Connecticut Route 2

Route 2
Route 2
	Route 2 highlighted in red
Route information
	Maintained by CTDOT
Length	58.03 mi (93.39 km)
Existed	1932–present
Major junctions
West end	Columbus Boulevard in Hartford
	I-84 / US 6 / US 44 in East Hartford; US 5 / Route 15 in East Hartford; Route 3 in East Hartford; Route 17 in Glastonbury; Route 11 in Colchester; I-395 / Route 2A in Norwich; Route 214 in Ledyard; I-95 in North Stonington; Route 78 in Stonington;
East end	US 1 in Stonington
Location
Country	United States
State	Connecticut
Counties	Hartford; New London;
Highway system
	Connecticut State Highway System; Interstate; US; State SSR; SR; ; Scenic;

Route 2 is a 58.03-mile (93.39 km) state highway in Hartford and New London counties in Connecticut. It is a primary state route, with a freeway section connecting Hartford to Norwich and following surface roads to Stonington. The entire freeway section of Route 2 west of Route 169 is also known as the Veterans of Foreign Wars Memorial Highway Though it is labelled an east-west highway (as denoted by its even number), it follows a northwest-southeast route, with large sections of the highway running north-south throughout its duration.^[1]

Route description[edit]

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 becomes a four-lane undivided freeway, passing by the Mashantucket Pequot Reservation and then the Foxwoods Resort Casino. After passing through Ledyard, Route 2 continues into North Stonington as a two-lane surface road. 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 (Westerly Bypass) and terminates about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) later at the junction with US 1 in the Pawcatuck section of town 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.

History[edit]

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, access highway alignment, but does not sign these segments as state routes. The state remanded the remaining access highway segments to town jurisdiction.^[3]

Major intersections[edit]

Exit numbers are currently sequential, but are scheduled to be converted to mile-based numbering starting in 2023.^[4]

County	Location	mi	km	Old exit	New exit	Destinations	Notes
Hartford	Hartford	0.00	0.00	–	–	Columbus Boulevard – Convention Center, Science Center	At-grade intersection; continues west as State Street
	Hartford	0.03	0.048	–	–	I-91 south – New Haven	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; exit 30 on I-91
	Connecticut River	0.03– 0.88	0.048– 1.42	Founders Bridge
	East Hartford	0.46– 0.98	0.74– 1.58	3	1A (WB) 1B (EB)	Pitkin Street / East River Drive / Darlin Street	Pitkin Street/East River Drive signed eastbound, Darlin Street westbound; no eastbound entrance
		0.88	1.42	2E	1C (WB) 1A (EB)	I-84 east (US 6 east) / Governor Street (SR 500) – Boston, East Hartford	Exits 54-55 on I-84; westbound entrance includes access to exit 1A; Governor Street exit was originally intended for the never-built I-284
		0.88	1.42	2W	1B	I-84 west (US 6 west) to I-91 north – Hartford, Springfield	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; exit 55 on I-84
		1.35	2.17	4	1D	US 5 / Route 15 south / East River Drive (SR 502) to I-91 south – New Haven	No eastbound exit; exit 90 on US 5 / Route 15
		1.80	2.90	5	2A	Riverside Drive / Willow Street (SR 516)	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		2.80– 3.04	4.51– 4.89	5A	2B	High Street / Main Street	Signed for High Street eastbound, Main Street westbound; signed as exit 2 westbound; access via SR 517
		3.27	5.26	5B	–	Sutton Avenue	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance (Cambridge Drive). Permanently closed as of January 2022
		3.67	5.91	5C	3	Maple Street	No westbound exit
		4.41	7.10	5D	4A	Route 3 south – Glastonbury, Wethersfield	Northern terminus of Route 3; signed as exit 4 westbound
	Glastonbury	4.70	7.56	6	4B	Griswold Street – Glastonbury	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		5.07	8.16	7	5	Route 17 south – Portland, South Glastonbury	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; northern terminus of Route 17
		5.31– 6.01	8.55– 9.67	8	6	Route 94 east (Hebron Avenue) – Glastonbury Center	Western terminus of Route 94
		7.12	11.46	9	7	Neipsic Road – Glastonbury	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		9.94	16.00	10	10	Route 83 north – East Glastonbury, Manchester	Southern terminus of Route 83
		11.56	18.60	11	11	Thompson Street / Wassuc Road – Glastonbury	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	Marlborough	13.42	21.60	12	13	West Road / Business Route – Marlborough	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		15.44	24.85	13	15	Route 66 – Willimantic, Marlborough
		17.66	28.42	15	17	South Main Street – Marlborough	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
New London	Colchester	20.38	32.80	16	20	Route 149 south / Westchester Road – Westchester, Moodus	Northern terminus of Route 149
		22.37	36.00	17	22	Business Route – Colchester	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		23.70	38.14	18	23	Route 16 – Colchester, Westchester, Middletown
		24.35	39.19	19	24	Route 11 south – New London	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; northern terminus of Route 11
		25.05	40.31	20	25	Route 354 to Route 85 (Parum Road) / Route 11 south – Salem, New London	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		26.03– 26.47	41.89– 42.60	21	26	Chestnut Hill Road / Business Route – Colchester	Signed for Chestnut Hill Road eastbound, Business Route westbound; access via SR 616
	Lebanon	30.91	49.74	22	30	Scott Hill Road – Gilman, Lebanon
	Bozrah	33.32	53.62	23	33	Route 163 south / Haughton Road – Bozrah, Montville	Northern terminus of Route 163
	Bozrah	34.54	55.59	24	34	Fitchville Road (SR 608) – Fitchville	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	Norwich	35.62– 36.33	57.32– 58.47	25	35A	Route 32 north – Franklin, Willimantic	Western terminus of Route 32 concurrency; signed as exit 35 eastbound; eastbound access via SR 642
		35.62– 36.33	57.32– 58.47	27	35B	Otrobando Avenue (SR 642) - Yantic	Westbound exit and entrance
		37.00	59.55	28	36-37	I-395 / Route 2A east – New Haven, Providence	Signed as exits 36 (south) and 37 (north); no westbound access to I-395 north; western terminus of Route 2A; exits 13A-B on I-395
		37.71	60.69	29	38	New London Turnpike – Norwichtown
		38.15	61.40	Eastern end of freeway section
		38.15	61.40			Route 169 north (Harland Road) – Taftville
		39.52	63.60			Route 32 south / Route 82 west – New London, Salem	Eastern end of Route 32 concurrency
		39.88	64.18			Route 12 south (Laurel Hill Avenue) – Groton	Western end of Route 12 concurrency
		40.19	64.68			Route 12 north (North Main Street)	Eastern end of Route 12 concurrency
		40.52	65.21			Route 165 east – Preston	Western terminus of Route 165
	Preston	42.95	69.12			Route 2A west / Route 117 south to I-95 – Ledyard, Poquetanuck
	Preston	45.70	73.55			Route 164 north – Preston City	Southern terminus of Route 164
	Ledyard			Western end of freeway section
		47.27	76.07	–	–	Foxwoods Boulevard / Fox Tower Drive / Lake of Isles Drive
		48.20	77.57	–	–	Route 214 west / Foxwoods Boulevard – Ledyard Center	Eastern terminus of Route 214
	North Stonington			Eastern end of freeway section
		50.33	81.00			Route 201 north – Ashwillet, Glasgo	Western end of Route 201 concurrency
		51.11	82.25			Route 201 south – Stonington	Eastern end of Route 201 concurrency
		54.29	87.37			Route 184 – Old Mystic, Groton, Providence
		55.24	88.90			I-95 south – New London	Exit 92 on I-95
	Stonington	56.01	90.14			Route 49 north – Sterling, Voluntown	Southern terminus of Route 49
		56.67	91.20			Route 78 east – Westerly, Rhode Island Beaches	Partial interchange
		58.03	93.39			US 1 – Mystic, Stonington, Westerly, RI
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus Incomplete access