U.S. Route 44 in Connecticut

U.S. Route 44
Route information
Maintained by ConnDOT
Length:	106.00 mi[1] (170.59 km)
Existed:	1935 – present
Major junctions
West end:	US 44 in North East, NY
	Route 8 in Winsted I-84 / US 6 / I-91 in Hartford I-384 / US 6 in Manchester Route 195 in Storrs I-395 in Putnam
East end:	US 44 in West Glocester, RI
Location
Counties:	Litchfield, Hartford, Tolland, Windham
Highway system
United States Numbered Highway System List Bannered Divided Replaced Routes in Connecticut Interstate U.S. State SSR SR ← Route 43 Route 45 →

U.S. Route 44 (US 44) in Connecticut is a 106-mile-long (171 km) east–west U.S. Highway traveling from the New York state line in Salisbury to the Rhode Island state line in Putnam.

Route description

After entering the state from the town of North East, New York just east of the village of Millerton, US 44 is a rural arterial road. It is briefly duplexed with Route 41 for 1.67 miles through the center of Salisbury. After crossing into North Canaan, it is duplexed with US 7 for 0.33 miles through the village of Cannan. After leaving the village, it enters Norfolk, where it has a brief (0.34 mile) duplex with Route 272 in the center of town. After passing through the western part of Colebrook it enters the town of Winchester. As US 44 enters the village of Winsted, it begins a 2.14 mile concurrency with Route 183, 0.33 miles of which is joined by Route 8 in a triplex. At the east end of the village, Route 8 leaves to the south on an expressway, while Route 183 leaves to the south about 100 yards later. US 44 continues southeast through the towns of Barkhamsted, and New Hartford before entering Canton. In Canton, US 44 becomes a 4 lane primary suburban arterial road as it is joined by US 202 for a 4.3 mile concurrency to the center of Avon. As US 202 leaves to the north, US 44 is joined for the next 0.74 miles by Route 10. After climbing Avon Mountain, it enters West Hartford, passing along the northern part of the town and becoming an urban street as it entes the northern part of Hartford. After passing along Albany Avenue, and Main Street, US 44 turns east onto a pair of one-way streets (Morgan Street North and Morgan Street South) that straddle I-84 and US 6 and cross under I-91 with the only direct access being from Morgan Street South to I-91 South. US 44 then joins I-84 and US 6 for about 0.25 miles to cross the Connecticut River on the Bulkeley Bridge into East Hartford before exiting almost immediately onto Connecticut Boulevard. It briefly duplexes with US 5 on Main Street in East Harford center before turning east onto Burnside Avenue. After entering Manchester, it meets I-84 once again at Exit 60, and is joined in a concurrency for the next 7 miles by US 6, which leaves its I-84 concurrency at this point. The road then enters Bolton, where it meets the east end of I-384 at Bolton Notch. US 44 and US 6 briefly join the stub end of the expressway before US 6 splits off to the southeast. US 44 becomes more of a secondary rural road as it enters Coventry, where it briefly overlaps with Route 31. It then enters Mansfield, where it meets Route 195, which provides access to the University of Connecticut. After passing through Ashford, and Eastford, it turns north at Route 101 in Pomfret, which provides a more direct route to Providence. Shortly thereafter, Route 169 joins for a 2.25 mile concurrency to the center of town. US 44 once again turns east, and then enters the town of Putnam. After a 0.64 mile concurrency with Route 12, it meets I-395 at Exit 47. 4.66 miles to the east, US 44 crosses the Rhode Island state line into the town of Glocester

For most of its journey through Connecticut, US 44 is known as the Jonathan Trumbull Highway. It is also known by more local names, including Albany Turnpike in Canton, West/East Main Street and Avon Mountain Road in Avon, Albany Avenue through West Hartford into Hartford, Boston Turnpike from Bolton Notch to Ashford, and Providence Pike near the Rhode Island border.

History

Most of the alignment of modern US 44 in Connecticut was at one time part of an early network of turnpikes in the state during the 19th century. From the New York state line at Salisbury to the village of Lakeville, the route was the westernmost section of the Salisbury and Canaan Turnpike. Between North Canaan and New Hartford, modern US 44 was known as the Greenwoods Turnpike. The southeastward continuation of the Greenwoods road to the West Hartford-Hartford line was known as the Talcott Mountain Turnpike. From East Hartford to Eastford, the Boston Turnpike was chartered mostly along modern US 44 as the direct route from Hartford to Boston. The Boston Turnpike differed from modern US 44 by using a more direct route between Eastford and Pomfret Center along modern Route 244, while US 44 runs via the village of Abington. Past Pomfret Center, the Boston Turnpike diverged from modern US 44 heading northeast across the town of Thompson. The route through Putnam to the Rhode Island state line was a different turnpike road known as the Pomfret and Killingly Turnpike.

In 1922, the New England states designated route numbers on its main roads. Route 101 was assigned as the route used by the Pomfret and Killingly Turnpike (modern US 44) to Pomfret Center, then modern US 44 to Phoenixville via Abington (short portions of two other turnpike roads), then a road southward from Phoenixville to South Chaplin (modern Route 198), ending at New England Route 3. The direct road connecting Phoenixville to Bolton Notch was designated as Route 109. From Hartford to Bolton Notch, modern US 44 was at the time known as New England Route 3. West of Hartford, modern US 44 was designated as part of New England Route 17, which stretched in Connecticut from North Canaan to Stonington (via modern Route 2). Between the New York state line at Salisbury and North Canaan, the road was known as Route 121.

In 1926, most of New England Route 3 became U.S. Route 6. In the 1932 state highway renumbering, New England Route 17 was broken up into two newly assigned routes: modern Route 2 east of Hartford, and part of Route 101 west of Hartford. Route 101 was reconfigured in 1932 from its 1920s alignment to continue west of Phoenixville along former Route 109, then overlapping with US 6 to Hartford. Route 101 then used the western half of former New England Route 17 to North Canaan where it ended. The road from North Canaan to Salisbury was renumbered in 1932 to Route 199 to match the route number in New York at the time. In 1935, US 44 was designated and utilized Route 101 across the states of Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. Route 199 was also incorporated into the new route, connecting with the New York state line.

In the 1940s, US 44 was relocated along a portion of the Wilbur Cross Highway for several years with the former surface alignment becoming US 44A. The change was later reversed. US 6 was also relocated in East Hartford and Manchester to use I-84 and the overlap between US 6 and US 44 is now only between Manchester and Bolton Notch.

Major intersections

County	Location	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Litchfield	Lakeville	0.00	0.00	US 44 west – Millerton, Amenia	Continuation into New York
		1.18	1.90	Route 112 east – Lime Rock
	Salisbury	3.06	4.92	Route 41 south – Sharon	Southern terminus of CT 41 overlap
		4.73	7.61	Route 41 north – Sheffield, MA	Northern terminus of CT 41 overlap
	North Canaan	8.88	14.29	Route 126 south – Falls Village
	Canaan	11.19	18.01	US 7 north – Sheffield, MA, Great Barrington, MA	Northern terminus of US 7 overlap
		11.52	18.54	US 7 south – Falls Village, Cornwall	Southern terminus of US 7 overlap
	Norfolk	18.38	29.58	Route 272 north – New Marlborough, MA	Northen terminus of CT 272 overlap
		18.72	30.13	Route 272 south – Torrington	Southern terminus of CT 272 overlap
		20.14	32.41	Route 182 east – Colebrook
	Winsted	26.74	43.03	Route 183 north – Colebrook	Northern terminus of CT 183 overlap
		27.41	44.11	Route 263 west – Goshen
		28.36	45.64	Route 8 north – Colebrook, Otis, MA	Northern terminus of CT 8 overlap
		28.83	46.40	Route 8 south – Torrington, Waterbury	Southern terminus of CT 8 overlap
		28.88	46.48	Route 183 south – Torrington	Southern terminus of CT 183 overlap
	Barkhamsted	31.96	51.43	Route 318 east – Barkhamsted
	New Hartford	34.43	55.41	Route 219 – Nepaug, Barkhamsted
Hartford	Canton	38.77	62.39	Route 179 – East Hartland, Collinsville
		38.96– 39.05	62.70– 62.84	US 202 west – Torrington	Western terminus of US 202 overlap
		41.07	66.10	Route 177 south – Unionville
		42.29	68.06	Route 167 – Simsbury, Unionville
	Avon	44.28	71.26	US 202 east / Route 10 north – Simsbury	Eastern terminus of US 202 overlap. Northern terminus of CT 10 overlap
		45.02	72.45	Route 10 south – Farmington	Southern terminus of CT 10 overlap
	West Hartford	49.29	79.32	Route 218 east – Bloomfield, Windsor
	Hartford	51.03	82.12	Route 189 north – Bloomfield
		51.90	83.52	Route 187 north – Blue Hills, Bloomfield
		53.80	86.58	I-84 / US 6 west – Waterbury	Western terminus of I-84 / US 6 overlap
	East Hartford	54.03	86.95	I-84 / US 6 east – Manchester, Boston	Eastern terminus of I-84 / US 6 overlap
		55.05	88.59	US 5 south – Wethersfield	Southern terminus of US 5 overlap
		55.41	89.17	US 5 north – South Windsor	Northern terminus of US 5 overlap
	Manchester	59.12– 59.33	95.14– 95.48	I-84 / US 6 east – Vernon, Hartford	Western terminus of US 6 overlap. I-84 Exit 60
		61.91	99.63	Route 83 – Vernon, East Glastonbury
Tolland	Bolton	65.07	104.72	Route 85 south – Hebron, Colchester
		65.86	105.99	I-384 west – Manchester, East Hartford
		66.23	106.59	US 6 east – Willimantic, Providence	Eastern terminus of US 6 overlap
	Coventry	69.15	111.29	Route 31 north – Rockville	Northern terminus of CT 31 overlap
		70.25	113.06	Route 31 south – Coventry	Southern terminus of CT 31 overlap
	Mansfield	73.99	119.08	Route 32 – Willington, Willimantic
		76.58	123.24	Route 195 – Tolland, Storrs	To University of Connecticut
Windham	Ashford	81.71	131.50	Route 74 west – Willington	to I-84
		82.77	133.21	Route 89 – Mount Hope, Westford
	Eastford	86.91	139.87	Route 198 – Eastford, Chaplin
	Pomfret	91.46	147.19	Route 97 – Hampton, Pomfret
		93.59	150.62	Route 101 east – Dayville
		94.09	151.42	Route 169 south – Brooklyn	Southern terminus of CT 169 overlap
		96.24	154.88	Route 97 south – Abington Route 169 north – Woodstock	US 44 continues south and east. CT 169 continues north and south. CT 97 continues west from intersection. Northern terminus of CT 169 overlap
	Putnam	99.90	160.77	Route 12 south – Killingly	Southern terminus of CT 12 overlap
		100.34	161.48	Route 171 west – Woodstock
		100.54	161.80	Route 12 north – Thompson	Northern terminus of CT 12 overlap
		101.34	163.09	I-395 – Worcester, Norwich	Exit 47 on I-395
		102.21	164.49	Route 21 – Killingly, Thompson
		106.00	170.59	US 44 east – West Glocester, Providence	Continuation into Rhode Island
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

References

1. Connecticut Department of Transportation, "Highway Log" (PDF). (1.80 MiB) as of December 31, 2009

External links