Connecticut Route 71

Route 71
Map of central Connecticut with Route 71 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by ConnDOT
Length:	19.19 mi[1] (30.88 km)
Existed:	1932 – present
Major junctions
South end:	US 5 in Wallingford
	I-691 in Meriden Route 72 in New Britain Route 9 in New Britain I-84 / US 6 in West Hartford
North end:	Route 173 in West Hartford
Location
Counties:	New Haven, Hartford
Highway system
Routes in Connecticut Interstate U.S. State SSR SR ← Route 70 Route 72 →

Route 71 is a north–south state highway in Connecticut, running from Wallingford to West Hartford. It is the main north–south road of Meriden, Berlin and New Britain.

Route description

Route 71 begins at an intersection with US 5 in Wallingford and heads north through Meriden, Berlin, and New Britain, serving as the towns' main north–south street. It then cuts across the southeast corner of Farmington and the northwest corner of Newington before crossing into West Hartford, where it ends at an intersection with Route 173. Route 71 has interchanges with five freeways along its 19-mile (31 km) route.^[1]

History

Route 71 was established in the 1932 state highway renumbering as a route between downtown New Britain and Hartford. In the 1920s, this was part of State Highway 113, which ran from Plainville via New Britain to Hartford. The Plainville to New Britain section became part of Route 72 (now Route 372) in 1932. In 1934, the route was modified at both ends. The northern end was truncated to end at the Colt Highway (U.S. Route 6A), roughly at the location of Exit 40 of I-84. The south end was extended to U.S. Route 5A in Meriden via Kensington along Chamberlain Highway, Bradley Avenue, and Hanover Road (former State Highway 178). In 1962, US 5A in Meriden was removed and Route 71 signed at I-84 south of West Main Street was relocated to the former US 5A alignment (Cook Avenue and Old Colony Road). In 1969, Route 71 was extended to its current northern end at Route 173 in West Hartford after US 6 was relocated to I-84 (US 6A became US 6 in the early 1940s).

Route 71 was once planned to be a freeway south from the planned southwestern Interstate 291 to the Route 72 freeway in 1961. In 1963, the state increased the planned mileage by planning the freeway to travel further north of I-291 to the Cedar Ridge Connector/Old Route 9 (remnants of which are now SR 504). The 1961 plan was built in 1986 as SR 506 but the rest of the Route 71 freeway was cancelled. In 1989, Route 9 became the southern terminus of the Route 71 freeway instead of the northern terminus. Route 9 was newly constructed west to, and extended onto the existing Route 72 freeway near Berlin and onto SR 506. The Route 72 designation was scaled back westward to the old interchange with SR 506.^[2]

Junction list

County	Location	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
New Haven	Wallingford	0.00	0.00	US 5 – Meriden, Wallingford
		0.36	0.58	Route 150 south – Yalesville
	Meriden	1.36	2.19	Route 70 west – Cheshire
		4.56	7.34	I-691 west – Waterbury	I-691 east Exit 5
Hartford	Berlin	8.39	13.50	Route 364 west – Southington
		9.10	14.65	Route 71A
		11.38	18.31	Route 372 – Berlin, Plainville
		12.14	19.54	SR 571
	New Britain	13.85	22.29	Route 72 – Kensington, Bristol	No westbound exit
		13.95	22.45	Route 174 west – Newington
		15.01	24.16	Route 175 west – Newington
		17.45	28.08	Route 9 – Middletown, Farmington	Route 9 Exit 30
	West Hartford	18.54	29.84	I-84 / US 6 – Hartford, Waterbury	I-84 Exit 40
		19.19	30.88	Route 173 – Newington, West Hartford
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Route 71A

Route 71A
Location:	Berlin–New Britain
Length:	2.92 mi (4.70 km)

Route 71A is a minor north–south spur route of Route 71 and is 2.92 miles (4.70 km) long. It begins as Chamberlain Highway at Route 71 in Berlin and heads northward along High Road, briefly overlapping Route 372. It continues into New Britain, where it becomes Kensington Avenue, and ends half a mile later at an intersection with Buell Street. The road continues beyond Buell Street as a local road. Route 71A originally extended further north to connect back to Route 71 but was truncated to its present end in 1995. Some signage for Route 71A still exists north of the official northern terminus.

References

1. Connecticut State Highway Log
2. Connecticut Routes, Route 71

External links

Route map: Bing / Google

Media related to Connecticut Route 71 at Wikimedia Commons

• Connecticut Routes, Route 71A