SSR 411 is West Street in Rocky Hill, connecting Route 3, Route 99, and exit 23 on I-91. It serves commercial and industrial traffic, but the reason for state maintenance is a state facility: Dinosaur State Park, which was the intended site of a bureaucratic office until dinosaur footprints were discovered during groundwork.

One of Connecticut's longest "secret" routes (only SR 800 is longer), SR 434 serves Devil's Hopyard State Park.

In 1962, the state planned to turn over the road to East Haddam; but area officials persuaded the state to retain the route.

SR 449 is the Rocky Neck Connector, a four-lane freeway that's more of a long exit ramp from I-95. It has no interchanges of its own. This is one of several connector routes, some built and some only proposed, leading I-95 motorists to state beaches.

The concept of a connector from the Connecticut Turnpike (today's I-95) dates back to at least 1954. The connector opened in fall 1958, after the Turnpike was already open to traffic.

Extension proposed, abandoned

The connector doesn't lead directly into the park (in contrast with the Hammonasset Connector, SR 450) but ends at Route 156, where park traffic turns left. In Feb. 1961, East Lyme state representative Mary G. Bishop called for extending SSR 449 across Route 156, grade separated, into the park. The state replied that provisions for this had been made in the design, but no specific engineering work had been done for an extension. In June 1961, the state included $100,000 in funding for a two-lane extension, intersecting Route 156 at-grade.

By 1969, the proposed extension – about $500,000 – would cross over Route 156 with no access ramps and continue south as a two-lane road. Merchants in South Lyme and Niantic worried about the effect losing access to Route 156 would have on local businesses. In 1979, plans were still active to extend or relocate the Connector; but they were eventually abandoned.

SSR 449: I-495?

In the 1960s, plans for a bridge somewhere across Long Island Sound were in vogue. In 1966, Groton mayor Clarence B. Sharp (see CT 349) proposed a tunnel landing in East Lyme near Rocky Neck that might have used SSR 449 to reach I-95. In 1969, a candidate for the East Lyme Board of Selectmen was convinced the state was grooming SSR 449 for Sound bridge access. No one has spoken seriously about such a bridge for quite some time.

I-95 interchange may be revised

The I-95 interchange (Exit 72) with SSR 449 is close to Exit 71 at Four Mile River Road. If I-95 is reconstructed in the area, these interchanges would be combined to remove a weaving issue between nearby ramps.

SSR 450 has two parts: the Hammonasset Connector, a four-lane freeway leading from I-95 to the eponymous state park; and Horse Pond Road, which fewer people care about. The freeway portion opened in 1957 and serves Hammonasset State Park.

As you reach the end of the connector driving southbound, you'll see room to each side where some offramps could be built. The state had once planned to build an interchange there; the 1975 MTP proposed a $1.4 million interchange with US 1. SSR 450 would continue to the park entrance. In fact, SSR 450 did officially cross US 1 into the park, but was retracted to US 1 on April 13, 1984.

In the 1960s, the Tri-State Transportation Commission proposed a Route 79 freeway from Middlefield to Madison; the southern terminus would use SR 450's alignment to end at US 1. This plan was not implemented, and has probably not been considered since 1970.

Around the same time, the Mid-State Regional Planning Association proposed a Route 81 freeway, starting at SR 450 and connecting to Route 9 near Higganum.

The Sherwood Island Connector links the shoreline park with I-95 and US 1. Starting as a four-lane divided highway, SSR 476 provides a 5-ramp interchange with I-95. North of Greens Farms Road, it narrows to three lanes undivided (two northbound). After passing under Hillandale Road, the Connector ends at US 1. The Hillandale Road underpass was built wide enough to allow for SSR 476 to be widened to four lanes divided in the future.

Original Merritt Parkway plans called for a spur to Sherwood Island from the Parkway, leading from the never-built Exit 43. This idea was abandoned in the 1970s. A preliminary proposal to widen and extend Roseville Road in Westport to the Merritt Parkway was declared dead in 1974. (The 1960 town plan for Westport called for eventually making Roseville Road four lanes.)

In 1967, the state announced plans to add a divider along the entire length of the Connector; but this never was added.

SSR 478 and Route 45 complete a loop around Lake Waramaug in the towns of Washington, Warren and Kent.

The 3.12 miles of SSR 478 in Washington was originally designated SR 459, and might have been state maintained since 1932. The Warren section was added as SR 400 in 1962.

In 1965, SR 400 and SR 459 were combined to form SSR 478, which had an 0.79-mile "hole" in state maintenance along Lake Waramaug Road in Kent, which was locally maintained. To reflect this, state maps showed SSR 478 in two parts. In 2000, the state added this segment to SSR 478, filling the gap.

On January 10, 2001, the State Transportation Commissioner announced that the segment of SSR 478 in Kent was designated a scenic road; along with the previously designated parts of SSR 478 and Route 45, this completes a scenic loop around Lake Waramaug.