Connecticut Route 2

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 limited-access freeway section connecting Hartford to Norwich and following surface roads to Stonington. The entire freeway section of Route 2 is also known as the Veterans of Foreign Wars Memorial Highway.[1]

Route 2
Route 2 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by ConnDOT
Length	58.03 mi (93.39 km)
Existed	1932–present
Major junctions
West end	I-84 / I-91 / US 6 / Columbus Boulevard in 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
Counties	Hartford New London
Highway system
Routes in Connecticut Interstate U.S. State SSR SR ← US 1A → Route 2A ← Route 16 N.E. → Route 18

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 limited-access highway 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]

Route 2 westbound in Hartford, just before exits 2E, 2W and 3.

Several Connecticut limited-access highways 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 limited-access highway.

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]

Limited-access highway construction along the Route 2 alignment started in the 1950s and continued through the 1960s and early 1970s. The oldest limited-access highway 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

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

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
		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	Pitkin Street / East River Drive	No eastbound entrance; westbound exit currently not signed, but will be 1A; westbound exit signed as Darlin Street
		0.88	1.42	2E	1B/1D	I-84 east (US 6 east) / Governor Street (SR 500) – Boston, East Hartford	Signed as Exit 2 eastbound; Exits 54-55 on I-84; westbound entrance includes access to Exit 3
				2W	1C	I-84 west (US 6 west) to I-91 north	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; Exit 55 on I-84
		1.35	2.17	4	1E	US 5 / Route 15 to I-91 south / East River Drive (SR 502)	No eastbound exit; Exit 90 on US 5 / Route 15 / Wilbur Cross Highway
		1.80	2.90	5	2	Riverside Drive / Willow Street (SR 516)	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		2.80– 3.04	4.51– 4.89	5A	3A	High Street (eastbound) / Main Street (westbound)	SR 517; westbound signed as Exit 3
		3.27	5.26	5B	3B	Sutton Avenue	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance (Cambridge Drive)
		3.67	5.91	5C	4A	Maple Street	No westbound exit
		4.41	7.10	5D	4B	Route 3 south – Glastonbury, Wethersfield	Northern terminus of Route 3; westbound signed as Exit 5
	Glastonbury	4.70	7.56	6	4C	Griswold Street – Glastonbury	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; no access from Exit 5D entrance ramp
		5.07	8.16	7	5A	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	5B	Route 94 east (Hebron Avenue) – Glastonbury Center	Western terminus of Route 94; westbound signed as Exit 5
		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	18	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	24A	Route 16 – Colchester, Westchester, Middletown	Westbound exit signed as Exit 24
		24.35	39.19	19	24B	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 (eastbound) / Business Route (westbound) – Colchester	SR 616
	Lebanon	30.91	49.74	22	31	Scott Hill Road – Gilman, Lebanon
	Bozrah	33.32	53.62	23	33	Route 163 south / Haughton Road – Bozrah, Montville	Northern terminus of Route 163
		34.54	55.59	24	35	Fitchville Road (SR 608) – Fitchville	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	Norwich	35.62– 36.33	57.32– 58.47	25	36A	Route 32 north – Franklin, Willimantic	Western terminus of Route 32 west concurrency; access via SR 642; westbound exit and entrance
				27	36B	To Route 32 north – Yantic, Willimantic	Western end of Route 32 east concurrency; Eastbound signed as Exit 36
				-	–	Browning Road	Eastbound entrance only
		37.00	59.55	28S	37A	I-395 south / Route 2A east – New Haven	Northern terminus of Route 2A; Exits 13A-B on I-395; Westbound signed as Exit 37
				28N	37B	I-395 north – Providence	Eastbound exit and entrance
		37.71	60.69	29	38	New London Turnpike – Norwichtown
		38.15	61.40			Route 169 north (Harland Road) – Taftville	At-grade intersection; east end of freeway section
		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
		45.70	73.55			Route 164 north – Preston City	Southern terminus of Route 164
	Ledyard	47.27	76.07			Foxwoods Boulevard / Fox Tower Drive / Lake of Isles Drive	Interchange
		48.20	77.57			Route 214 west / Foxwoods Boulevard – Ledyard Center	Interchange; eastern terminus of Route 214
	North Stonington	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; access from I-95 north and to I-95 south
	Stonington	56.01	90.14			Route 49 north – Sterling, Voluntown	Southern terminus of Route 49
		56.67	91.20			Route 78 – Westerly, Rhode Island Beaches	Partial interchange; western terminus of Route 78
		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

See also

• List of state highways in Connecticut
• List of highways numbered 2

References

1. "Connecticut State Highway Log (2006)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 27, 2011. Retrieved March 11, 2009.
2. F.J. Wood, The Turnpikes of New England, (Marshall Jones, 1919)
3. nycroads.com - CT Route 2

External links

Media related to Connecticut Route 2 at Wikimedia Commons