CT 15 and I-84

[MrDisco99]

Quick question...

Looking at old maps, it looks like CT 15 was built as a limited access highway past Hartford, all the way up to exit 9 on the Masspike.  Did they just sign that road as I-84?  Was it called the Wilbur Cross Parkway all the way up before that?

[KEVIN_224]

There was a time in the 1980s when the road was I-86 from East Hartford, CT Sturbridge, MA and I-90. It continued the exiting number sequence of CT Route 15 from East Hartford to the Massachusetts state line. When most of the plans for I-84 east of Hartford towards Providence, RI were cancelled, I-86 was renumbered as I-84. Three segments of the road did get built:

a- Today's I-384 from Exit 59 of I-84 in East Hartford to the junction of US Routes 6 and 44 in Bolton.
b- A short US Route 6 expressway to the north and northwest of Willimantic (which is actually a village within the municipality of Windham, CT).
c- The US Route 6 expressway in the west end of Providence and Johnston, RI.

CT Route 15 is the Merritt Parkway between Greenwich and Stratford, the part of that route in Fairfield County. Once over the Sikorsky Bridge spanning the Housatonic River into Milford (New Haven County), the road becomes the Wilbur Cross Parkway. However, the name isn't emphasized quite as much there. Once CT Route 15 meets US Route 5 in Meriden, it becomes the stoplight hell known as the Berlin Turnpike for 13 miles. Then there's the segment from the Maple Avenue split in Wethersfield, its second run next to I-91 in Hartford, over the Charter Oak Bridge and then its current end at I-84's Exit 57 in East Hartford.

[Alps]

Some more info to the original question: CT 15 became MA 15 at the border. Before that became I-86, it was originally a Super-2 highway (almost freeway) for much of its length east of Hartford, transitioning into the Berlin Tpk. south of Hartford. That highway was then dualized, certainly within Massachusetts before I-86 came around. I know that much because the current road alongside I-84 follows one of the two carriageways (switching between), while the other was converted to freeway lanes, and I've looked at aerials to see that there were some at-grade intersections. If it wasn't already done by I-86, the highway was at least dualized at that point, although I think some of the wider dual carriageways weren't created right away (i.e. both directions were together on what is now one side of the road, with 2 lanes each way instead of 4-5).

[roadman]

There was a time in the 1980s when the road was I-86 from East Hartford, CT Sturbridge, MA and I-90. It continued the exiting number sequence of CT Route 15 from East Hartford to the Massachusetts state line. When most of the plans for I-84 east of Hartford towards Providence, RI were cancelled, I-86 was renumbered as I-84. Three segments of the road did get built:

a- Today's I-384 from Exit 59 of I-84 in East Hartford to the junction of US Routes 6 and 44 in Bolton.
b- A short US Route 6 expressway to the north and northwest of Willimantic (which is actually a village within the municipality of Windham, CT).
c- The US Route 6 expressway in the west end of Providence and Johnston, RI.

CT Route 15 is the Merritt Parkway between Greenwich and Stratford, the part of that route in Fairfield County. Once over the Sikorsky Bridge spanning the Housatonic River into Milford (New Haven County), the road becomes the Wilbur Cross Parkway. However, the name isn't emphasized quite as much there. Once CT Route 15 meets US Route 5 in Meriden, it becomes the stoplight hell known as the Berlin Turnpike for 13 miles. Then there's the segment from the Maple Avenue split in Wethersfield, its second run next to I-91 in Hartford, over the Charter Oak Bridge and then its current end at I-84's Exit 57 in East Hartford.

IIRC, from the late 1960s through the mid 1970s, CT 15 between East Hartford and the MA line was called the Wilbur Cross Highway.

[PHLBOS]

Originally, MA 15 ran along Mashapoug Rd. & Haynes Street in Sturbridge to MA 131; it runs mostly parallel to I-84 except where it crosses it at Exit 1.

Way back when, at the southernmost end of Mashapaug (southbound side) just before it merges into I-84 west, there is still some abandoned pavement remaining from what was once a parking lot for a restaurant/diner (one can see it on Google Earth).  Not sure when the restaurant was actually torn down but my father, in his younger days (circa late 50s/early 60s), would utilize it as a rest stop during his long drives between Danvers (where he lived at the time) & his parents' place in Amityville, NY.

[Duke87]

IIRC, from the late 1960s through the mid 1970s, CT 15 between East Hartford and the MA line was called the Wilbur Cross Highway.

Still is, technically, but like most other freeway names in Connecticut ("Yankee Expressway", "Connecticut Turnpike"...) it isn't in common usage.

[Beeper1]

Originally, MA 15 ran along Mashapoug Rd. & Haynes Street in Sturbridge to MA 131; it runs mostly parallel to I-84 except where it crosses it at Exit 1.

Way back when, at the southernmost end of Mashapaug (southbound side) just before it merges into I-84 west, there is still some abandoned pavement remaining from what was once a parking lot for a restaurant/diner (one can see it on Google Earth).  Not sure when the restaurant was actually torn down but my father, in his younger days (circa late 50s/early 60s), would utilize it as a rest stop during his long drives between Danvers (where he lived at the time) & his parents' place in Amityville, NY.

The resaturant was an old Howard Johnson's. I've seen a picture of it on an old postcard.  When the modern I-84 was built in the early 70s, the HoJos moved to a new location just up the road at Exit 1 (where the Roy Rogers/Sbarro's is now) and the old one near the state line was closed.  It was probably torn down very soon after, as I know people who remember that as being a vacant lot as far back as 1980.

   

[KEVIN_224]

IIRC, from the late 1960s through the mid 1970s, CT 15 between East Hartford and the MA line was called the Wilbur Cross Highway.

Still is, technically, but like most other freeway names in Connecticut ("Yankee Expressway", "Connecticut Turnpike"...) it isn't in common usage.

There is a sign for "Governor John Davis Lodge Turnpike" in Greenwich on I-95 North, once over the Byram River Bridge from Port Chester, NY. As for the Yankee Expressway, there's a small sign for it at either end. One in Danbury along I-84 East (last time I checked) and one along I-84/US Route 6 West in Hartford, between the I-91 Exits and the east portal of the Hartford tunnel.

Technically, the Berlin Turnpike between Meriden and Wethersfield is the Wilbur Cross Highway as well. It passes through (heading north) Meriden, Berlin, Newington and Wethersfield. Oddly enough, until a few years ago, the Berlin section of the road wasn't signed as "BERLIN TURNPIKE", but as "WILBUR CROSS HIGHWAY". Weird, huh? Not "BERLIN" in Berlin! (We pronounce it BER-lin here, by the way.)

As a kid driving with my mother on family trips to southern Maine, it was when I-86 was transitioning back to I-84, with much of the present ramps to/from I-384 and today's Buckland Street/Mall were all under construction (I-291 wouldn't come until 1994) in Manchester. I remember Ruby Road in the Tolland/Willington stretch being something like Exit 100 or 101!

To this day, the exit numbers on any portion of CT Route 15 make no sense. The exits at the New York border in Greenwich are out of sequence, since New York renumbered a couple of their exits on the Hutchinson River Parkway (what the Merritt Parkway becomes, once you cross into New York). First of all, Connecticut should reset the exits back to 1 at the state line. The other problem is the exit numbers between the Berlin Turnpike in Wethersfield to the I-84/US Route 6 junction in East Hartford. The last numbered exit in Meriden on Route 15 is something like 68NE. All of a sudden, there isn't another numbered exit until you reach CT Route 99 South in Wethersfield (Silas Deane Highway...one of the few roads here where the name IS used!). The last numbered exit is 90 in East Hartford, once over the Charter Oak Bridge, where US Route 5 leaves/joins Route 15.

[shadyjay]

The book "Route 15 - The Road To Hartford" (part of the Images of America series) is a good source of history of the entire Route 15 corridor from border to border.  Lots of shots in there of the Charter Oak Bridge and its approach roads (including the Park River Express Highway which is the section of I-91 by the Colt building).  Then there are shots later in the book of the section of the WCP east of East Hartford.  Apparently there were tolls in Tolland and a service area in Vernon, in the same style as those on the Merritt.  Even the signage was the "shingled" variety. 

[Alps]

The other problem is the exit numbers between the Berlin Turnpike in Wethersfield to the I-84/US Route 6 junction in East Hartford. The last numbered exit in Meriden on Route 15 is something like 68NE. All of a sudden, there isn't another numbered exit until you reach CT Route 99 South in Wethersfield (Silas Deane Highway...one of the few roads here where the name IS used!). The last numbered exit is 90 in East Hartford, once over the Charter Oak Bridge, where US Route 5 leaves/joins Route 15.

Very insightful. I've done some thought exercises to try to connect Exit 68 up to Exit 86 near I-91. I suppose you could have 18 exits along that stretch, but I couldn't really see a use for more than about 12.

[KEVIN_224]

Wikipedia's article gives at least some idea on what the exits could be in between Meriden and Wethersfield...IF they were numbered. There are only two grade-separated intersections in that stretch:

Berlin - To CT 9 / To CT 372
Wethersfield - CT 175 - Newington / Wethersfield

One at-grade exit is for Worthington Ridge (unsigned CT 572) in Berlin. That's what one would use to get from the Berlin Turnpike (US 5/CT 15) south to CT 9 North. One other missing exit number could be for the I-291 connection which was never built in Newington. The Conn-DOT headquarters sits on some of that land today.

[Pete from Boston]

As a kid driving with my mother on family trips to southern Maine, it was when I-86 was transitioning back to I-84, with much of the present ramps to/from I-384 and today's Buckland Street/Mall were all under construction (I-291 wouldn't come until 1994) in Manchester. I remember Ruby Road in the Tolland/Willington stretch being something like Exit 100 or 101!

This was a phenomenally confusing area at that time.  In East Hartford, near the now-abandoned movie theater, 84 became 86 going east with the inexplicable sign

84 ENDS
86 TO BOSTON

86 was still also 15 up to the Mass line at that time, and the exit numbers at this point suddenly lept from 58 or so to 90-something, following the CT 15 numbering.  All this makes sense in hindsight, but...

Then there were, of course, the "mystery" sections of 84 floating off to the east in what seemed like a no-man's-land, never growing beyond their present length, and more amazingly–not mentioned, to my recollection, on any signs on mainline 84/86!

Of course, those days were full of highway mysteries, as road plans all around the northeast were in a suspended limbo, leaving unsigned and unexplained anomalies everywhere.

I can't tell you how illuminating it was when background on things like this started appearing on the internet, because to us ignorant travelers that hadn't followed any of this being built, the State of Connecticut seemed nuts.   

[jp the roadgeek]

Reading a little bit about how I-86 was to be routed, it was originally going to follow the segment that was supposed to be known as I-491.  It was to begin at I-91 Exit 25, follow CT 3, then pass over CT 2 and join I-84 near the whole CT 15/I-384 area.  I-86 continued to the Mass Pike, and I-84 to Providence.  For years, motorists would have to get off either Roberts St or an existing exit at Forbes St to get to the I-(3)84  segment that began at Spencer St.  The Forbes St exit (91) was eliminated when I-384 was completed.  The Route 15 signs along I-86 were removed in 1980 when they were considered to be redundant; there would have been a short 4-plex of I-84, I-86, US 6, and CT 15.  NIMBYism cancelled the I-86/491 segment, and eventually 84 to Providence.  For a while in 1984, there was actually a gap in I-84; MA had reverted their segment of I-86 back to I-84, but CT had not yet, so I-84 ended in East Hartford, then magically reappeared at the state line.  The CT exits went up to 106, a continuation of the Hutch/Merritt/Wilbur Cross Parkway exits; I remember an old Ashford Motor Lodge Exit 104 sign off of the CT 89 exit.

[KEVIN_224]

I wish I had a camera to show all of that sign mess! It would've been cool to see it now! 

[Mergingtraffic]

I wish I had a camera to show all of that sign mess! It would've been cool to see it now! 

I bet the CT DOT has tons of pics.  I've heard rumors of a museum or something like it at the DOT headquarters in Newington.  Don't know for sure though. 

I remember when I-86 was changing to I-84 they had white signs saying "formerly Exit 100" etc.

[southshore720]

I'm just bothered by the number of projects CT started and never finished.  There should have been regulations that stated that if you don't have the money and the community approval to complete a project IN ITS ENTIRETY, then don't start it at all!

[NE2]

I'm just bothered by the number of projects CT started and never finished.  There should have been regulations that stated that if you don't have the money and the community approval to complete a project IN ITS ENTIRETY, then don't start it at all!

That's what the current section of independent utility process is.

[Beeper1]

The book "Route 15 - The Road To Hartford" (part of the Images of America series) is a good source of history of the entire Route 15 corridor from border to border.  Lots of shots in there of the Charter Oak Bridge and its approach roads (including the Park River Express Highway which is the section of I-91 by the Colt building).  Then there are shots later in the book of the section of the WCP east of East Hartford.  Apparently there were tolls in Tolland and a service area in Vernon, in the same style as those on the Merritt.  Even the signage was the "shingled" variety. 

Looking on old topos and historic areals, before the Wilbur Cross Highway section of I-84(86) was widened from 4 to 6 lanes in the 1980s, there were two pairs of service areas on the Connecticut section.  One was in Vernon at the site where Exit 65 is now, and the other was in Union, just west of exit 74 (the commuter parking lot on CT-171 next to the highway sits on what was the back of the EB service area).  Like the ones on the parkways they were small and had gas stations, but no restaurants. It seems they were eliminated when the highway was upgraded to interstate standards.   Not sure if the existing rest areas/welcome center in Willington replaced anything that was at that location, or if those were built new for the interstate. 

[Alps]

Discussion of number and freeway completion has been moved to Fictional Highways.

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=8842.0

[Pete from Boston]

Anyone know when the "Hartford 24" sign is from?  This is off I-84 Exit 71 (CT 320/Ruby Rd) on the westbound side in front of the former Red-Art's Service:

[agentsteel53]

great find!  I believe Conn used white guide signs until 1978.  it would be great to get an up-close shot to identify the materials.  looks to me to be "honeycomb" high intensity sheeting, based on the wear pattern, which was invented in 1971.

[dgolub]

IIRC, from the late 1960s through the mid 1970s, CT 15 between East Hartford and the MA line was called the Wilbur Cross Highway.

Still is, technically, but like most other freeway names in Connecticut ("Yankee Expressway", "Connecticut Turnpike"...) it isn't in common usage.

So is the northernmost piece of CT 15, after where it splits off from the Berlin Turnpike.  Trucks are allowed on it there, so it's called a highway rather than a parkway.

[Alps]

Anyone know when the "Hartford 24" sign is from?  This is off I-84 Exit 71 (CT 320/Ruby Rd) on the westbound side in front of the former Red-Art's Service:

Couldn't find it on Google Maps where I was expecting it to be based on that description and the visibility of I-84 behind.

[Pete from Boston]

Couldn't find it on Google Maps where I was expecting it to be based on that description and the visibility of I-84 behind.

It's here:

http://goo.gl/maps/4UoAy

Right across the street from the southern end of the gas pumps.

[Beeper1]

Not too far from there, on CT-89 northbound where it turns right after the village of Westford (about 3 miles from exit 72 off I-84) is an older white-on-green LGS that says "To Wilbur Cross Hwy".  Don't have a pic but it was there as of two weeks ago.