| Routes 23 and 24 have never existed. | |
| 31.56 miles; from Route 8 in Winchester to I-91 in Windsor Locks. Going west, Route 20 starts as the Bradley Airport connector, a freeway from I-91 to the airport spur (SR 401). It continues as a four-lane surface road through industrial parks into Granby. Afterward, the route is quite scenic, winding along several state forests and Barkhamsted Reservoir. On October 10, 1999, the Bradley Airport Connector segment was named the 82nd Airborne Memorial Highway. |
 | Commissioned in 1932 from the old routes 133 and 105, Route 20 was originally longer and straighter than now. Part of its former route in Barkhamsted is now under water; the road was shifted north almost into Massachusetts when the reservoir was created in the early 1940s. The Tunxis Trail in the Tunxis State Forest follows the old Route 20 roadbed for a while, and there's even a short "Old Route 20" road in East Hartland. In Windsor Locks, around the same time, Route 20 was shifted south to make way for an air base (now Bradley International Airport). Continuing east in Windsor Locks, the old Route 20 crossed Route 75 on Spring Street, then followed Bridge Street (today's Route 140) across the Connecticut River into East Windsor. Turning north on Main Street, Route 20 then met US 5 and followed it to Enfield. There, Route 20 turned east, following present-day Route 190 east to old Route 15 (today's Route 30) in Stafford; and overlapped with 15 to end at Route 32. When Route 15 moved southeast to the new Wilbur Cross Highway in the 1940s, Route 20 temporarily extended further east. New Bradley Airport Connector spurs route changesThe $3.9 million Bradley Airport Connector, planned since the early 1950s, opened July 3, 1961. The four-lane expressway leads from Interstate 91 to the southwest entrance to Bradley International Airport. In 1961, Route 20 was rerouted along the connector to end at I-91, Route 140 was rerouted into Windsor Locks, Route 191 was moved south, and Route 190 inherited the Enfield-Union Route 20. The spur from Route 20 to the airport is 'secret' SSR 401. Proposing an expanded 20 expresswayFrom at least the early 1960s, state and regional planners have thought about extending the Route 20 expressway in both directions to serve northern Connecticut towns. In 1961, the state's long term plans included investigating a long route I would call a "rooftop highway", extending from Route 44 in Barkhamsted over to the airport connector; then after a northward overlap with I-91, an eastward extension along today's Route 190 to I-84 in Union. In 1967, the Capitol Region Planning Agency unveiled a shorter but still ambitious plan. To the west, Route 20 would be extended into Granby, running south of current Route 20, and ending west of Granby center. To the east, Route 20 would cross the Connecticut River on a new bridge, touching down in East Windsor near Stoughton Street. It would slip south of Route 74 in Rockville, then continue east to end at I-84 just across the Tolland town line. In late 1967, Rockville officials were pondering the proposed "Bradley Field Connector", slated to run through the center of town. There could be a benefit to displacing older, run-down sections, with the state "paying the slum-clearance bill"; yet the highway could also sever the community, with one side or the other suffering from the split. See the Hartford's Proposed Freeways map for a very approximate description of the Route 20 proposal. If all the 1967 proposals had been constructed, Route 20 would cross several other expressways: Route 10, Route 189, I-91, US 5, Route 83, and end at I-84. It would serve as part of an outer beltway for Hartford (though a complete outer beltway was not proposed). A new interchange at I-91The original 1961 interchange at I-91 was a small trumpet with single-lane connecting ramps. In 1994, as part of reconstruction and widening on I-91, the interchange was rebuilt into a semi-directional T interchange with dual-lane flyover connections. In addition, a new interchange was added on Route 20 at Old County Road (immediately west of I-91). More on Bradley AirportAs the 1940s started, the US Army sought to build a series of air bases to defend New England. In 1940, Dexter Corp. president Dexter Coffin optioned 260 acres of tobacco fields in Windsor Locks and proposed the state build an airport there. In January 1941, the General Assembly voted to buy 1,681 acres and extend a 25- year lease to the federal government. Congress released $2.6 million to fund the project, and construction of the Windsor Locks Air Base began in March. The base housed the 57th Pursuit Group, flying P-40C Tomahawks. The air base was later named Bradley Field after Lt. Eugene M. Bradley, who perished in a crash while training near the airport. Now the official name is Bradley International Airport, and the diminutive-sounding "Bradley Field" is discouraged. After Gov. Ella Grasso died, there was a movement to rename the airport in her honor, but fortunately Bradley was left alone and nearby Route 75, now the Ella T. Grasso Turnpike, assumed commemoration duties. Not known to many Windsor Locks residents is that the town once housed a German POW internment camp. Just south of the Connecticut National Guard hangar is a concrete base that once supported a POW guard tower. And finally, Dexter Coffin himself did not pass unvenerated; his name graces the Interstate 91 bridge over the Connecticut River at East Windsor. More on the Barkhamsted ReservoirHere's a response from Paul Hart, Barkhamsted Historical Society, to my questions about when the reservoir was created, and what was displaced. There is one small ghost town under water! "The Saville Dam, which backs up the Barkhamsted Reservoir, was completed in 1940. I believe it took several years for the reservoir to fill with water. "The reservoir covers what was private land- mostly small farms. The property was bought by the water company mostly during the depression years. On the Barkhamsted side, there was one village, known as Barkhamsted Hollow that was covered with water. This was located at a crossroads about a mile north of the dam and on the east side of the river. There was a store, church and a few other buildings here. Several roads were put underwater, including a north/south road that followed the river on the east side. There were many house locations that were covered by the water, and even more that were bought and torn down or moved that were not covered by water but were located on the watershed property now owned by the water company." |
 | The state is planning further widening and turn lanes near Route 187 in Granby. From an April 1, 1998 public information meeting (no fooling!): "The project will begin on Route 20 at approximately 722 feet west of the intersection of Holcomb Street and Newgate Road and extend easterly to the vicinity of Center Street making the project length approximately 3838 feet. It also involves the realignment of Holcomb Street and Newgate Road to oppose one another." |
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| 5.67 miles; from Route 12 in Killingly to Route 193 in Thompson. |
| Commissioned in 1944, Route 21 originally ran only between Route 12 and US 44. In 1957, it was extended north to Route 193. |
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| 14.07 miles; from Route 10 in Hamden east to Route 17; then south to US 1 in Branford. An odd L-shaped road, Route 22 is alternately marked east-west and north-south. Route 22 is an artificial designation of sorts, made up of portions of three differently-numbered routes in 1951, to guide motorists from point A (the new Wilbur Cross Parkway in Hamden) to point B (US 1 in Branford). Seen in this light, its L-shape is a crooked bypass of New Haven.  Looking east along Routes 22 and 80, just after they join in North Branford. Photo taken by Kurumi in September 2002. |
| A bypass for New HavenIn the early days, what we know as Route 22 belonged to three different highways:
The State Highway Department decided to assemble the best route available from existing state roads. In April 1951, it announced a new route number - 22 - extending from the Bishop Street exit on the Wilbur Cross Parkway to Route 80 and US 1. Another high-profile number designation intended to provide route continuity for the motorist was along the Wilbur Cross Parkway -- which three years earlier became part of Route 15. Route 22 expressway... see Route 40The state once planned an expressway in the Route 22 corridor, even in 1970 asking for interstate funding for the road. If the road were built with state funds, it probably would have been called an extension of Route 40, which parallels Route 22 in Hamden. A slight reroute in North HavenBetween State Street and Washington Street in North Haven, Route 22 and US 5 originally followed Broadway, an east-west street south of Route 22's present aligment along Bishop Street. Relocation of Route 22 to an extended Bishop Street had been planned during the 1960s, along with an new (incomplete) interchange with Interstate 91. This took place in 1973; Route 22 was moved, Exit 11 was built at I-91, and Broadway was renumbered to State Road 729, an unposted "secret" route number. Reportedly a mall was planned in a plot of land bordered by I-91 to the east and the new section of Route 22 to the south. However, the land was also bordered by the Quinnipiac River to the west, which flooded the area in 1982 and probably hastened the mall plan's cancellation. |
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Updated Apr 24, 2008
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