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There are over 200 "secret" routes in Connecticut:
highways with numbers above 400.
"Secret" is just an unofficial term for unsignposted state roads and state service roads.
Many of these are small auxiliary roads, or even long exit ramps.
The general public should never hear about secret routes, but they sometimes show up on maps, and a few road signs have even gone up. This page discusses some of the more interesting routes in the 700s. In the current numbering system, these are found in south and southwest areas of the state. See also: selected 400's, selected 500's, selected 600's, selected 800's, selected 900's, or the complete list (400-999). |
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0.81 miles; Exit 13, I-91; 3-level interchange with long ramps to US 5. Originally, this was planned as one of three New Haven-area connectors to I-91. Long-range plans in the 1960s even included SR 702 as part of a freeway roughly along Route 42, extending from Route 8 to Route 17. Though the Route 42 freeway was never more than a dotted line on regional planning maps, the state did examine less ampbitious plans to extend SR 702. In 1969, as part of a $250 million statewide plan, $1.5 million was included for engineering and land acquisition for the connector. In 1975, the state estimated it would cost $9 million to extend the route 0.7 miles west to the Hartford Turnpike, just beyond Route 15. I don't know if an interchange was planned at Route 15, also known as the Wilbur Cross Parkway; a similar connector highway, Route 40, crosses the Parkway to the south with no access at all. |
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For a few years ending in 1998, this route consisted solely of the E. Washington Avenue bridge over the Pequonnock River in Bridgeport. It was listed at 0.04 miles, about 70 yards, which would be an impressive field goal. SR 724 didn't connect to any other numbered route: a good reminder that secret routes are merely stretches of state-maintained road, and don't have to go anywhere. The SR 724 number has also been used for Arch Street in Greenwich and the first segment of the Route 40 freeway until it was completed in 1976. |
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Branford Connector (I-95 exit 53), serving as long ramps to US 1, Route 142 and Route 146. This opened in 1958 along with the Connecticut Turnpike. In 1963 it was designated SR 994, as part of a group of Turnpike spurs numbered in the 990s. In 1964, its number was changed to SR 794, to fit in with the other 700s routes in its district. |
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2.88 miles; this is the Milford Parkway, a four-lane expressway connecting Route 15 (the Merritt Parkway and Wilbur Cross Parkway), I-95, and US 1 in Milford. In 1963, this was designated SR 996, as part of a group of Turnpike spurs numbered in the 990s. In 1964, its number was changed to SR 796, to fit in with the other 700s routes in its district. |
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Access to US 1 neededIf the Merritt Parkway had been built as originally planned, there would be no Milford Parkway today: the Merritt would have turned south in Stratford to touch down at US 1 near East Main Street. Instead, the Merritt was relocated to the present-day Sikorsky Bridge crossing over the Housatonic River, and the Wilbur Cross Parkway continued northeasterly. A connection to US 1 was needed, and the "Milford Cutoff" (its original name) was constructed. It opened on Sept. 2 1942 at a cost of $800,000 (in today's terms, $0.8 million). The highway's original configuration had a trumpet interchange at the Merritt Parkway, the trumpet's "bell" to the west; and a trumpet at US 1, "bell" open to the east. With other crossings included, the parkway had five bridges in all. Modifications to the ParkwayIn 1958, the Connecticut Turnpike (today's I-95) opened, and four ramps were added at its crossing at the Milford Parkway. These ramps provide full access between I-95 and Route 15 in all directions, but no access from I-95 to US 1 using the Parkway. (However, on I-95, the next interchange is always a stone's throw away; access to US 1 was available at nearby points.) In the mid-1990s the Parkway was extended slightly. The trumpet was inverted horizontally so that the loop ramp was to the east instead of from the west; and ramps from these ramps (ramplets?) were added to Willington Road Extension. Recent newsIn April 2003 the Milford Parkway was named the "Daniel S. Wasson Connector," honoring a police officer slain in the line of duty 16 years previously. The state in 2003 modified the end of the ramp onto US 1 northbound to create more of a 90-degree angle. |
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Updated Dec 1, 2009 |
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