The Willow Brook Connector 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 ...
in the town of
Berlin, Connecticut
Berlin ( ) is a town in the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, United States. The population was 20,175 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It was incorporated in 1785. The geographic center of ...
. The road is designated but not signed as State Road 571. It gets its name from Willow Brook Park, which begins on the north side of the roadway as one heads into the city of
New Britain
New Britain () is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi Island, Umboi the Dampie ...
, or to New Britain Stadium for a baseball game.
Route description
The freeway begins at the intersection of
Route 71A (High Road) and
Route 372 (Corbin Avenue) at the northern end of Berlin (near the
New Britain
New Britain () is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi Island, Umboi the Dampie ...
city line). It proceeds eastward through Willow Brook and Hungerford Parks. The freeway has an interchange with
Route 71 about later. The freeway ends half a mile later as it merges into southbound
Route 9. Access from Route 9 is only possible from the northbound direction via Exit 34.
History
The road opened in the early 1960s when what would become the Route 72 Expressway (part of Route 9 today) opened from this road south to the junction of the
Berlin Turnpike
The Berlin Turnpike is a major thoroughfare carrying U.S. Route 5 in Connecticut, U.S. Route 5 (US 5) and Connecticut Route 15, Route 15 in New Haven County, Connecticut, New Haven County and Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County in th ...
(
US 5
U.S. Route 5 (US 5) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway running through the New England states of Connecticut, Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, ...
/
Route 15) in Berlin. The entire highway has also been designated as part of the ''Polish Legion of American Veterans Memorial Highway''.
Exit list
As part of a signing project in 2020, the Route 71 exit will receive a number.
See also
*
*
References
External links
{{Attached KML
State highways in Connecticut
Transportation in Hartford County, Connecticut
Berlin, Connecticut