U.S. Route 1 in Connecticut


U.S. Route 1 in the U.S. state of Connecticut is a major east-west United States Highway along Long Island Sound. It has been replaced by Interstate 95 as a through route, which it closely parallels, and now primarily serves as a local business route. Despite its largely east-west orientation, it is part of a north-south route, and is mostly signed north-south.
Most of US 1 through Connecticut encompasses its predecessor, the Boston Post Road, and in many towns it is still named Boston Post Road.

Route description

US 1 in Connecticut largely parallels Interstate 95 and has many interchanges with it. The route passes through each city and town of Connecticut bordering the Long Island Sound.
From Greenwich to Branford, US 1 is mostly a 4-lane or 6-lane principal arterial road. From Branford to Stonington, US 1 it a 2-lane or 4-lane minor arterial road.
US 1 is known as Boston Post Road or Post Road for the majority of its length, but it also encompasses other local street names. The route is known as Putnam Avenue in Greenwich, Connecticut Avenue in parts of Norwalk, Boston Avenue in parts of Bridgeport, New London Road in parts of Groton. In Stonington, the route is known as Stonington Road, South Broad Street, and West Broad Street. US 1 is also known as Main Street in Stamford, Branford, and Clinton.

Overlap with I-95

US 1 is concurrent with I-95 in two sections, both of which are river crossings. The western concurrency is between exits 68 and 70 from Old Saybrook to Lyme, where the two routes cross the Connecticut River via the Raymond E. Baldwin Bridge. The eastern concurrency is between exits 83 and 85 from New London to Groton, where the routes cross the Thames River via the Gold Star Memorial Bridge.
Route 1's two other major bridge crossings closely parallel the I-95 crossings of those rivers. The Washington Bridge over the Housatonic River, connecting Milford and Stratford, as well as the Tomlinson Lift Bridge over the Quinnipiac River in New Haven, is a short distance away from I-95's Moses Wheeler and Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridges, respectively.
Route 1 also forms a frontage road for I-95 in parts of Fairfield, Stratford, and New London.

History

US 1 generally follows the old Boston Post Road and turnpike roads built to replace it. Specifically, the Greenwich Road, chartered in 1792, was the part in Greenwich, and became part of the longer New York-to-Fairfield Connecticut Turnpike in 1806. The New Haven and Milford Turnpike continued from Milford to New Haven, and the New London and Lyme Turnpike connected Old Lyme with New London.

Major intersections