View source for Connecticut Route 3

{{short description|Highway in Connecticut}}
{{About||the Route 3 that existed in the 1920s|U.S. Route 6 in Connecticut|the other route which was formerly I-491|Interstate 84 in Connecticut}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{More citations needed|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox road
|state=CT
|type=CT
|route=3
|map={{maplink-road}}
|map_custom=yes
|length_mi=14.45
|length_round=2
|length_ref=
|established=1941 (extended 1991)
|direction_a=South
|terminus_a={{Jct|state=CT|CT|66}} in [[Middletown, Connecticut|Middletown]]
|junction={{Jct|state=CT|CT|9|CT|372}} in [[Cromwell, Connecticut|Cromwell]]<br>{{Jct|state=CT|I|91}} in [[Wethersfield, Connecticut|Wethersfield]]
|direction_b=North
|terminus_b={{Jct|state=CT|CT|2}} in [[Glastonbury, Connecticut|Glastonbury]]
|counties=[[Middlesex County, Connecticut|Middlesex]], [[Hartford County, Connecticut|Hartford]]
|previous_type=Route
|previous_route=2A
|next_type=Route
|next_route=4
|browse={{ct browse|previous_type=I|previous_route=484|route=[[Image:I-491.svg|25px]]|next_type=I|next_route=684}}
}}

'''Route&nbsp;3''' is a {{convert|14.45|mi|km|adj=mid|-long}} route connecting [[Middletown, Connecticut|Middletown]] to [[Glastonbury, Connecticut|Glastonbury]]. It passes through the towns of Cromwell, Rocky Hill, and Wethersfield. The northernmost {{convert|3|mi|km}} of Route&nbsp;3 is a [[controlled-access highway|freeway]] that was originally intended for the cancelled '''Interstate&nbsp;491'''.

==Route description==
{{Unreferenced section|date=October 2023}}
[[File:CT 3-I-91, Wethersfield, CT.jpg|left|thumb|CT 3 at [[Interstate 91|I-91]] in [[Wethersfield, Connecticut|Wethersfield]].]]
Route&nbsp;3 begins at [[Route 66 (Connecticut)|Route&nbsp;66]] in Middletown, and is a surface road for its first {{convert|11|mi|km}} up to [[Wethersfield, Connecticut|Wethersfield]]. After crossing into [[Cromwell, Connecticut|Cromwell]], it intersects [[Route 372 (Connecticut)|Route&nbsp;372]], which offers access to [[Route 9 (Connecticut)|Route&nbsp;9]] just east of the intersection.  After overpassing Route 9, it continues north into [[Rocky Hill, Connecticut|Rocky Hill]] and overpasses Interstate&nbsp;91 without an interchange.  After a brief concurrency with [[Connecticut Route 160|Route 160]], it crosses into Wethersfield, where it meets the eastern end of [[Connecticut Route 287|Route 287]] and crosses over [[Connecticut Route 99|Route 99]].  After the Silas Deane Highway (Route 99) intersection, it becomes a four-lane undivided [[limited-access road|expressway]]. At an interchange with Interstate&nbsp;91, it becomes a four-lane divided [[controlled-access highway|freeway]] crosses the [[Connecticut River]] on the [[William H. Putnam Memorial Bridge]] into [[Glastonbury, Connecticut|Glastonbury]]. The freeway has one exit for Main Street (via Glastonbury Boulevard northbound and Putnam Boulevard southbound) before ending at a trumpet interchange with the [[Route 2 (Connecticut)|Route&nbsp;2]] expressway at the [[East Hartford, Connecticut|East Hartford]] town line.

==History==
{{Unreferenced section|date=October 2023}}

===1941===
Route&nbsp;3 was established in 1941. It originally ran from West Street/Berlin Road in [[Cromwell, Connecticut|Cromwell]], which was part of [[Connecticut Route 72|Route&nbsp;72]] at the time (now [[Connecticut Route 372|Route&nbsp;372]]), to the [[Silas Deane]] Highway ([[Connecticut Route 99|Route&nbsp;99]]) in [[Wethersfield, Connecticut|Wethersfield]].

===1958-1973 (I-491)===
{{infobox road small
|header_type=former
|state=CT
|type=I
|route=491
|location=[[Hartford, Connecticut]]
|formed=1958
|deleted=1973
}}
In late 1958, as part of the planned '''Interstate&nbsp;491''' (a southeastern bypass of [[Hartford, Connecticut|Hartford]]), a freeway from I-91 to Main Street in Glastonbury, crossing the [[Connecticut River]] on the [[William H. Putnam Memorial Bridge|Putnam Memorial Bridge]], was opened. The Route&nbsp;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&nbsp;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&nbsp;9 freeway through Berlin and New Britain was completed, Route&nbsp;72 was truncated to end at Route&nbsp;9 in New Britain. The east&ndash;west portion of the old alignment of Route&nbsp;72 was reassigned to an extended Route&nbsp;372 (running along Berlin Road/West Street to end at Route&nbsp;99 in Cromwell). The north&ndash;south portion of old Route&nbsp;72 from Cromwell to Middletown (ending at [[Connecticut Route 66|Route&nbsp;66]]) was reassigned to Route&nbsp;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.''
{{jcttop|exit|length_ref=}}
{{CTint|exit
|county=Middlesex
|cspan=3
|espan=8
|location=Middletown
|mile=0.00
|road={{Jct|state=CT|Route|66|city1=Middletown|city2=Portland|areadab2=CDP|city3=Meriden}}
|notes=Southern terminus}}
{{CTint
|location=Cromwell
|lspan=2
|mile=3.05
|road={{jct|state=CT|Route|372|dir1=west|to1=yes|city1=Berlin|city2=New Britain}}
|notes=Access via {{jct|state=CT|SR|524}}
}}
{{CTint
|mile=3.37
|road={{Jct|state=CT|Route|9|Route|372|city1=Middletown|city2=Cromwell|city3=Hartford|city4=Berlin|city5=New Britain}}
|notes=Exit 27 on Route 9}}
{{CTint
|county=Hartford
|cspan=11
|location=Rocky Hill
|lspan=3
|mile=6.59
|road={{jct|state=CT|to1=yes|I|91|city1=Hartford|city2=New Haven|location3=[[Dinosaur State Park]]}}
|notes=Access via [[Connecticut Route 411|SSR 411]] 
}}
{{CTint
|type=concur
|mile=7.21
|road={{Jct|state=CT|Route|160|dir1=east|city1=Rocky Hill}}
|notes=Southern end of Route 160 concurrency
}}
{{CTint
|type=concur
|mile=7.40
|road={{Jct|state=CT|Route|160|dir1=West|city1=Berlin}}
|notes=Northern end of Route 160 concurrency
}}
{{CTint
|location=Wethersfield
|lspan=4
|mile=10.21
|road={{Jct|state=CT|Route|287|dir1=west|city1=Newington}}
|notes=Eastern terminus of Route 287
}}
{{CTint
|mile=10.37
|road={{Jct|state=CT|Route|99|city1=Hartford|city2=Rocky Hill}}
|notes=Former [[Connecticut Route 9|Route 9]]
}}
{{CTint|exit
|mile=10.55
|place=Southern end of limited-access section
}}
{{CTint|exit
|mile=11.31
|exit=11
|road={{Jct|state=CT|I|91|city1=Hartford|city2=New Haven}}
|notes=Signed as exits 11A (south) and 11B (north) southbound; exits 33A-B on I-91
}}
{{jctbridge|exit
|location_special=[[Connecticut River]]
|mile=11.63
|mile2=12.09
|bridge=[[William H. Putnam Memorial Bridge|Putnam Bridge]]
}}
{{CTint|exit
|location=Glastonbury
|lspan=3
|mile=12.96
|exit=13A
|road={{jct|state=CT|road|To Main Street|city1=Glastonbury}}
|rspan=2
|notes=Northbound exit and entrance; access via Glastonbury Boulevard
|type=incomplete
}}
{{CTint|exit
|mile=13.26
|exit=13
|espan=2
|road=none
|notes=Southbound exit and entrance; access via Putnam Boulevard
|type=incomplete
}}
{{CTint
|mile=14.45
|road={{Jct|state=CT|CT|2|city1=East Hartford|city2=Norwich}}
|notes=Eastern terminus; signed as exits 13B (west) and 13C (east); exit 4A on Route 2
}}
{{jctbtm|exit|keys=concur,incomplete}}

==References==
{{Portal|Connecticut}}
*[https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/dot/documents/dpolicy/hwylog/highwaylog_final.pdf Connecticut State Highway Log (2023)]
*[http://www.kurumi.com/roads/ct/ct3.html kurumi.com - Route 3]
*[http://www.kurumi.com/roads/ct/ct3.html kurumi.com - I-491]

==External links==
{{Attached KML|display=inline,title}}
{{Commons category|Connecticut Route 3}}
{{I-91 aux}}

[[Category:State highways in Connecticut|003]]
[[Category:Transportation in Hartford County, Connecticut]]
[[Category:Transportation in Middlesex County, Connecticut]]
[[Category:Middletown, Connecticut]]
[[Category:Cromwell, Connecticut]]
[[Category:Rocky Hill, Connecticut]]
[[Category:Wethersfield, Connecticut]]
[[Category:Glastonbury, Connecticut]]