See the Route 80 page.

15.75 miles; US 1 in Clinton to Route 154 in Higganum. There's an interesting 5-ramp interchange at Route 9, with direct access to 9 north from 81 north.

A Route 81 freeway? Only in fiction: the plot of T. E. D. Klein's short story "Petey" hinges on a state plan for upgrading Route 81.

(In some editions, including the "Dark Gods" collection, the highway is instead Route 501; but Route 81 is more appropriate for the story's Clinton or Killingworth location. I do not know which number was used first. Did 81 replace 501 for verisimilitude; or did 501 replace 81 to minimize any potential notoriety for the fictional "highway department" that some would read as ConnDOT? SR 501 is the once-planned I-84 spur into West Hartford Center.)

Commissioned in 1932, from the old State Highway 106.

See the Route 82 page.

33 miles; from Route 2 in Glastonbury to I-91 in Springfield, Mass. 27.54 miles in Connecticut. The segment (called Main Street) in Manchester between Hartford Road and Center Street (US 6/44) is town-maintained, and sometimes shows up as a "gap" of non-state highway on maps.

Route 83 is four lanes wide through much of Manchester and Vernon. There's a 5-ramp interchange at I-384. Originally there would have been seven ramps, but the diagonal and loop ramps in the southwest quadrant were removed from the design.

Route 83 is busiest in Manchester and Vernon, and quiet in other towns. In Glastonbury, however, northbound traffic exhibits a surprising surge after midnight, as cars leaving the casinos to the southeast use it as a shortcut back to Manchester.

The part between Manchester and the Massachusetts state line was originally (1926) called Route 108. Also at that time, the part from Glastonbury to South Manchester was called Route 164. In 1932, Route 83 was created, and its alignment has remained constant except for a few straightened curves. Old Manchester Road in East Glastonbury follows the older alignment of the highway around the rim of a valley.

Some 1950s and 1960s maps show a gap in Glastonbury or Main Street in Manchester; this reflects the lack of state funding for parts of the road in that era. As far as I can tell, the route was still signed Route 83 in the town-funded portions. In 1963, almost all of Route 83 became state-funded. Manchester's Main Street between Hartford Road and Center Street is still city-maintained.

Relocating Route 83

In December 1958, a recommendation for the new Route 2 freeway included a new interchange between exits 9 and 10 for a relocated Route 83. The report doesn't say whether the relocation would be a freeway; since Route 83 wasn't the subject of the report, even the proposed alignment was vague, starting at the "elbow" in Route 2 south of Eastbury School, and paralleling Manchester Road to the west until reaching Route 94.

In 1967, the Capitol Region Planning Agency proposed an expressway in the Route 83 corridor. Starting at Route 2 north of East Glastonbury, the highway would continue east of Keeney Street into Manchester at the Parkade. Continuing north, it would straddle the Vernon - South Windsor town line, then swing west to the East Windsor - Ellington town line, then cross into Massachusetts west of the Enfield state prison farm.

The CRPA didn't propose a number for this highway, but Route 83 seems like a natural choice.

If all the 1967 proposals had been built, the "Route 83" expressway would intersect several others: Route 2, I-384, I-84, a proposed Route 20, and a proposed Route 190.

To my knowledge, this proposal never made it past the long-range planning stage.

Traffic growing in Vernon

Traffic along routes 30, 31 and 83 in Vernon has been growing. Local and state officials in February 2003 asked for a study of these routes to address increasing congestion and safety problems. This might result in a recommendation to extend the four-lane portion of Route 83 farther north.

However, the tight fiscal situation at the state will probably delay these studies for a year or more.

Add 2 ramps in southwest quadrant of I-384 interchange. Widen to 6-lane boulevard from I-84 to Route 74 in Vernon.

"In our area, at least, 83's problem is design... It has the most bizarre curves and makes no sense."

• Alfred Kaehrle Associates, for the Connecticut State Highway Department. "Report on a Modern Highway Between New London and Hartford." December 1958.
• "155 Miles of Superhighways Projected." Hartford Times, June 1, 1967.
• "Finding your way along Route 83." Hartford Courant, Feb. 24, 2000.
• "Three State Roads Suffering Growing Pains." Hartford Courant, Feb. 11, 2003.

• Metro Hartford's Proposed Freeways (map)
• Route 83 Ends (Photos; Doug Kerr at state-ends.com)
• MA 83 photos (Dan Vincent; includes Route 83 terminus at I-91)

State route 84 was commissioned in 1932, to serve as an inland alternative to US 1 east of New London. In 1958, it was renumbered 95, to act as a temporary Interstate 95, and in 1964 became the present-day Route 184. There's more detailed information at the Route 184 page.

If you were looking for I-84, see the Interstate 84 page.