Connecticut Route 15

Route 15
Route information
Maintained by ConnDOT
Length	83.53 mi[1] (134.43 km)
Existed	1932 (relocated 1948) – present
Restrictions	No commercial vehicles, trailers, towed vehicles, buses, or hearses on Merritt and Wilbur Cross Parkways[2]
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 US 5 in Meriden Route 9 in Berlin Route 2 in East Hartford
North end	I-84 / US 6 in East Hartford
Location
Counties	Fairfield, New Haven, Hartford
Highway system
Routes in Connecticut Interstate U.S. State SSR SR ← 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

Route 15 begins at the New York border as the Hutchinson River Parkway becomes the Merritt Parkway, a 37.27 mile landscaped limited-access road with many sharp curves and low overpasses. The parkway proceeds in a mostly east-northeasterly direction. Major junctions along the parkway include US 7 in Norwalk, and the Route 8 expressway in Trumbull. As Route 15 crosses the Housatonic River on the Igor I. Sikorsky Memorial Bridge from Fairfield County into New Haven County, it becomes the 29.46 mile Wilbur Cross Parkway, which continues in the same east-northeasterly direction before turning more northeasterly in North Haven. Major junctions include the Milford Parkway (SR 796), a connector providing access to Interstate 95 and US 1 beginning just east of the Sikorsky Bridge; US 5 in Wallingford; and a complex set of interchanges in Meriden providing access to I-91, I-691, and the Route 66 expressway. The parkway ends about a mile north of I-691 as US 5 joins Route 15 and the road becomes a four-lane divided highway with signalized and at-grade intersections known as the Berlin Turnpike. After entering Hartford County, it meets the Route 9 expressway at a complex interchange in Berlin. After 11.21 miles on the turnpike, Route 15 and US 5 become the Wilbur Cross Highway in Wethersfield as the Berlin Turnpike becomes Route 314. After another complex interchange with I-91, it crosses the Connecticut River on the Charter Oak Bridge between Hartford and East Hartford. US 5 leaves the expressway just after the bridge in an interchange that also provides access to the Route 2 expressway. After 5.64 miles on the Wilbur Cross Highway, Route 15 ends as it merges into I-84 east. ^[3]

There are vehicle restrictions on the Merritt and Wilbur Cross Parkways (e.g., no trucks).^[2]

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.^[4]

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.^[4][5]

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 1968, 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 15/84 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.^[5]

Exit list

County	Location	mi	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Fairfield	Greenwich	0.00	0.00	–	Hutchinson River Parkway south – New Rochelle, Whitestone Bridge	Continuation into New York; exit numbers continue south along Hutchinson Parkway
		0.05	0.080	27	NY 120A north (King Street) – Armonk, NY
		3.48	5.60	28	Round Hill Road – Greenwich	To Greenwich business district
		4.69	7.55	29	Lake Avenue – Greenwich
		5.65	9.09	31	North Street – Greenwich	To Greenwich business district
	Stamford	8.90	14.32	33	Den Road – Stamford
		9.48	15.26	34	Route 104 (Long Ridge Road) – Stamford, Long Ridge	To Downtown Stamford and University of Connecticut Stamford campus
		10.67	17.17	35	Route 137 (High Ridge Road) – Stamford, High Ridge
	New Canaan	13.24	21.31	36	Route 106 (Old Stamford Road) – New Canaan, Springdale
		14.14	22.76	37	Route 124 – New Canaan, Darien
	Norwalk	15.88	25.56	38	Route 123 (New Canaan Avenue) – New Canaan, Norwalk	To Norwalk Community College
		17.30	27.84	39	US 7 to I-95 – Norwalk, Danbury	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; signed as exits 39A (south) and 39B (north); interchange redesign in proposal stage[6]
		17.58	28.29	40	Main Avenue to US 7 – Norwalk, Danbury	Signed as exits 40A (south) and 40B (north); no northbound signage for US 7
	Westport	20.65	33.23	41	Route 33 – Westport, Wilton
		21.57	34.71	42	Route 57 – Westport, Weston
	Fairfield	27.04	43.52	44	Route 58 – Fairfield, Redding	To Fairfield business district and Fairfield University
		28.53	45.91	46	Route 59 – Fairfield, Easton	To General Electric Headquarters
	Trumbull	29.23	47.04	47	Park Avenue – Trumbull	To University of Bridgeport and Sacred Heart University
		30.58	49.21	48	Route 111 (Main Street) – Long Hill, Monroe	Single-point urban interchange
		32.17	51.77	49S	Route 25 south – Bridgeport	No southbound exit; exit 7 on Route 25
				49N	Route 25 north – Danbury	Signed as exit 49 southbound; exit 7 on Route 25
		32.76	52.72	50	Route 127 – Trumbull	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		33.73	54.28	51	Route 108 (Nichols Avenue) – Trumbull, Stratford	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		34.14	54.94	52	Route 8 to Route 108 – Bridgeport, Waterbury	Signed as exits 52N (north) and 52S (south); northbound access to Route 8 south is via exit 51
	Stratford	36.87	59.34	53	Route 110 – Stratford, Shelton
Housatonic River		37.27– 37.62	59.98– 60.54	Igor I. Sikorsky Memorial Bridge North end of Merritt Parkway, south end of Wilbur Cross Parkway
New Haven	Milford	37.79	60.82	54	To I-95 / US 1 – Milford, New London	Access via Milford Parkway
		38.37	61.75	55A	Wheelers Farms Road	Signed as exit 55 southbound
		38.49	61.94	55B	Wolf Harbor Road	Northbound exit only
	Orange	41.49	66.77	56	Route 121 – Orange
		42.83	68.93	57-58	Route 34 – New Haven, Derby	Cloverleaf interchange; signed as exits 57 (east) and 58 (west)
	New Haven	46.51– 46.75	74.85– 75.24	59	Route 63 / Route 69 – Woodbridge, New Haven
	Woodbridge	47.14– 47.37	75.86– 76.23	Heroes Tunnel (formerly West Rock Tunnel)
	Hamden	50.21	80.81	60	Route 10 – Hamden, New Haven
		51.58	83.01	61	Whitney Avenue – Hamden, New Haven	Signed as exits 61 (New Haven) and 62 (Hamden) southbound
		51.99	83.67	62	Dixwell Avenue	Northbound exit and entrance
		52.67	84.76		Route 40 – Hamden, North Haven	Proposed interchange
	North Haven	53.33	85.83	63	Route 22 – North Haven
	Wallingford	58.38	93.95	64	Wallingford	Access via South Turnpike Road / Quinnipiac Street
		58.66	94.40	65	Route 150 – Yalesville
		61.08	98.30	66	US 5 – Wallingford, Meriden
	Meriden	63.14	101.61	—	ConnDOT Maintenance Facility	Also serves Miller Avenue
		64.13	103.21	67S	I-91 south – New Haven, New York City	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; exit 17 on I-91
		64.32	103.51	67W	East Main Street	Signed as exit 67 northbound
		64.83	104.33	68N-E	I-91 north to Route 66 east – Hartford, Middletown	Northbound exit and southbound entrance, signed as exits 68N (I-91) and 68E (Route 66)
		65.26	105.03	68W	I-691 west – Meriden, Waterbury	No southbound exit; exits 9-10 on I-691
		66.89	107.65	—	US 5 south (North Broad Street) to Route 66 / I-691 – Meriden	South end of US 5 concurrency; north end of Wilbur Cross Parkway; southbound exit and northbound entrance
Hartford	Berlin	71.58– 71.94	115.20– 115.78		Route 9 south – Middletown	Interchange; exits 21-22 on Route 9
					Route 372 to Route 9 north – New Britain, East Berlin, Kensington	Interchange; southbound access via Worthington Ridge Road (SR 572)
		72.76	117.10		Route 160 east – Rocky Hill	West end of Route 160
	Newington	74.26	119.51		Route 173 north – West Hartford	South end of Route 173
		74.88	120.51		Route 176 north – Newington	South end of Route 176
		76.27	122.74		Route 287 west – Newington	West end of Route 287 concurrency
		76.34	122.86		Route 287 east – Wethersfield	Eastern end of Route 287 concurrency
	Wethersfield	76.97	123.87		Route 175 – Newington, New Britain, Wethersfield	Interchange
		77.89	125.35		Route 314 east (Berlin Turnpike) to Maple Avenue	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; south end of the Wilbur Cross Highway
		79.81	128.44	85	Route 99 south – Wethersfield, Rocky Hill
	Hartford	80.39	129.38	86	I-91 south – New Haven, New York City	Exits 28-29 on I-91
		80.78	130.00	87	Brainard Road / Airport Road / I-91 south – Brainard Airport	No northbound signage for I-91; exit 27 on I-91
		81.27	130.79	89	I-91 north to I-84 west – Hartford, Springfield	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; exit 28 on I-91
	Connecticut River	81.56– 82.21	131.26– 132.30	Charter Oak Bridge
	East Hartford	81.95	131.89	90	US 5 north (Main Street) to Route 2 / East River Drive – Norwich	North end of US 5 concurrency; no southbound signage for Route 2
		82.97	133.53	91	Silver Lane (SR 502)	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		83.53	134.43	–	I-84 east (US 6 east) – Boston	Exit 57 on I-84
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access       Route transition       Unopened

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Connecticut Route 15.

• CT 15 (Greater New York Roads)

Route map: