerfield, Greenfield, Bernardston, Gill, and Northfield. Route 10 has a long concurrency with U.S. Route 5 for about 25 miles (40 km) from Northampton to Bernardston, where it was sometimes called the "5 & 10 Highway". It crosses the Connecticut River in Northfield before entering New Hampshire.

An odd sight greeted motorists in Easthampton in July, 2005: standard issue Alabama state highway signs with the number 10 in a map of that state, instead of the standard Massachusetts square. This odd "Alabama 10" signage came about when a contractor mistakenly applied the sample from a federal manual. [1], [2]

[edit] New Hampshire

New Hampshire Route 10 begins at the Massachusetts state line in Winchester, New Hampshire. The road continues into Keene (where it has a short concurrency with NH-9). From Keene, NH-10 travels north via Newport until Grantham. It then runs along I-89 from Grantham to Lebanon. After exiting I-89 and running briefly on US 4, NH-10 then travels along the east bank of the Connecticut River from Lebanon up to its northern terminus at US 302 in Woodsville.

In Hanover, NH Route 10 has what is essentially a short spur to Vermont, NH-10A.

Town	Milepost	Junction	Notes
Winchester	4.4	NH 119 NH 78	Begin overlap NH 119
	4.9	NH 119	End overlap NH 119
Keene	16.7	NH 12 South	Begin overlap with NH 12
	17.2	NH 9 West	Begin overlap NH 9
		NH 12 North	End overlap NH 12
	21.2	NH 9 East	End overlap NH 9
Marlow	32.6	NH 123	Begin overlap
	33.6	NH 123	End overlap
	38.0	NH 123A
Goshen	47.6	NH 31
Newport	52.9	NH 11/NH 103 West	Begin overlap
	53.1	NH 11/NH 103 East	End overlap
Grantham	63.3	NH 114
Grantham/Enfield	64.0	I-89 South	NH 10 joins I-89 at Exit 13
Lebanon	79.2	I-89 North US 4 East	NH-10 leaves I-89 at Exit 19 Begin overlap US 4
	81.3	US 4 West	End overlap US 4
Hanover	85.6	NH 120 NH 10A
Orford	102.7	NH 25A	Begin overlap
	103.1	NH 25A	End overlap
Piermont	108.9	NH 25 West NH 25C	Begin overlap NH 25
Haverhill	114.2	NH 25 East	End overlap NH 25
	118.1	NH 116
	121.3	NH 135
	122.2	US 302	Northern terminus of NH 10

[edit] References

Browse numbered routes
< Route 9	CT		Route 11 >
< Route 9	MA		Route 11 >
< NH 9A	NH		NH 10A >
< Route 9	N.E.		Route 11 >

[edit] External links

• Mass. Rt. 10 endpoint photos
• CT 10 (Greater New York Roads)