History U.S. Route 5 in Connecticut

new england route 2 shield

when new england road marking system adopted in 1922, route 2 assigned route new haven north via hartford , springfield towards sherbrooke, quebec. route followed older blue-banded route new haven north hartford. @ hartford, route 2 crossed connecticut river on bulkeley bridge , ran north east hartford springfield on east side of river.

u.s. route 5 designated in 1926 along route 2 alignment. between 1926 , 1932, u.s. route 5 , route 2 co-signed throughout length of route. in 1932 state highway renumbering, route 2 designation removed, leaving 5 designation. small number of changes have been made since then, prominent being in cities of new haven , hartford.

us 5 used temple street, whitney avenue, edwards street , upper state street in new haven, beginning @ u.s. route 1 (chapel street). 1940s, had been moved onto bypass of downtown area, consisting of edwards street, hillside place, munson street, henry street, sherman avenue, winthrop avenue, , davenport avenue, ending @ 1 west of downtown. @ time, still crossed river on middletown avenue; route leaving north on state street signed alternate route. main , alternate routes swapped mid-1950s, , 5 sent down east street 1. (the alternate route 103.) old bypass became extensions of route 80 , route 10, unnumbered. final changes truncated 5 i-91 when i-91 opened in 1966 in new haven, , relocated 5 new route 22 connector across i-91 in north haven in 1973, leaving old route on broadway unsigned state road 729.

in hartford, original alignment of 5 entered city on maple avenue , made way bulkeley bridge via main street, central row, , columbus boulevard. route shifted eastward wyllys street , columbus boulevard 1941. opening of charter oak bridge , hartford bypass on september 5, 1942 led 5 bypassing downtown hartford on current alignment; u.s. route 5a, alternate route on west side of connecticut river springfield, extended south along main street beginning of bypass.

in 1940s, several sections of 5 in hartford area upgraded four-lane boulevards. berlin turnpike segment reconstructed divided four-lane highway, several segments straightened out. in east hartford , south windsor, new four-lane divided highway, john fitch boulevard, constructed. both of these roadways opened in 1942. in 1948, route 15 designated on berlin turnpike , hartford bypass segments of 5 in order connect merritt parkway , wilbur cross parkway wilbur cross highway, providing continuous high-speed route between new york , massachusetts.