In the 1920s, state highway 322 followed today's Route 152 in Orange.
In Wolcott, SR 522 existed as an unsigned state road for 0.66 miles, along Center Street, from Route 69 to Bound Line Road. This possibly dates back to the 1930s. To follow state roads from Wolcott to Southington, however, you would need to first drive south along Route 69 to Waterbury.
In 1960, the state Committee to Reclassify All Public Roads recommended adding a 2.76-mile connector along Nichols Road and Todd Road to the state highway system. This is about 1.5 miles south and 1 mile west of the present Route 322.
I don't have a record of whether the town protested, or town and state came to an agreement on the present-day alignment; the matter appears not to have gone to arbitration. In 1962, SR 522 was extended along Center Street, County Road, and East Street; and the Nichols Road/Todd Road plan was discarded.
In 1963, SR 522 was promoted to signed Route 322, a 4.3-mile connector from Route 69 to the Meriden-Waterbury Turnpike (US 6A at the time). On July 26, 1967, Route 322 gained another 1.7 miles, to I-84, when US 6A was decommissioned. When I-691 completed in late 1987, replacing Route 66 in the area, Route 322 inherited 3.8 more miles from Route 66.
Number changes and reactions to them
That section of Waterbury-Meriden Turnpike has changed designations several times: SH 111, Route 14, US 6A, Route 66, and now Route 322 – a number based on the internal designation of a 2/3-mile section of road in Wolcott. The final 66 to 322 change, when I-691 opened, was not popular with some locals, who suggested the state overlap 66 and 691 through Meriden so that Southington could keep 66. The DOT did not favor the overlap, preferring a single designation (691) to guide motorists.
People get attached to names. There's a little more pith to 66. It has associations. A whole generation of Southington residents saw drive-in movies on 66. What's 322 – the prefix to a telephone number?
Op-Ed, Meriden Record-Journal, shortly after I-691 opened
Even the earlier change from US 6A had some potholes. In 1965, a Meriden newspaper announced that the section of Meriden Road (former US 6A) from Route 69 to Route 322 would become Route 366: interesting, but I've never seen that anywhere else. In reality, it became unsigned SR 844.
In July 1967, possibly overlooking a line or two in the DOT press release, the paper announced that Route 322 would replace US 6A all the way to Willimantic. That honor was instead given to the new Route 66.
