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 | Number changes For a short time, Route 262 followed the old Route 8 into Waterbury, where
the new Route 8 freeway temporarily ended. Scan from 1965 official state map.
By the late 1950s, the Plymouth portion, known as South Street and South Main Street, carried significant traffic between downtown Plymouth and Waterbury. In January 1957, state representatives from the city submitted a bill to have the state take over those streets, extending from US 6 to the Waterbury city line. In a March 1957 meeting of South Street residents, most opposed including it in the state highway system. A few bills submitted died in committee, but on June 19, 1959, South Street from US 6 to the town line was accepted as a state highway: SR 862. In March 1961, the state Highway Department announced that Spruce Brook Road in Terryville would be included in the state highway reclassification. On Aug. 20, 1962, the state took over Spruce Brook Road, completing a state-maintained route from US 6 in Terryville to Waterbury Road, which was then part of Route 8. The highway was still called SR 862, and not signposted. On Mar. 4, 1963, SR 862 was given a non-secret route number, and became Route 262. On Nov. 23, 1964, six miles of the Route 8 freeway opened in the area, from Huntingdon Avenue in Waterbury to Route 109 in Thomaston. The route was not yet complete to the south; Route 8 continued on surface streets into Waterbury, using Huntingdon Avenue and Thomaston Avenue. Route 262 was extended south along Waterbury Road and Thomaston Avenue, former Route 8, to the new alignment of Route 8 at Huntingdon Avenue. The portion of old Route 8 north of Route 262 became unposted SR 848. On Sept. 20, 1965, another segment of Route 8 freeway opened, extending south to W. Main Street. Two months later, in November 1965, the Highway Department announced more number changes to old Route 8. Route 262 was removed from the Spruce Brook Road to Huntingdon Avenue portion; SR 848 was removed from Spruce Brook Road to Frost Bridge Road. The article doesn't mention Route 262 being extended over Frost Bridge Road into Watertown, but that eventually did happen. Yes, that would be a good ideaThe original freeway plan for Route 8 did not include an interchange at Frost Bridge Road (future Route 262). In August 1961 (and again a year later), at the prodding of local residents and businesses, the state announced a full interchange would be constructed. The decision makes sense considering Route 262's role as a connector to Route 8. Improvements and ConstructionIn the early 1960s, the Plymouth section of Route 262 was improved and realigned. In 1966, work started to widen and realign Route 262 for a length of one mile easterly from old Route 8. In March 1969, the state announced it would seek bids for a new segment of Route 262 in Watertown, leading from Buckingham Street (Route 262 and SR 855) to Frost Bridge Road. The connector would form "part of a high speed road from [Thomaston] to Waterbury. The 1.5-mile connector was built around 1972, and appears to have no street name other than Route 262. It is three lanes wide, including a climbing lane in the westbound direction. By this time, the definition of Route 262 would be extended over Buckingham Street to US 6 in Watertown. In 1970, the state Transportation Commission held a public hearing concerning proposed improvements, including realignment, of one mile of Route 262 starting about 0.3 miles east of former Route 8. In 1975, the state proposed realigning 0.7 mile of Route 262 (South Street) in Plymouth, between Lake Plymouth and Tomlinson Road. Work began in August of that year. |
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| Commissioned in 1963; most of it was formerly unposted SR 863. This route originally extended only from US 44 to Winchester Center, and the state circa 1960 was planning to turn it over to the town. However, local officials persuaded the state to retain the road, and extend state maintenance from Winchester Center to Route 72 (now Route 272) in Goshen. In a related matter, the state announced it would not be necessary to take over another local road, Smith Hill Road in the northern section of Winchester, which was once mulled as a possible extension to Route 182. In 1963, SR 863 became Route 263, yet the road was not improved right away. In 1979, Winsted mayor Kingsley H. Beecher called Route 263 the most neglected highway in the state, and "in deplorable condition." Frost heaves and potholes vexed not only area residents, but firefighters as well, as the bumpy road caused them to drop equipment, boots and hats. In 1998, the road was resurfaced along a 1.92-mile stretch leading to US 44. |
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| 17.96 miles; from Route 4 in Torrington to the Massachusetts state line. The road continues past the border as a local road. |
| Before 1932, the segment between Route 4 and US 44 was called State Highway 312. On Jan. 1, 1932, SH 312 became Route 49, a number that fit in with other highways (41, 43, 45, 47) in the area. On May 1, 1954, Route 72 was extended from Plymouth to the state line via Torrington, incorporating all of former Route 49. In 1963, planners in the state highway reclassification decided a long Route 72 was not useful, and truncated it to Route 4 in Harwinton. The old Route 72 north of Route 4 got a new, rhyming designation: Route 272. Route 372 is also a former alignment of Route 72. |
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| Route 275 was commissioned in 1963 from a set of local roads. As there was no pre-existing route number there (unlike Routes 262, 263 and 272), the 275 number appears to be arbitrary. At first, local and state agencies were concerned with safety improvements to the road; into the 1970s, there were nascent plans to extend the highway west to a proposed interchange with I-84 near Andover. In July 1966, Mansfield citizens met with the state Highway Department, asking for the removal of several safety hazards, including blind intersections, steep banks and grades, and sharp curves. The next year, a public hearing was held to discuss growing traffic, mostly to and from the University of Connecticut (aka UConn). In June 1967, a bill headed to the state house included $1 million to improve Route 275 from Route 32 to Old Eagleville Road. That bill failed, but a substitute bill funded a $1 million bridge over the railroad and Willimantic River, replacing old one-lane bridges across each. At some point this bridge was completed, and Route 275 was realigned in the area, but I don't have a date for it. Extension to US 6 (I-84) freeway proposedIn 1969, the state proposed extending Route 275 west to an interchange with I-84 (also proposed, and to this date still unbuilt) near Andover. The interchange would be built near or at Parker Bridge Road. The extended Route 275 would cross Route 31 south of their present intersection. Local residents and officials asked that proposed new access roads at UConn be built first, as otherwise the extended Route 275 would dump more traffic on Route 195. In December 1970, a local petition opposing the Route 275 extension was circulated. However, ConnDOT replied that there were no plans to extend the highway at that time. The following year, Mansfield came out in favor of a north-south alignment for Route 275; details are missing, but the road would probably connect to the upcoming section of I-84 (now US 6) bypassing Willimantic. The I-84/US 6 freeway from Bolton to Columbia continued to be an issue throughout the 1970s, as well as the interchange at Parker Bridge Road. In January 1979, local officials favored the interchange, but expressed concern about UConn traffic there. ConnDOT stated again that there were no plans to improve Route 275. Eagleville bypass proposedIn June 1971, a southern bypass of Eagleville for Route 275 was proposed. The two-lane road would cross Route 32 on new alignment. |
 | As of 2001, the state still planned a realignment between Separatist Road and Route 32, along with improvements from there to Route 31. The scope of the work would depend on whether the US 6 expressway is completed. |
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| Route 286 was commissioned in 1963, mainly from a set of local roads. I haven't found any information on why the road was added to the state highway system, or where the 286 number comes from. The segment of Main Street between the Route 140 connector and Route 83 was formerly part of Route 140. Here's a picture: 
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| Commissioned in 1969 or 1970 from SR 544 and SR 760. However, Route 287 wasn't numbered on the official state map until 1975. If not for I-684...Curiously enough, a one-mile segment of interstate highway in Greenwich had an indirect effect on Route 287's numbering. In 1969, I-684 had opened, but as part of Interstate 87. To avoid a number conflict, Connecticut was preparing to renumber its own Route 87 to 287. When the change date arrived, however, New York was already seeking to change I-87 to I-684. Connecticut delayed its 87 to 287 change, and when I-684 was approved, it cancelled the change. Shortly afterward, the 287 designation (probably fresh in DOT workers' minds) was used for today's route. |
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| Originally part of Route 89, Route 289 got its own number on Dec. 1, 1964, when Route 89 was truncated to the Route 195 junction in Mansfield. This was done so Route 195 would extend to Willimantic instead of 89, possibly to aid navigation to the University of Connecticut, on Route 195 in Storrs. In Lebanon, south of Burnham Road, a small side road on Route 289 is still called "Old Route 89". In 1935, today's Route 289 was known as the Beaumont Memorial Highway. |
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| No longer assigned as a state road; the number is used by I-291. On Dec. 16, 1957, the Bissell Bridge opened, connecting Wolcott Street in Windsor to a short freeway leading to US 5 in East Hartford. A diamond interchange on I-91 provided access to the four-lane bridge approach on the west side. The access roads were state-maintained, but not given a signed route number; internally, the designation was SR 487.  State route 291 and the Bissell Bridge approaches predated I-291 by more than 30 years.
Scan from official Connecticut State map, 1989.
The only other instance of a state number being used the same way is state route 95 in Groton and Stonington, which served as a continuation of I-95 until it was completed in the area in 1964. Old state route 95 is now Route 184. In 1992, I-291 was partially complete, leading from I-91 to US 5. State route 291 markers came down; the freeway became I-291, and the surface street portion in Windsor became part of an extended Route 218. |
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| Circa 1930, State Highway 299 followed today's Route 341 between Route 45 and US 202. SH 299 is an offbeat number; in the years before 1932, the state had generally used numbers in order starting at 100 (primary) and 300 (secondary). The 100's had overflowed into the 200's by that time, but only as high as about 226. The 300's had not overflowed at all. In that context, 299 is out of place. |
Updated Aug 27, 2007
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