U.S. ROUTE 44

'U.S. Route 44' is an east-west United States highway that runs for 238 miles (383 km) through four states in the Northeastern region of the United States. The western terminus is at U.S. Route 209 and New York State Route 55 in Kerhonkson, a hamlet in the Hudson Valley region of New York. The eastern terminus is at Route 3A in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Contents

Route description

New York

Connecticut

Rhode Island

Massachusetts

History

New York

Massachusetts

Major intersections

Exit list

References

Route description

|-
|NY || 65.98^[1] || 106.18
|-
|CT || 106.03^[2] || 170.64
|-
|RI || 26.3 || 42.3
|-
|MA || 38.40^[3] || 61.80
|-
|Total || 236.7 || 380.9
|}

New York

Major cities
★ Poughkeepsie, New York ★ Hartford, Connecticut ★ Providence, Rhode Island ★ Taunton, Massachusetts

US 44 begins at US 209/NY 55 in the hamlet of Kerhonkson in Ulster County. NY 55, concurrent with US 209 south of the hamlet, turns east onto US 44, forming an overlap as the two routes proceed eastward across Ulster County. Midway between Kerhonkson and Gardiner and just north of New York State Route 299, US 44 and NY 55 traverse a hairpin turn made necessary by the surrounding Shawangunk Ridge. Farther east, the road passes through the hamlets of Gardiner and Clintondale, and meets U.S. Route 9W in the hamlet of Highland. US 44 and NY 55 join US 9W for roughly a half-mile southward along the western bank of the Hudson River before separating at a trumpet interchange south of Highland. One mile east of US 9W, US 44 and NY 55 cross the Hudson on the Mid-Hudson Bridge.
On the opposite bank in Dutchess County, US 44 and NY 55 enter the city of Poughkeepsie. In the downtown area, US 44/NY 55 interchanges with U.S. Route 9 before splitting into a pair of parallel one-way streets. At the eastern end of the parallel roadways in Arlington, just outside of Poughkeepsie, US 44 and NY 55 split, with NY 55 proceeding to the southeast and US 44 heading to the northeast. Between Poughkeepsie and Amenia, US 44 progresses northeast, intersecting the Taconic State Parkway near Washington Hollow and bypassing the village of Millbrook to the north. The Mary Flagler Cary Arboretum, one of Millbrook's primary attractions, is located on US 44. In Amenia, US 44 intersects New York State Route 22 and New York State Route 343 in the center of the community. US 44 turns north, joining NY 22 on a seven-mile overlap to Millerton. At Millerton, US 44 turns east, splitting from NY 22 and crossing into Connecticut.

Connecticut

From the New York state line at Salisbury to the Rhode Island state line at Putnam, US 44 runs for a total of 106.03 miles in Connecticut. Most of US 44 is known in the state as the Jonathan Trumbull Highway. It begins as rural arterial road in Litchfield county, going through the towns of North Canaan, Norfolk, Colebrook, Winchester, Barkhamsted, and New Hartford. It is a 2-lane road with 4-lane sections in Winchester.^[4]
In Canton, US 44 is joined by US 202 and becomes a mostly 4-lane principal arterial road serving the Hartford metro area. US 44 continues through Simsbury, Avon, and West Hartford. US 202 splits from US 44 in Avon following the route of Route 10 after overlapping for 5.3 miles. US 44 then enters the city of Hartford along Albany Avenue, then goes up onto I-84/US 6 to cross the Connecticut River on the Bulkeley Bridge. In East Hartford, US 44 then returns to surface roads right after crossing the river. It becomes a 2-lane minor arterial road through Manchester, Bolton, Coventry, and Mansfield, then becomes a rural road through Willington, Ashford, Eastford, Pomfret, and Putnam. In Manchester, US 44 overlaps with US 6 for 6.9 miles up to Bolton until just after the eastern terminus of I-384. This segment of US 44 up to Willington is known as the Boston Turnpike while the segment approaching Rhode Island is called Providence Pike.

Rhode Island

US 44 runs 24.8 miles in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. During this part of the road, Route 44 is often referred to locally as "Putnam Pike" as the road runs through Rhode Island and into Putnam, Connecticut

US 44 takes the following route through the State:

★ Glocester: 11.8 miles; Connecticut State line to Smithfield town line

★
★ Putnam Pike

★ Smithfield: 4.3 miles; Glocester town line to North Providence city line

★
★ Putnam Pike

★ North Providence: 1.7 miles; Smithfield town line to Providence city line

★
★ Smith Street, [Smith Street] (Bypass) and Smith Street

★ Providence: 3.7 miles; North Providence city line to East Providence city line

★
★ Smith Street, [Canal Street, Thomas Street, Memorial Boulevard, Crawford Street, South Water Street] (Smith Street, North Main Street, South Main Street) and East Providence Expressway

★ East Providence: 3.3 miles; Providence city line to Massachusetts State line

★
★ East Providence Expressway, Taunton Avenue, [Taunton Avenue, Waterman Avenue, Hall Street] (John Street, Waterman Avenue, Taunton Avenue) and Taunton Avenue

Massachusetts

US 44 runs for 39 miles in Massachusetts. It enters the state in the town of Seekonk along Taunton Avenue. It goes to the city of Taunton passing through the towns of Rehoboth and Dighton along the way. It continues eastward from Taunton through the towns of Raynham, Lakeville, Middleborough, and Carver before reaching its eastern terminus at Plymouth. US 44 has interchanges with Route 24 in Raynham and with Interstate 495 in Middleborough. East of the Middleborough Rotary, US 44 becomes an arterial highway for four miles until the intersection with Route 105, where it turns into a two-lane freeway with a guard rail acting as a median divider for three miles until the intersection with Route 58. After that, it becomes a newly-built, 7.5-mile long freeway section to Route 3, which bypasses the congested business district in Plymouth. (The old section of US 44 appeared on some maps starting in 2005 as 'Route 44A'; however, Route 44A signs were not put up after the bypass was built, and the route has not appeared in the official route log of the Massachusetts Highway Department.) Near its eastern terminus, Route 44 overlaps Route 3 for about 1.0 mile, then exits and continues as a surface road for approximately another half mile, ending at Route 3A.
In Middleborough, Route 44 passes by the historically significant Oliver Mill Park, site of Judge Peter Oliver’s 18th-century industrial complex. Ancient stone-walled waterways still remain here on the banks of the Nemasket River.

History

New York

Until June 2007, US 44 entered Millbrook via New York State Route 82, North Avenue, and Franklin Avenue while 'New York State Route 44A' bypassed the village to the west and north. On June 5, the New York State Department of Transportation announced that US 44 would be permanently realigned onto NY 44A. All shields along NY 44A would be replaced with US 44 signage,^[5] and NY 44A will be decommissioned. NYSDOT will continue to perform maintenance on US 44's former routing through Millbrook, however.^[6]

Massachusetts

On 14 December 2005, a freeway realignment opened to the north of US 44 near the eastern terminus of the route.^[7] US 44 was rerouted onto the expressway and now runs concurrent with Route 3 from the latter freeway's exit 7, where the new freeway ends, south to exit 6, where US 44 rejoins its former alignment.

Major intersections

★ U.S. Route 209/New York State Route 55 in Kerhonkson, New York

★ U.S. Route 9W near Poughkeepsie, New York (0.56 mile overlap)

★ U.S. Route 9 in Poughkeepsie, New York

★ Taconic State Parkway northeast of Pleasant Valley, New York

★ U.S. Route 7 in North Canaan, Connecticut

★ U.S. Route 202 in Canton, Connecticut (western terminus of overlap)

★ U.S. Route 202/Route 10 in Avon, Connecticut (eastern terminus of overlap)

★ Interstate 84/U.S. Route 6 in Hartford, Connecticut

★ U.S. Route 5 in East Hartford, Connecticut

★ Interstate 84 in Manchester, Connecticut

★ U.S. Route 6 in Manchester, Connecticut (western terminus of overlap)

★ Interstate 384 in Bolton, Connecticut

★ U.S. Route 6 in Bolton, Connecticut (eastern terminus of overlap)

★ Interstate 395 in Putnam, Connecticut

Exit list

A segment of US 44 in Massachusetts is a limited-access freeway. All exits are unnumbered.

County	Location	Mile	Destinations	Notes
Plymouth	Carver	29	Route 58 - Carver, Plympton
		32	Spring Street - Carver, Plympton
	Plymouth	35	Commerce Way - North Plymouth	To Route 80 and Cherry Street.
		36	Route 3 - Boston (north), Cape Cod (south)	US 44 joins Route 3 eastbound and leaves westbound.

References

★ 2006 Rand McNally Road Atlas

★ 2006 American Map Road Atlas
1. Traffic Data Report - NY 32 to NY 55
2. Connecticut State Numbered Routes and Roads
3. Executive Office of Transportation - Office of Transportation Planning Roads - GIS Data
4. Mile by Mile: U.S. Highway 44 Travel Guide - City of Putnam to Connecticut/New York State Line
5. NY 44 Being Rerouted to Bypass Village of Millbrook (Dutchess County)
6. Millbrook truck flow to decrease with reroute
7. A LONG TIME COMING: New Route 44 finally opens