From Newington, a town fairly dense with signed state highways, Route 287 is the most direct route to the Putnam Bridge and points further east. It overlaps with the Berlin Turnpike for a single block.
Updated Apr 18, 2013
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From Newington, a town fairly dense with signed state highways, Route 287 is the most direct route to the Putnam Bridge and points further east. It overlaps with the Berlin Turnpike for a single block.
Prospect Street in Wethersfield was added to the state highway system as unsigned SR 444 in 1940; in 1946, an unspecified new section of Prospect Street was added to SR 444.
Robbins Avenue and part of Maple Hill Avenue in Newington combined to form SR 760, which might date back to 1932.
In 1960, the state Committee to Reclassify All Public Roads recommended keeping SR 444 between the Berlin Turnpike and Route 3, and deleting SR 760. The state and town entered arbitration over SR 760; by 1970 it had been truncated to the Maple Hill Avenue portion. In 1971, SR 760 was renumbered to SR 537 (the numbering convention for its DOT district); in 1986, SR 537 was turned over to the town.
For the same numbering convention reasons, SR 444 was changed to SR 544 in 1964.
In 1969 or 1970, all of SR 544 and part of the old SR 760 (east of Route 176) was given the signed number 287.
However, Route 287 wasn't numbered on the official state map until 1975.
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.