CT 52 Route 53 → Length 107.2 km | MA 52 Route 53 → | |
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Existed: 1958 (as Connecticut Turnpike)
1968 (as Route 52)
1983 (as I-395) – present South end: I-95 / Route 11 in East Lyme, CT North end: I‑90 / Mass Pike / I‑290 in Auburn, MA | ||
Interstate 395 (abbreviated I-395) is a 67-mile-long north–south Interstate Highway that begins at Interstate 95 in East Lyme, Connecticut running northwards through Connecticut's Quiet Corner, and ends at Interstate 90 in Auburn, Massachusetts, where I-395 becomes Interstate 290. The original designation for the portion of Connecticut's I-395 that was north of the Connecticut Turnpike was Route 52. Route 52 was slated to become a southward extension of Interstate 290 before it received the I-395 designation in 1983.
Contents
Map of I-395, United States
From East Lyme to Plainfield, Connecticut, I-395 is part of the Connecticut Turnpike (the Governor John Davis Lodge Turnpike). From Plainfield to Thompson, Connecticut, I-395 is named the American Ex-Prisoner of War Memorial Highway.
Route description
I-395 begins in East Lyme as the Connecticut Turnpike leaves I-95 as I-95 turns more easterly toward New London. It is a relatively rural interstate for most of its length. It passes through Waterford into Montville where it meets Route 2A at Exit 9. Eastbound Route 2A provides access to Mohegan Sun Casino, while westbound Route 2A duplexes with I-395 into Norwich, and ends at Exit 13, where it terminates as it joins its parent route, Route 2. After passing Route 2, I-395 bends to the east, and continues into Lisbon, Griswold, and Plainfield, where it bends more northerly and parallels Route 12 for most of the rest of its length. On the Plainfleld/Killingly town line, the Connecticut Turnpike splits to the east as unsigned SR 695 providing access to US 6 at the Rhode Island state line. I-395 continues north, and meets US 6 in Killingly. After crossing into Putnam, it has an interchange with US 44. It then passes through Thompson before crossing the Massachusetts state line into Webster. After passing through Webster and Oxford, it enters Auburn where it has an interchange with US 20, which provides access to the Route 146 expressway. The I-395 designation for the highway ends as it meets I-90 (the Mass Pike) at Exit 10 (future Exit 90), and becomes I-290 as it heads toward Worcester.
Service plazas
In Connecticut, there are three Service Plazas (a legacy of the Turnpike) that provide 24-hour gas stations, convenience stores, plus a Subway and Dunkin' Donuts.
A State Police station is on the northbound side of the highway in Montville (between exits 6 and 9) in what used to be the Montville Northbound Service Plaza.
Recent history
In May 2013, the Connecticut Department of Transportation announced that a project that would begin in spring 2014 would include renumbering exits along I-395 and Route 2A from the then-current sequential numbering system to a distance-based scheme to conform with federal exit numbering standards. During the transition, old exit numbers will be posted atop the new exit numbers through 2017. Still, there will be many exits until 2017 that still need to be changed, so the drive will be a little confusing to people who are not familiar to the highway and the location. As of late September 2015, signs have been replaced and exits renumbered up to Exit 29 (former Exit 88) in Plainfield. As of January 2016, the remaining signs to the north to the Massachusetts border have been replaced.
Exit list
Exit numbers were changed from sequential to distance-based numbering in Connecticut between July and December 2015. Along with Connecticut Route 2A, these are Connecticut's initial distance-based exit numbers. MassDOT also planned to switch exit numbers on all of its interstates, including I-395, to distance-based numbering in 2016. But the contract to change exit numbers which was to be awarded in December 2015 was indefinitely postponed in the summer of 2016.
↑Proposed as Exit 76 under the original sequential-numbering system.