Wilbur Cross Parkway

Wilbur Cross Parkway
Map of New Haven County in southern Connecticut with Wilbur Cross Parkway highlighted in red
Route information
Length:	29.62 mi (47.67 km)
Existed:	1941 – present
Component highways:	Route 15 from Milford to Meriden
Restrictions:	No commercial vehicles, trailers, towed vehicles, buses, or hearses[1]
Major junctions
South end:	Route 15 / Merritt Parkway in Stratford
North end:	US 5 / Route 15 (Berlin Turnpike) in Meriden
Location
Counties:	New Haven
Highway system
Routes in Connecticut Interstate U.S. State SSR SR

The Wilbur Cross Parkway is a limited access road in Connecticut, comprising the portion of Route 15 between Milford and Meriden. It is named after Wilbur Lucius Cross, a former governor of the state (1931–1939). Being classified as a parkway, commercial vehicles, trailers, towed vehicles except as provided in Section 14-298-240,^[2] buses, hearses in a procession or cortege, and large vehicles are prohibited from using the road.^[1] The Wilbur Cross Parkway had two toll barriers until 1988; these were located in Milford and Wallingford.

Route description

Traveling north on the Parkway toward Exit 59 and the Heroes Tunnel.

The Heroes Tunnel is the only tunnel through a natural obstacle in Connecticut.

The four-lane Wilbur Cross Parkway begins at the Sikorsky Bridge over the Housatonic River at the town line between Milford and Stratford as a direct continuation of the Merritt Parkway. Immediately after crossing the Housatonic River is the exit for the Milford Parkway, which connects to the Connecticut Turnpike (I-95) and the Boston Post Road (US 1). The Wilbur Cross Parkway runs east northeast through the towns of Milford, Orange, Woodbridge, and New Haven. At the town line between New Haven and Hamden, the parkway passes through the West Rock Tunnel, which was renamed Heroes Tunnel in 2003 by the State of Connecticut to honor first responders. Heroes Tunnel is the only road tunnel through a natural obstacle in Connecticut. The tunnel is lighted solely using low pressure sodium vapor lamps, rare for the United States. From the West Rock Tunnel, the parkway proceeds north through the towns of Hamden, North Haven, Wallingford, and Meriden. After connecting with I-91 in Meriden, the parkway ends, merging onto North Broad Street (US 5). North of Meriden, Routes 5 and 15 continue as the Berlin Turnpike.

Dating from its history as a toll road, on the Wilbur Cross Parkway, there remain two pairs of service plazas, located in Orange and North Haven. There are separate plazas for both the northbound and southbound sides of the road, located directly opposite each other. All four plazas on the Wilbur Cross, along with the six plazas located further south along the Merritt Parkway, were renovated since 2011 and in addition to an Alltown convenience store and gas pumps at each plaza, they now include Dunkin' Donuts and Subway shops.^[3] Prior to the renovations, no fast-food service had been available at any of the plazas. There are also three abandoned rest areas along the Parkway. These were located in Woodbridge, New Haven, and Meriden.

History

The Wilbur Cross Parkway was originally planned in 1937 as route from US 1 in Milford to the Massachusetts state line in Union. The portion of the parkway south of Meriden was built largely as planned. Construction began in 1939 when federal funds were secured. The first section of the parkway to open was the Milford to Orange segment, from the Housatonic River (Exit 54) to Route 34 (Exit 57-58) at the end of 1941. Subsequent construction was delayed by World War II. After the war, two more sections of the parkway opened: the segment from US 5 in Wallingford (Exit 66) to US 5 in Meriden (Exit 68), bypassing the city center opened in 1946; and the segment from Route 10A in Hamden (Exit 61) to US 5 in Wallingford opened in 1947.

In 1948, the parkway was designated as part of a new Route 15, connecting New York to Massachusetts. Because the New Haven segment had not yet been completed, motorists were directed to temporarily follow Route 34, US 5, and Route 10A. In November 1949, the New Haven segment, from Exit 57-58 to Exit 61, including the West Rock Tunnel opened. The entire parkway was a toll road when it opened in 1941. Tolls were removed from both the Merritt and Wilibur Cross Parkways in 1988.

Exit list

The entire route is in New Haven County.

Location	mi	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Housatonic River	0.00	0.00	Igor I. Sikorsky Memorial Bridge Route 15 south (Merritt Parkway)
Milford	0.52	0.84	54	To I-95 / US 1 – Milford, New London	Milford Parkway
	1.10	1.77	55A	Wheelers Farms Road	Signed as exit 55 southbound
	1.22	1.96	55B	Wolf Harbor Road	Northbound exit only
Orange	4.22	6.79	56	Route 121 – Orange
	5.56	8.95	57 58	Route 34 east – New Haven Route 34 west – Derby
New Haven	9.24– 9.48	14.87– 15.26	59	Route 63 / Route 69 – Woodbridge, New Haven
	9.87– 10.10	15.88– 16.25	Heroes Tunnel
Hamden	12.94	20.82	60	Route 10 – Hamden, New Haven
	14.31	23.03	61/62 (NB) 61 (SB)	Whitney Avenue – Hamden, New Haven	Split into exits 61 (south) and 62 (north) southbound.
	14.72	23.69	62	Dixwell Avenue- Hamden, North Haven	Northbound exit and entrance only
North Haven	16.06	25.85	63	Route 22 – North Haven
Wallingford	21.11	33.97	64	S. Turnpike Rd., Quinnipiac St. – Wallingford
	21.39	34.42	65	Route 150 – Yalesville, Wallingford
	23.81	38.32	66	US 5 – Wallingford, Meriden
Meriden	27.87	44.85		ConnDOT Maintenance Facility	Access to/from Miller Avenue
	26.86	43.23	67S	I-91 south – New Haven	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	27.05	43.53	67	East Main Street – Downtown Meriden	Joint exit with I-91
	27.56	44.35	68 N-E	I-91 north / Route 66 east – Hartford, Middletown	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	27.99	45.05	68W	I-691 west – Meriden, Waterbury	No southbound exit
	29.62	47.67		US 5 south (North Broad Street) – Meriden	Southern terminus of US 5 overlap; Limited access ends
			Route 15 north / US 5 north (Berlin Turnpike)
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

References

• Connecticut state highway route log, 2006
• kurumi.com - Wilbur Cross Parkway
• nycroads.com - Wilbur Cross Parkway

External links