This site is organized by route number, since that's a natural way to identify most highways in Connecticut. However, a few major routes have well-known names; in some cases (Merritt Parkway) the name is preferred to the number (15).

If you prefer looking for the Post Road or Whitehead Highway instead of first having to translate to US 1 and SR 598, this page is for you: a cross-reference to other pages explaining the highway.

Nearly every highway has a name as well as a route number; but most of those names won't be found here. Specifically, I don't include:

• Local street names. Though they may be used in place of the route number locally, they don't have statewide or historical interest.
• Commemorative names. Many freeways and surfaces routes are named after veterans, political figures, and even slain police officers. I don't intend disrespect to any of the honored; but with few exceptions (Merritt, Wilbur Cross and so on) the names are not used by laypersons and are not of historical interest. See related commentary at the end of this page
• 19th-century turnpikes. These are worthy of study, and one of these years I'll have a section on the more than 100 toll roads proposed and built in the 1800s.
• Early 20th century named roads. There were dozens of these, often named after the cities they connected, and marked by a system of colored bands on poles. They immediately predated the first numbering system set up in 1922. I'll eventually cover these as well, but they're too obscure to include here.

With so many exclusions, the following list should be all rights be empty... but a few named roads have sneaked through. Here they are.

Name	Location, comments
Berlin Turnpike	US 5 and CT 15 between Meriden and Wethersfield.
Boston Post Road	This important early road will get better treatment here in the future. Most are familiar with its association with US 1, but there were actually three roads, of which the Lower Road followed US 1. The Upper Road followed US 5 to Springfield, and the Middle Road went by way of Hartford and Pomfret, before all three reunited in Boston. (That's why there are otherwise disconcerting bits of "Boston Post Road" in places like Windham.)
Branford Connector	The long ramps serving I-95 exit 53, to US 1 and CT 146 in Branford. Officially this is SR 794.
Cedar Ridge Connector	This early 1960s expressway proposal, from I-84 in Hartford to Route 15 in Wethersfield, was the reason for the Flatbush Avenue connector ramps (SR 504).
College Highway	One of the more famous "named roads" of the early 1900s, the College Highway (Route 10) extends from New Haven to Northampton, Mass., both well-known college towns.
Conland - Whitehead Highway	Also called the Whitehead Highway (there was some argument about this); extended from the Charter Oak Bridge approach to Pulaski Circle in Hartford. Now, this is part of I-91 and all of SR 598. It was once to be part of the cancelled Interstate 484.
Connecticut Turnpike	I-95 from the New York state line to I-395 in Waterford; I-395 from I-95 to SR 695; and SR 695, the spur that meets US 6 at the Rhode Island state line. This was renamed the Gov. John Davis Lodge Turnpike in 1985.
Danielson Connector	No longer exists; this was a 2-lane spur northward from the Connecticut Turnpike, where I-395 and SR 695 now diverge, to US 6 at Danielson. This was widened in 1962 to become part of what is now I-395.
East Hartford - Glastonbury Expressway	The narrow parts of Routes 2 and 17, from Main Street in East Hartford to Main Street nearing South Glastonbury. South of Hubbard Street, it's a "Super 2"; two lanes, access fully controlled.
East Rock Connector	A proposed but cancelled four-lane expressway connector from I-91 exit 6 (Willow Street) in New Haven to Whitney Avenue at Armory Street in Hamden.
Glastonbury Expressway	See East Hartford-Glastonbury Expressway, above.
Hartford Bypass	Older name for the planned South Meadows Expressway and Charter Oak approach; the first expressways in Hartford. Now part of Route 15.
Hartford - New Britain Expressway	Planned (1950s) 4.2-mile expressway from the Berlin Turnpike, across southern Newington into New Britain. This could have been part of the US 6 relocation, and even future I-84, but both were relocated to West Hartford and Hartford in the late 1950s. See Newington Roads for more information.
Meriden Cutoff	The part of CT 15 that swings by downtown Meriden to the east.
Merritt Parkway	The Queen of All Parkways and Connecticut's first modern highway, extending from the New York state line to the Housatonic River bridge at Stratford. It's part of CT 15, but it's gauche to say so in public.
Milford Cutoff	Older name for the Milford Parkway.
Milford Parkway	The short expressway from CT 15 (Merritt Parkway) to I-95 and US 1 in Milford. Has no posted route number of its own, but is officially SR 796.
Mohegan Trail	Reportedly the first named road designated by the state; this is Route 12 from Norwich to the Massachusetts state line. The source doesn't say whether this is historical Route 12 along the Thames, which is now part of Route 32.
North Meadows Expressway	A 1940s name for what is now I-91 from the Bulkeley Bridge to Main Street in Hartford.
Oak Street Connector	The short Route 34 expressway in New Haven. Part transportation project, part urban renewal ("Oak Street" was the neighborhood cleared for Route 34's path).
Post Road	See Boston Post Road, above.
Route 1 Connector	A two-lane arterial road once proposed to connect US 1 with Route 34 east of the the West Haven - Orange town line. Details on the Route 34 page.
Sherwood Island Connector	The controlled-access road from US 1 to I-95 and Sherwood Island state park in Westport. This was once planned to extend to the Merritt Parkway. Officially this is SR 476.
Silver Street Connector	A 1940s name for a section of expressway in Waterbury that's now part of I-84. Silver Street is part of CT 69 north of I-84.
South Meadows Expressway	A 1940s name for US 5 and CT 15 from the Berlin Turnpike in Wethersfield to the Charter Oak Bridge in Hartford.
Whitehead Highway	See Conland - Whitehead Highway, above.
Wilbur Cross Parkway	Extends from the Housatonic River bridge (and eastern terminus of the Merritt Parkway) to the Berlin Turnpike north of Meriden. Like the Merritt, this is part of CT 15.
Wilbur Cross Highway	Not the same as the Parkway; this highway extends from the top of the Berlin Turnpike in Wethersfield to the Massachusetts state line in Union. Until 1980, this was all part of CT 15; now most of it is Interstate 84.
Woods River Expressway	Used from the 1940s through the 1960s for the proposed CT 189 expressway.

More on Commemorative Names

One reason I don't track all honorific or memorial names attached to roads and bridges: there are dozens and dozens of them, and the practice is accelerating. As of November 2002, there are about 187 bridges, highway segments, and so on given memorial names. More than one-third of these were granted in the previous five years.

Sponsoring a bill to give a stretch of highway a ceremonial name is relatively easy to do, makes for good press, and doesn't invite much opposition: after all, coming out against an act that honors a veterans group, policeman or firefighter is not smart politics... especially after September 11. We should expect the memorial trend to continue for a while.

Sources include:

• "After $55 million: Concrete Octopus Opens Waterbury." Hartford Courant, clipping missing date and month, 1966.
• "A Road By Any Other Name . . ." New York Times, Oct. 19, 2003.
• "Tributes line Connecticut's highways, bridges." Stamford Advocate, Nov. 3, 2002.