I-291  Connecticut (link)

6.02 miles [1]; from I-91 in Windsor to I-84 and I-384 in Manchester. Interstate 291 was to be a 26.4-mile, 270° beltway around Hartford; I-491 would handle the southeast route.

The Bissell Bridge over the Connecticut River opened in 1957, and was signed state route 291 until I-291 was constructed. I-291 completely opened on September 9, 1994.

For details, see I-291 at Connecticut Roads.

I-291  Massachusetts (link)

5.44 miles [1]; from I-91 to I-90 in Springfield. The freeway actually ends a few yards beyond, at Burnett Road. The two I-291's in Connecticut and Massachusetts are the closest (about 25 miles) of any identically numbered 3di's.

History

A 1953 highway plan by the state Department of Public Works outlines a Springfield Expressway easily recognizable as an ancestor of today's I-291, leading from a proposed US 5 expressway (now I-91) to a proposed US 20 (near where the Mass Pike runs today). There was also an outer belt planned, roughly along MA 21 from I-91 to I-90, that was never built. [3]

I-291 opened in the early 1970s. [2]

See also:

• Map sheet from A Master Highway Plan For the Springfield Metropolitan Area, 1953 (Chronos Historical Services)
• I-291 sign photos (Dan Vincent)

I-391  Massachusetts (link)

4.46 miles [1]; from I-91 in Springfield to near MA 116 in Holyoke.

An early ancestor of I-391 is part of a 1953 highway plan by the state Department of Public Works. The "major street with improvement" would have followed the MA 116 corridor in Chicopee. [3]

Possibly impacting Interstate 391's schedule was the 1980 theft of over 40 tons of steel from a 391 construction site.

See also:

• I-391 sign photos (Dan Vincent)

I-491 (cancelled)  Connecticut (link)

Never completed, the 8.2-mile Interstate 491 freeway would have gone northeast from I-91 in Wethersfield to where I-84, I-384, and I-291 meet now. It would have covered the one quadrant (southeast) of the Hartford metro area not served by the proposed I-291.

For details, see I-491 at Connecticut Roads.

I-691  Connecticut (link)

8.38 miles [1]; Interstate 691 connects I-91 in Meriden to I-84 in Southington. It's 6 lanes wide in downtown Meriden, 4 lanes otherwise. The oldest section, from US 5 to I-91, opened circa 1965; the newest, from CT 10 to I-84, opened in 1988.

For details, see I-691 at Connecticut Roads.

Sources

1. Route Log and Finder List - Interstate Highways, FHWA, Oct. 31, 2002.
2. Lord Somnolent
3. Chronos Historical Services. "1953 MASTER HIGHWAY PLAN for Spingfield MA metro area." Online posting, misc.transport.road, Aug. 15, 2003.