U.S. ROUTE 6 IN CONNECTICUT

(Redirected from Route 6 (Connecticut))

'Route 6' is the portion of the cross-country U.S. Route 6 within the state of Connecticut. West of Hartford, the route either closely parallels or runs along Interstate 84. Interstate 84 has largely supplanted Route 6 as a through route in western Connecticut. East of Hartford, the route serves as a primary route for travel between Hartford and Providence. Route 6 is 116.33 miles in length.

Contents
Route description
Danbury area
Waterbury area
Hartford area
Willimantic area
Danielson area
History
Alternate routes
Junction list
Notes
Environmental Issues Bog Down "Suicide 6" Bypass Plans
References

Route description


Danbury area

Route 6 begins at the New York state line east of the village of Brewster, entering the city of Danbury overlapped with U.S. Route 202. US 6/202 runs for 3.8 miles in Danbury as a minor arterial road then overlaps with Interstate 84/Route 7 (at Exit 4). The 4-way concurrency of I-84/US 7/US 6/US 202 continues for 3.3 miles, after which Routes 7 and 202 split off from I-84. Route 6 follows I-84 for another 0.8 miles before returning to surface roads (at Exit 8). The route then goes through the towns of Bethel and Newtown and then overlaps with I-84 again for 6.4 miles between Newtown and Southbury (from Exits 10 to 15).
Waterbury area

After exiting I-84 in Southbury, Route 6 is a surface road again as it passes through the northern Waterbury area suburbs of Southbury, Woodbury, Watertown and Thomaston. US 6 has a 1.0 mile overlap with the Route 8 expressway in Thomaston.
Hartford area

Route 6 continues as a surface road through the towns of Plymouth, Bristol and Farmington. In Farmington, Route 6 again joins I-84 as it passes through West Hartford, Hartford, East Hartford and Manchester (13.4-mile overlap from Exits 38 to 60). U.S. Route 44 briefly joins I-84/US 6 (for 0.2 miles) as they cross the Connecticut River on the Bulkeley Bridge. After exiting I-84 in Manchester, Route 6 is joined again by Route 44 for 6.9 miles up to Bolton near the eastern terminus of I-384.
Willimantic area

In Bolton, Routes 6 and 44 split. Route 44 follows a more northerly route while Route 6 continues through Bolton, Coventry, Andover and Columbia. It then becomes a freeway in Columbia (at a junction with Route 66), passing through Coventry (again), Windham, Mansfield and Windham (again), ending at the eastern terminus of Route 66. This freeway portion is 5.3 miles long and bypasses Willimantic center. Route 66 is the local alternate route serving the town center.
Danielson area

Route 6 then continues as a surface road to the towns of Chaplin, Hampton, Brooklyn and Killingly. The unsigned portion of the Connecticut Turnpike (SR 695) then meets with Route 6 just at the Rhode Island state line. Route 6 is a two-lane freeway in the vicinity of its junction with Interstate 395 in Killingly.

History



Before the creation of the U.S. Highway system in 1926, most of the proposed routing in Connecticut was part of 'New England Interstate Route 3' (NE-3). There were two places where NE-3 and US 6 were not overlapped. NE-3 began in Bedford, New York at New York State Route 22 and entered the state via modern Route 35. It then continued north to Danbury via modern U.S. Route 7. US 6, on the other hand, traveled from Brewster, New York on its current alignment, meeting with NE-3 in downtown Danbury.
Another difference in routing is between Manchester and Windham. US 6 uses a more northern alignment, running along present U.S. Route 44 then modern Route 31. NE-3 used current US 6 for its routing. East of Windham, the routes overlapped into Rhode Island. Between 1926 and 1932, NE-3 and US 6 were cosigned where they overlapped. NE-3 was finally decommissioned in 1932.
As originally signed in 1926, Route 6 took the following route in Connecticut:

Alternate routes



There have been several routes signed as US 6A in the state. No bannered routes currently exist.

★ Newtown-Southbury: original surface routing before creation of expressway later to become I-84; currently SR 816

★ Plymouth-Hartford: Currently US 6. At this time, the old US 6 went along Route 64 to downtown Waterbury then along Route 10 to Farmington.

★ Woodbury-Willimantic: West of Meriden, this was the original alignment of US 6. When US 6 was reassigned to the former 6A from Plymouth-Farmington, this became 6A. This 6A was subsequently extended through Meriden to Willimantic along modern Route 66. An expressway upgrade was planned for this 6A. Only a portion of the highway was built and is now Interstate 691.

★ Coventry-Windham: became 6A when NE-3 was decommissioned. Swapped with the old US 6 in 1939 and finally decommissioned in 1942 when 6A became Route 31.

★ Danielson: old routing prior to construction of the 2-lane freeway

Junction list


See Interstate 84 exit list for junctions while overlapped with I-84.
TownRoad namesMajor junctionsMilepost
Danbury
(5.76 miles)
Mill Plain Rd, Lake Ave Ext, I-84/Yankee Expwy, Newtown RdI-84 at Exit 23.77
I-84 overlap (Exits 4 to 8)4.15-8.26
SR 806 (Old Route 6)8.50
Bethel
(1.26 miles)
Stony Hill Rd  
Newtown
(2.04 miles)
Mount Pleasant Rd, Main St, Church Hill Rd, I-84/Yankee ExpwyRoute 2511.57-14.26
SR 816 (Old Route 6)15.19
I-84 overlap (Exits 10 to 15)15.52-21.96
Southbury
(2.06 miles)
I-84/Yankee Expwy, Main St North
Route 6722.19-23.76
Woodbury
(5.10 miles)
Main St South, Main St NorthRoute 6425.94
Route 31726.90
Route 4727.60
Route 6131.48
Watertown
(3.91 miles)
Woodbury Rd, DeForest St, Cutler St, Thomaston RdRoute 6334.57
Route 26235.81
Thomaston
(1.60 miles)
Watertown Rd, Pine Hill Rd, Route 8/James Darcey Memorial Hwy, East Main StRoute 10938.61
Route 25439.12
Route 8 overlap (Exits 38-39)39.40-40.39
Route 22240.61
Plymouth
(2.64 miles)
Main StRoute 26241.28
Route 7244.15
Bristol
(2.64 miles)
Terryville Ave, North St, Farmington AveRoute 6944.86-47.25
Route 22948.30
Farmington
(2.64 miles)
Scott Swamp Rd, Colt Hwy, I-84/Yankee ExpwyRoute 17750.95
Route 10 (grade separated)53.08
SR 549 (to Route 4)55.15
I-84 overlap (Exits 38 to 60)56.34-69.71
West HartfordI-84/Yankee Expwy
Hartford
East HartfordI-84/Wilbur Cross Hwy
ManchesterI-84/Wilbur Cross Hwy, Middle Tpke West, Center St, East Center St, Middle Tpke, New Bolton Rd
U.S. Route 44 (begin overlap)70.09
Route 8372.67
BoltonNew Bolton Rd, Boston Tpke, Hop River RdRoute 8575.84
I-38476.76
U.S. Route 44 (end overlap)76.99
CoventryWillimantic Tpke  
AndoverJonathan Trumbull Hwy, Willimantic RdRoute 31682.68
Route 8783.91
ColumbiaWillimantic Rd, Route 6 ExpresswayRoute 6687.81
CoventryRoute 6 Expressway  
WindhamRoute 32 (grade separated)89.73
MansfieldRoute 195 (grade separated)91.94
WindhamRoute 6 Expressway, Boston Post RdRoute 6693.15
Route 20395.00
ChaplinWillimantic Rd, Hampton RdRoute 19896.96
HamptonHartford Tpke, Providence TpkeRoute 97101.30
BrooklynHartford Rd, Providence RdRoute 169107.44
KillinglyProvidence PikeRoute 12110.97-111.32
I-395 (at Exit 91)111.81
SR 607 (Old Route 6)113.42
SR 695116.06

Notes


An 11-mile stretch of highway that traverses Bolton, Coventry, Andover, and Columbia is known as "Suicide 6". Along with other sections of U.S. 6, including one which runs through western Rhode Island, this stretch has one of the highest rates of fatal injuries of any road in the country and was listed as one of "America's Most Dangerous Highways" by ''Reader's Digest'' in November 2000. Because Route 6 connects two major cities, Hartford and Providence, the road is used as an expressway despite the fact that most of it is a two-way highway with houses and businesses abutting it. With a lack of stop signs and traffic lights, there is major concern involving drivers pulling out of one of the many small side roads into high speed traffic lanes. Posted signs tell drivers they must keep headlights on at all times.
Environmental Issues Bog Down "Suicide 6" Bypass Plans

The Connecticut Department of Transportation had planned since the 1960s to upgrade the length of "Suicide 6" to an expressway, connecting I-384 to the existing expressway segment in Windham.. However, this particular segment of Route 6 passes through an environmentally sensitive area centered around the Hop River. Construction was originally planned to begin in the late 1980s, but federal, state, and local officials could not reach an agreement on a feasible route that avoided the Hop River wetlands and development within the towns of Andover, Bolton, Coventry, and Columbia. The affected towns, CONNDOT and the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection favored a northern alignment (Alternative 133B), which would avoid the town centers and nearby wetlands. The Environmental Protection Agency, Army Corps of Engineers, and Federal Highway Administration favored a southerly alignment (Alternative 133 18/25) that would cut through residential and commercial areas as well as the Hop River's adjoining wetlands.
Despite opposition from CONNDOT, the Connecticut DEP, and affected towns, the FHWA issued a Record of Decision and the Army Corps of Engineers issued required permits for Alternative 133 18/25 (southern alignment) in 2001. State and local officials continued to press the Corps of Engineers to approve the northern alignment. Due the the impasse between state, local, and federal officials, federal funds for the bypass were withdrawn in 2003. In 2005, the Capitol Region Council of Governments and CONNDOT removed the Route 6 bypass from planning, hence CONNDOT effectively abandoned further study of the bypass in lieu of upgrading the existing road.
As of 2007, CONNDOT is making safety improvements and capacity upgrades to the existing US-6 through Andover, Bolton, and Columbia.

References



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