Route 32 is a primary north–south state highway in the U.S. state of Connecticut, beginning in
New London and continuing via
Willimantic to the
Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
state line, where it continues as
Massachusetts Route 32.
Route description
Route 32 begins near
Interstate 95 (about south of the road crossing as a continuation of Water Street). It is a
freeway
A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...
near the interchange with I-95, then becomes a four-lane
arterial road
An arterial road or arterial thoroughfare is a high-capacity urban road that sits below highway
A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights o ...
up to
SR 693, a short freeway that provides access to
I-395. It then becomes a mostly two-lane surface road with the exception of the overlap with
Route 2 in
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...
.
It goes through the following towns: New London, Waterford, Montville, Norwich, Franklin, Lebanon ( only), Windham, Mansfield, Willington, Tolland ( only), Ellington, and Stafford. From New London to Norwich, Route 32 follows along the west bank of the
Thames River
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the ...
.
History
Route 32 between Norwich and New London was laid out in 1670 and remained little more than an Indian trail for more than a century . The number dates from when the route was part of
New England Interstate Route 32 from 1922–1932. In 1932, Connecticut stopped using the New England route system, but Route 32 kept its number as a state highway. The north and south ends were also realigned in 1932. In the south, the original New England Route 32 ran along present day
Route 12 from Groton to Norwich. The modern alignment from New London to Norwich used to be part of New England Route 12. (Route 12 and Route 32 have basically swapped places south of Norwich). In the north, the original New England Route 32 used present day
Route 19 from Stafford to the Massachusetts state line. The modern alignment in Stafford was known as State Highway 334 in the 1920s before being reassigned to Route 32.
Major intersections
See also
*
New England Interstate Route 32
References
External links
{{commons category-inline
Connecticut Roads
032
The ROMP is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) microprocessor designed by IBM in the late 1970s. It is also known as the Research OPD Miniprocessor (after the two IBM divisions that collaborated on its inception, IBM Research and the Offic ...
Transportation in New London County, Connecticut
Transportation in Windham County, Connecticut
Transportation in Tolland County, Connecticut
Transportation in Windham, Connecticut