Wilbur Cross Highway
| Wilbur Cross Highway | |
|---|---|
Map of northern Connecticut with Wilbur Cross Highway highlighted in red
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| Route information | |
| Length: | 46.41 mi (74.69 km) |
| Existed: | 1940 – present |
| Component highways: |
  US 5 / Route 15 from Wethersfield to E. Hartford I-84 from E. Hartford to Sturbridge, MA
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| Major junctions | |
| South end: |
 Route 314 in Wethersfield
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| North end: |
 I‑90 in Sturbridge, MA
|
| Location | |
| Counties: | Hartford, Tolland, Windham, Hampden, Worcester |
| Highway system | |
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The Wilbur Cross Highway is the designation for the portion of Connecticut Route 15 from Wethersfield to East Hartford, and for the section of I-84 from East Hartford to the Massachusetts Turnpike in Sturbridge, Massachusetts formerly numbered as CT/MA 15.
After splitting from I-84 in East Hartford, the WCH continues in a southwesterly direction to the Charter Oak Bridge. After crossing the Connecticut River it intersects I-91 in southern Hartford. It then changes to a southerly direction and intersects with the Hartford–Brainard Airport access road. After leaving I-91, it reverts to a southwesterly direction and intersects with Route 99 (Old Route 9). After that it merges with the Berlin Turnpike, at which the highway ends.
The highway was built in the 1940s before the Interstate Highway era as a continuation of the Wilbur Cross Parkway, itself a continuation of the Merritt Parkway. Originally, the parkways were to span continuously from Greenwich to Union, but with the opening of Interstate 91, the planned segment between Meriden and Hartford was never built, and Connecticut Route 15 was instead routed along the Berlin Turnpike. In 1958, the East Hartford-Union portion of the parkway, as well as an extension to the Massachusetts Turnpike was cosigned as I-84 as part of its planned route through Connecticut. In 1968, the I-84 designation east of East Hartford was given to the proposed highway to Providence, and the portion from East Hartford to Sturbridge was renumbered to I-86. The CT 15 designation remained cosigned on the I-86 section to the MA line until October 1, 1980, when it was truncated back to its current northern terminus at I-84 Exit 57. In 1984, the planned extension of I-84 to Providence was cancelled and the I-84 designation returned to its original East Hartford-Sturbridge route. US 6 is also signed along the highway from the I-84/CT 15 junction to Exit 60. From 1948 to 1982, US 44 was signed along the highway from current Exit 60 to current Exit 69.
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Wikipedia