Carries Route 3 Expressway Design Steel girder bridge Clearance below 24 m Bridge type Girder bridge Location Wethersfield | Crosses Connecticut River Daily traffic 50,800 Clearance below 24 m Body of water Connecticut River | |
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Locale Wethersfield and Glastonbury. Official name William H. Putnam Memorial Bridge Similar Charter Oak Bridge, Founders Bridge, Bissell Bridge, Dexter Coffin Bridge, Bulkeley Bridge | ||
The Putnam Bridge is a bridge in the state of Connecticut carrying the Route 3 Expressway over the Connecticut River, connecting Interstate 91 in Wethersfield and Route 2 in Glastonbury. It is the southernmost crossing of the Connecticut River in the Hartford Area and carries an average of 50,800 vehicles per day.[1]
The bridge was built in the late 1950s as part of the Route 3 connector between Interstate 91 and Connecticut Route 2. It originally terminated at Main Street in Glastonbury, rather than at Route 2. It was expected to be expanded to a double-decker in the early 1970s as part of the planned Interstate 491, a southeastern bypass around Hartford from Wethersfield to East Hartford. However, the project was cancelled in 1973. In the late 1980s, the expressway portion of Route 3 was extended to terminate at Route 2.
In 2013, the bridge underwent a $15 million rehabilitation project, which repaved the roadbed, repainted the girders, added new lighting fixtures and a new pedestrian walkway.