Connecticut Route 9

Route 9 is a 40.89-mile (65.81 km), 4-lane freeway beginning in Old Saybrook and ending at I-84 near the Farmington-West Hartford town line. It connects the Eastern Coastline of the state along with the Lower Connecticut River Valley to Hartford and the Capital Region.

Route 9
Route information
Maintained by ConnDOT
Length	40.89 mi (65.81 km)
Existed	1932[1] (truncated in 1969)–present
Major junctions
South end	I-95 / US 1 in Old Saybrook
	Route 17 / Route 66 in Middletown Route 99 in Cromwell I-91 in Cromwell Route 372 / US 5 / Route 15 / Berlin Turnpike in Berlin Route 72 in New Britain
North end	I-84 / US 6 at the Farmington–West Hartford town line
Location
Counties	Middlesex, Hartford
Highway system
Routes in Connecticut Interstate U.S. State SSR SR ← Route 8 → Route 9A ← Route 9 N.E. → Route 11

Route description

Route 9 is a 4 lane freeway for most of its entire length. It begins at I-95/U.S. 1 Exit 69, on the west bank of the Connecticut River. It runs northwesterly, parallel to the river for approximately 25 miles (40 km) between Old Saybrook and Route 99 in Cromwell. Along the river, it passes through the towns of Essex, Deep River, Chester, Haddam, and Middletown). After its junction with Interstate 91 in Cromwell, Route 9 continues westward then northward, running through the Hartford area towns/cities of Berlin, New Britain, Newington, and Farmington. At the junction with I-84/US 6 near the Farmington - West Hartford town line, Route 9 follows the ramps for eastbound I-84 and ends at the merge with I-84 immediately after crossing the town line.

Route 9 has a non-freeway portion in the downtown area of Middletown, where it overlaps with Route 17. The non-freeway portion is 0.35 miles (0.56 km) in length and consists of two at-grade intersections with traffic lights (signed as Exits 15 and 16), and one median break to allow access to and from Miller Street. One of these intersections is where Route 17 leaves Route 9 to join Route 66. ConnDOT may soon consider upgrading the at-grade interchanges of the expressway and make on/off ramps.[2] [3]

The section from I-95 in Old Saybrook to I-91 in Cromwell is known as the Chester Bowles Highway. The section from I-91 in Cromwell to Exit 24 in Berlin is known as the Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway. The section from Route 72 in New Britain to Route 175 in Newington is known as the Taras Shevchenko Expressway. The section from Route 175 in Newington to the junction with I-84 is known as the Iwo Jima Memorial Expressway.

History

The road connecting Deep River (then known as Saybrook) and Wethersfield along the west bank of the Connecticut River was a toll road known as the Middlesex Turnpike, which operated from 1802 to 1876. Another toll road running from Hartford to the northwest corner of Granby was known as the Granby Turnpike and operated from 1800 to 1854.

The state took over maintenance of trunk highways at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1922, New England began publicly numbering its state roads. The road running from Old Saybrook to the Massachusetts state line in Granby was designated as part of Route 10, a multi-state route continuing all the way to northern New Hampshire. The portion of New England Route 10 in Connecticut used the alignments of the Middlesex and Granby Turnpikes. In the 1932 state highway renumbering, Route 10 was relocated to a different alignment beginning in New Haven instead. The Old Saybrook to Granby road was designated as Route 9.[1]

In the mid-1950s and early 1960s, various plans for a freeway along the Route 9 alignment were developed. Construction also began on the Old Saybrook to Cromwell segment around this time. The freeway from I-95 to I-91 was completely open by 1969. Old Route 9 south of Middletown was re-designated as Route 9A (later to be designated as Route 154).

Several options were considered and then later abandoned for the freeway portion through Hartford and points north. By the mid-1960s, a Route 9 freeway alignment through Hartford was finally abandoned. Route 9 was truncated to end at I-91 in Cromwell instead. The portion of old Route 9 from Hartford to Granby was assigned as an extension of Route 189, while the Cromwell to Hartford segment that was not upgraded to freeway was re-designated as Route 99.

In 1979, the eastern end of the Route 72 freeway up to the Berlin Turnpike was completed, including a connector to the planned alignment of Interstate 291 in New Britain. By this time, however, this portion of Interstate 291 had been deleted from the state's Interstate network. By 1989, a freeway connection was completed between the north end of Route 9 at I-91 and the east end of Route 72 at the Berlin Turnpike. Route 72 was truncated to end at the I-291 connector while Route 9 was extended along the deleted portion of the Route 72 freeway. Route 9 also took over the I-291 connector, which was extended in 1986 to Route 175.

In 1992 Route 9 was finally connected to I-84 in Farmington using a portion of the cancelled I-291 right of way, completing Route 9 as it exists today. The segment between I-84 in Farmington and I-91 in Cromwell serves the areas through which the southwest leg of I-291 was to be built.

Exit list

Exit numbers are currently sequential, but are scheduled to be converted to mile-based numbering starting in 2022.

County	Location	mi	km	Old exit	New exit	Destinations	Notes
Middlesex	Old Saybrook	0.00– 0.40	0.00– 0.64	—	1A-B	I-95 / US 1 – New London, Providence, New Haven, New York City	Exit 69 on I-95 / US 1; exit 1B for I-95 SB and 1A for I-95 NB
		0.61	0.98	1	-	Ferry Point	Northbound exit and southbound entrance via Essex Road
		1.54	2.48	2	1C	Route 154 (Middlesex Turnpike) – Old Saybrook	Southbound signed as Exit 1
	Essex	3.91	6.29	3	4	Route 154 to Route 153 – Essex, Westbrook, Centerbrook
		5.21	8.38	4	5	Route 154 (Middlesex Turnpike) – Centerbrook
	Deep River	7.01	11.28	5	7	Route 80 – Deep River, Killingworth
	Chester	8.93	14.37	6	9	Route 148 – Chester, Hadlyme
		10.69	17.20	7	11	Route 82 east – East Haddam, Colchester, Moodus	West end of Route 82
	Haddam	13.93	22.42	8	14	Beaver Meadow Road – Haddam
		15.74	25.33	9	16	Route 81 – Higganum, Killingworth, Clinton
	Higganum	19.43	31.27	10	19	Route 154 south / Aircraft Road – Higganum	North end of Route 154
	Middletown	21.31	34.30	11	21	Route 155 west (Randolph Road) to Route 17 – Durham	East end of Route 155
		22.41 22.86	36.07 36.79	12	22	Bow Lane (northbound) / Silver Street (southbound) – Harbor Areat
		23.34	37.56	13	23	Route 17 south – New Haven	South end of Route 17 concurrency; no northbound exit
		23.70	38.14	14	24A	DeKoven Drive – Harbor Area	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		23.94	38.53	15	24B	To Route 66 west – Middletown, Meriden	At-grade intersection
		24.29	39.09	16	24C	Route 17 north to Route 66 east – Portland, Willimantic	At-grade intersection; north end of Route 17 concurrency
		24.46	39.36	17	-	Miller Street / Bridge Street	At-grade intersection
	Cromwell	25.30	40.72	18	25	Route 99 north – Cromwell, Rocky Hill	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; south end of Route 99
		27.61	44.43	19	27	Route 372 (West Street) – Cromwell
		29.28– 29.58	47.12– 47.60	20	29	I-91 – Hartford, Springfield, New Haven, New York City	Exits 22N-S on I-91; signed as Exits 20N (north) & 20S (south). New exit numbers will be signed as Exits 29A (north) & 29B (south).
Hartford	Berlin	31.68 32.16	50.98 51.76	21	31	Route 372 to US 5 / Route 15 north – East Berlin US 5 / Route 15 – Hartford, New Haven	Northbound exit and southbound entrance Southbound exit and entrance only
		32.29 32.37	51.97 52.09	22	32	US 5 / Route 15 south – New Haven Route 372 (Mill Street)	Northbound exit and entrance only Southbound exit only. Northbound access at Exit 21 (future Exit 32).
		33.05	53.19	23	33	Christian Lane – Berlin	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		34.07	54.83	24	34	To Route 372 / Route 71 – Kensington	Northbound exit and southbound entrance. Unsigned SR 571
	New Britain	35.13	56.54	25	35A	NB: Ellis Street SB: To Route 71 – Kensington	Future southbound signage will no longer reference Ellis St; Signed as Exit 35 southbound
		35.39	56.95	26	35B	Columbus Boulevard – Downtown New Britain	Northbound exit only
		35.74	57.52	27	36A	Chestnut Street	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		35.84– 36.40	57.68– 58.58	28	36B	Route 72 west to I-84 – Bristol	Northbound signed as Exit 36
		36.08	58.07	28A	36C	East Main Street – Downtown New Britain	Southbound exit only
	Newington	37.95– 38.33	61.07– 61.69	29	38	Route 175 – Newington	Southbound exit and northbound entrance are via Ella Grasso Boulevard
	New Britain	39.48	63.54	30	39	Route 71 – Corbins Corner
	Farmington–West Hartford line	40.89	65.81	31-32	40A-B	I-84 / US 6 – Hartford, Waterbury	Signed as Exits 31 (east) and 32 (west); Exit 39A on I-84 / US 6. Future signage will contain exit numbers.
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

References

1. "Road Conditions in Connecticut". The Hartford Daily Courant. August 6, 1932. p. 13. Retrieved December 24, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "Connecticut Route 9". Retrieved 2010-01-02.
3. "CT DOT Construction Route 9" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-05-15.

• Connecticut State Highway Log (2006)
• kurumi.com - History of the many alignment changes Scott Oglesby
• kurumi.com Connecticut Route 506 Scott Oglesby
• nycroads.com - Route 9 Expressway Steve Anderson
• CT 9 (Greater New York Roads)

External links