Connecticut Route 15

Route 15
Route information
Maintained by ConnDOT
Length:	83.53 mi[citation needed] (134.43 km)
Existed:	1932 (relocated 1948) – present
Major junctions
South end:	NY 120A / Hutchinson River Parkway in Rye Brook
	US 7 in Norwalk Route 8 in Trumbull I-91 / I-691 in Meriden Route 9 in Berlin Route 2 in E. Hartford
North end:	I-84 / US 6 in East Hartford
Highway system
Routes in Connecticut Special Service Roads • State Roads ← Route 14 Route 16 →

Route 15 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Connecticut that runs 83.53 miles (134.43 km) from a connection with New York's Hutchinson River Parkway in Greenwich, Connecticut to its northern terminus intersecting with Interstate 84 in East Hartford, Connecticut. Route 15 consists of four distinct sections: the Merritt Parkway, the Wilbur Cross Parkway, the Berlin Turnpike, and part of the Wilbur Cross Highway. The unified designation was applied to these separate highways in 1948 to provide a continuous through route from New York to Massachusetts.

Route description

From the New York border eastward to the Housatonic River, Route 15 is a landscaped limited-access parkway known formally as the Merritt Parkway (37.27 miles). It crosses the Housatonic River on the Igor I. Sikorsky Memorial Bridge. East of the Housatonic, Route 15 remains a limited-access parkway and becomes the Wilbur Cross Parkway (29.46 miles), running in a northeasterly direction from Milford to Meriden. In Meriden, Route 15 becomes a four-lane divided highway with stoplights and at-grade intersections that runs northward to Wethersfield and is known as the Berlin Turnpike (11.21 miles). From Wethersfield until its terminus in East Hartford, Route 15 runs along the Wilbur Cross Highway (5.59 miles). It crosses the Connecticut River on the Charter Oak Bridge between Hartford and East Hartford and terminates at an interchange with I-84 in East Hartford.^[1]

Note: there are vehicle restrictions on the Merritt and Wilbur Cross Parkways (e.g., no trucks).

History

The Route 15 designation was created as part of the 1932 state highway renumbering and originally ran from New Haven through Middletown, East Hartford and Stafford Springs to the Massachusetts state line in Union. The original route used the pre-expressway alignment of modern Route 17 to Glastonbury, Main Street to East Hartford center, U.S. Route 5 to the junction with Route 30, then modern Route 30 to Stafford, then modern Route 190 to Union, and modern Route 171 to the Massachusetts state line.^[2]

In 1943, a newly constructed two-lane highway (now the Wilbur Cross Highway) between Tolland and Union was opened to traffic. Route 15 was relocated on this new highway and the former Route 15 between Route 74 and Route 190 (then part of Route 20) was redesignated as Route 30. By 1948, the rest of the old two-lane Wilbur Cross Highway to East Hartford had also opened, connecting to the Charter Oak Bridge and the Hartford Bypass. In 1948, the State Highway Department decided to relocate Route 15 to a series of roadways, namely the Merritt Parkway, Wilbur Cross Parkway, Berlin Turnpike, Hartford Bypass, Charter Oak Bridge, and the new Wilbur Cross Highway, creating a modern, high-speed throughway from the New York state line to the Massachusetts state line. The Route 15 designation was applied to the previously unnumbered parkways from Greenwich to Meriden, then overlaid with U.S. Route 5 through East Hartford, then designated on the southern half of the Wilbur Cross Highway to Tolland, connecting with the portion previously designated as Route 15 five years before. The former Route 15 between South Windsor and Tolland was reassigned as an extension of Route 30, and the former Route 15 between New Haven and Glastonbury became redesignated as Route 17.^[2][3]

In 1948, a portion of the Wilbur Cross Parkway between Route 34 and Whitney Avenue had still been under construction. Route 15 was temporarily routed along Route 34, Sherman Avenue (former Routes 5 and 10), Henry Street/Munson Street/Hillside Place/Edwards Street (former Route 5), and Whitney Avenue (former Route 10A). By 1949, the Wilbur Cross Parkway was completed and the temporary Route 15 designation was removed from the surface streets. Further improvements in the Wilbur Cross Highway took place over the next several years and the road became a four-lane divided highway by 1954. In 1958, most of the Wilbur Cross Highway was designated as I-86 and further upgrades to the road were implemented. Route 15 and I-86 overlapped from the current 15/86 junction in East Hartford to the Massachusetts state line. In 1984, the overlap was removed, truncating Route 15 to its current northern end, while at the same time I-86 was redesignated as I-84.^[3]

Major junctions

Town	#	Mile	Destinations	Notes
E. Hartford			I-84 / US 6 – Vernon, Manchester, Hartford, West Hartford
	Charter Oak Bridge across the Connecticut River
	90		Route 2 / US 5 south – Norwich, Hartford
	91		Silver Lane	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
For continued exits see Berlin Turnpike, Wilbur Cross Parkway and Merritt Parkway.

See also

Connecticut portal

• Merritt Parkway
• Wilbur Cross Parkway
• Berlin Turnpike
• Wilbur Cross Highway

References

1. ^ Connecticut State Highway Log (2006)
2. ^ ^{a b} kurumi.com - Route 15
3. ^ ^{a b} Larry Larned, "Route 15: The Road to Hartford", (Arcadia Publishing, 2002)

External links

• CT 15 (Greater New York Roads)

Coordinates: 41°18′38″N 73°01′51″W / 41.310437°N 73.03093°W / 41.310437; -73.03093