Connecticut Route 3
Route 3 is a route connecting Middletown to Glastonbury. It passes through the towns of Cromwell, Rocky Hill, and Wethersfield. The northernmost of Route 3 is a freeway that was originally intended for the cancelled Interstate 491.Route description
Route 3 begins at Route 66 in Middletown, and is a surface road for its first up to Wethersfield. After crossing into Cromwell, 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. 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. After the Silas Deane Highway intersection, it becomes a four-lane undivided expressway. At an interchange with Interstate 91, it becomes a four-lane divided freeway crosses the Connecticut River on the William H. Putnam Memorial Bridge into Glastonbury. The freeway has one exit for Main Street before ending at a trumpet interchange with the Route 2 expressway at the East Hartford town line.History
1941
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, to the Silas Deane Highway in Wethersfield.1958–1973 (I-491)
In late 1958, as part of the planned Interstate 491, a freeway from I-91 to Main Street in Glastonbury, 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 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. The north-south portion of old Route 72 from Cromwell to Middletown was reassigned to Route 3.Junction list
''As part of an upcoming sign replacement project on Route 3 between I-91 and Route 2, new mile-based exit numbers will be added along that stretch of expressway.''