< Connecticut

Connecticut/Highway classification

This page documents the implemention of the US highway classification scheme in the State of Connecticut. This project was completed on Febuary 12, 2022.

This project is based on National Highway System classifications and on Functional Classification Maps generated by the Connecticut Department of Transportation.[1] These classifications provide a strong foundation for a standardized classification scheme. However, there are cases in which curated exceptions to the ConnDOT classifications are appropriate, and such cases should be documented and justified on this page.

Definitions

Motorway

highway=motorway is used for roads which satisfy the requirements set forth in the United States 2021 Highway Classification Guidance. With incidental exceptions, these roads include members of the Interstate Highway System and ConnDOT-designated members of Principal Arterial: Other Expressway. However, there are some roads belonging to the latter classification which do not bear the physical features mandated by the 2021 Highway Classification Guidance, such as the segment of CT-2A near the Mohegan–Pequot Bridge. These exceptional roads should be classified at the highest applicable level below motorway. The mentioned segment of CT-2A is thereby tagged as trunk because it belongs to the pre-2012 National Highway System. Following are the characteristics mandated by the United States 2021 Highway Classification Guidance, all of which must be satisfied for a road to be tagged as a motorway:

  • Grade separation
  • Limited access via on/off ramps
  • No at-grade intersections or traffic signals (although on-ramps may have traffic control devices)
  • Divided carriageways
  • Designed and maintained to support high speeds over long distances as part of an interconnected motorway network

Trunks

highway=trunk is used for all roads belonging to pre-2012 National Highway System routes not otherwise tagged as a motorway.[2] Due to the volume of new roads added in 2012, only the pre-2012 routes are tagged as trunk. This includes CT-12 in Groton, the only STRAHNET Route in Connecticut.

Primary

highway=primary is used for the following roads not otherwise tagged as a higher classification (i.e., motorway or trunk):

  • All members of the United States Numbered Highway System[3]
  • All NHS Routes added during or after 2012
  • All NHS MAP-21 Principal Arterials
  • All ConnDOT-designated Principal Arterial: Other

Secondary

highway=secondary is used for the following roads not otherwise tagged as a higher classification:

  • All Connecticut State Routes
  • All Connecticut State Roads 500–999
  • All ConnDOT-designated members of Minor Arterial
  • All NHS Intermodal Connectors

Tertiary

highway=tertiary is used for the following roads not otherwise tagged as a higher classification:

  • All ConnDOT-designated members of Collector, including both Major Collector and Minor Collector

Residential

highway=residential is used for named members of the local road network that are not otherwise tagged as a higher classification. This classification includes most municipal roads, as well as many private roads. Private, named roads through common areas of residential communities should also be tagged highway=residential and not highway=service. These may be closed to the general public (i.e., a "No Trespassing" sign is present and access=private is in place) but used by visitors, letter carriers, delivery workers, and groundskeepers. All roads tagged highway=residential should include name=*

Note that roads tagged highway=residential do not need to serve residential areas. The semantic distinction between highway=residential and highway=unclassified is contentious. The widespread usage of highway=residential is a consequence of the TIGER data import of 2007. Over the following fifteen years, highway=residential has become the de facto standard in many areas of the United States, including Connecticut. Many mappers, including contributors to this site, attempt to establish exclusive definitions and hold strong, justifiable opinions on this issue, but widespread consensus does not yet exist in the United States mapping community. At this time, tagging roads throughout the general, public road network with highway=unclassified is out of step with the status quo. General-use roads tagged as highway=residential should not be changed to highway=unclassified unless a widespread consensus is reached throughout the U.S. mapping community.

Unclassified

highway=unclassified has no established meaning in Connecticut. It has been used sparingly for narrow instances in which neither highway=residential nor highway=service is suitable. Examples include the named roads within the Pratt & Whitney campus in East Hartford, as well as seasonal roads through Pachaug State Forest that are inconsistently accessible or not suitable for general use.

Exceptions to ConnDOT Classification

Route From To Notes
Abbe Road Enfield Enfield Mapped as secondary rather than tertiary between Powder Hill Road and Town Farm Road in order to connect Abbe Road (secondary south of Town Farm Road) to Powder Hill Road (secondary).
Albert Street Torrington Torrington Mapped as tertiary rather than secondary between Litchfield Street and US-202.
Bridge Street Suffield Suffield Mapped as secondary rather than tertiary between SR-513 and CT-159.
Beecher Road; Long Swamp Road Bristol Wolcott Mapped as secondary rather than tertiary in order to connect Willis Street (secondary) to CT-69 (primary).
Belamose Avenue Rocky Hill Rocky Hill Mapped as residential rather than tertiary, eliminating short, unnecessary dangling tertiary classification.
Broad Street New Britain New Britain Mapped as secondary rather than tertiary between Beaver Street and Washington Street in order to connect Main Street (secondary) to Washington Street (secondary).
Bullard Drive Guilford Guilford Mapped as residential. This is a short dead end.
Canal Street New Haven New Haven Mapped as residential, rather than tertiary. This road consists of two disconnected segments, which create dangling tertiary classifications.
Coe Avenue Meriden Meriden Segment between Bradley Avenue and Hanover Road is mapped as tertiary rather than secondary, resolving a short dangling secondary spur.
Coppermine Road Burlington Farmington Mapped as secondary rather than tertiary in order to connect Stafford Road (secondary) to CT-177 (secondary).
CT-8 Colebrook Colebrook Mapped as primary.
CT-14 Canterbury Windham Mapped as primary west of its connection with CT-14A.
CT-14A Canterbury Plainfield Mapped as primary west of its connection with CT-12.
CT-32 Norwich Waterford Mapped as primary. Primary north–south route in region.
CT-32 Stafford Springs Willimantic Mapped as primary. Primary north–south route in region. Connects with MA-32 / NH-32.
CT-63 Bethany Woodbridge Mapped as primary. This provides connectivity between two dangling primary dead-ends: CT-63 north of Litchfield Turnpike in Bethany, and CT-63 south of CT-67 in Woodbridge.
CT-63 Watertown Watertown Segment between US-6 and West Road is mapped as secondary rather than primary. This resolves a short, dangling primary spur.
CT-99 Wethersfield Cromwell Mapped as primary.
CT-101 Foster, RI Pomfret Mapped as primary. This is a foremost route between Providence and Hartford.
CT-117 Ledyard Preston A short segment north of the town line and south of CT-21 is mapped as secondary, despite ConnDOT classification as Other Principal Arterial.
CT-138 Jewett City Voluntown Mapped as primary, despite ConnDOT classification as Minor Arterial. Primary east–west route in area. Connects with RI-138.
CT-159 Windsor Windsor Mapped as primary rather than secondary. This major dual carriageway thoroughfare links a dangling primary (CT-75) with the segment of CT-159 with NHS MAP-21 classification to the south of I-91.
CT-184 Groton Groton A short segment west of Kings Highway is mapped as secondary, despite ConnDOT classification as Other Principal Arterial.
CT-190 Stafford Springs Suffield Mapped as primary, despite ConnDOT classification as Minor Arterial. Primary east–west route in area.
CT-218 Windsor Windsor Mapped as primary rather than secondary. This short segment links the portion of CT-218 with NHS MAP-21 classification to the primary highway CT-159 and the Exit 3 offramp of I-291.
CT-372 Berlin New Britain Mapped as secondary, despite ConnDOT classification as Other Expressway and NHS classification as MAP-21. This short segment precedes the at-grade intersection at the western terminus of SR-571.
East Clarks Falls Road Hopkinton, RI North Stonington Mapped as tertiary, despite ConnDOT classifications.
Elm Street; Park Street New Haven New Haven A short segment of Elm Street between Broadway and Park Street is tagged as tertiary rather than primary, ending an unusually short primary dead-end. A short segment of Park Street between Broadway and Elm Street is tagged as secondary rather than residential, providing continuity between the primary route and the rest of Park Street.
Factory Street; Mount Riga Road; Mount Washington Road Mount Washington, MA Salisbury Mapped as unclassified or residential, rather than tertiary. This route is formed by unpaved park roads that are unsuitable for tertiary classification.
Fitchville Road Bozrah Norwich Mapped as secondary. This short segment links CT-32 and SR-608.
Flower Street Hartford Hartford Mapped as residential rather than tertiary. This road has been split into two dead-end segments to remove the at-grade rail crossing.
Gay Street; Thompson Street East Haven North Haven Mapped as tertiary, rather than secondary. These roads form a short segment leading to a tertiary road in North Haven.
Glastonbury Boulevard; Putnam Boulevard Glastonbury Glastonbury Mapped as secondary, rather than tertiary, between Naubuc Avenue and Route 3 ramps.
Holland Road Holland, MA Union Mapped as secondary, rather than tertiary. This short segment north of the Exit 74 westbound offramp links CT 171 and Mashapaug Road in Holland, both of which are secondary.
Moose Hill Road Monroe Shelton Mapped as tertiary, rather than secondary. The short segment of Moose Hill Road leading from Mohegan Road to the Monroe–Shelton town line is mapped as tertiary, despite classification as minor arterial, resolving a short dead-end secondary classification.
Mazzacolli Way Newington Newington Mapped as residential, rather than tertiary. This road is a short dead end, which appears to have been a thru road in the past.
Norton Street; Old Turnpike Road Cheshire Cheshire Mapped as secondary, rather than primary. Two short segments connecting CT-10 and CT-322 are classified as Other Principal Arterial by the ConnDOT, but are not consistent with the function of highway=primary in OSM as demarcating routes with long ranges (i.e., not connector roads).
Old Turnpike Road Beacon Falls Beacon Falls Mapped as secondary, rather than tertiary. This short segment connects SR-721 to CT-42.
Park Road Putnam Putnam Mapped as tertiary east of I-395 to remove dangling secondary classification.
Pleasant Street Hartford Hartford Mapped as secondary, rather than tertiary. This segment connects Windsor Street (secondary) to Market Street (secondary) and US-44 (trunk). Pleasant Street was disconnected from Trumbull Street (secondary) when Dunkin Donuts Park was constructed, leaving a dangling secondary road, which is resolved by this exception.
Silver Lane East Hartford East Hartford Mapped as primary rather than secondary between Main Street/US-5 and onramp to CT-15 southbound in order to connect Silver Lane (primary east of that CT-15 SB onramp due to NHS MAP-21 status) to US-5 (trunk due to NHS status).
SR-616 Bozrah Lebanon Mapped as residential, despite its classification as a State Road. This was formerly a major route, but is now a dead end.
SR-626 Hopkinton, RI North Stonington Mapped as residential, despite its classification as a State Road. This was formerly a major route, but leads to Extension 184 in Hopkinton, RI, now a dead end.
Transylvania Road; Upper Grassy Hill Road Southbury Woodbury Transylvania Road is mapped as tertiary, and Upper Grassy Hill Road is mapped as residential. This allows for functional consistency with those same roads north of the town line.
Wasserman Way Newtown Newtown A short segment is tagged as secondary rather than tertiary. It links SR-860 (secondary) and SSR-490 (primary).
Wyllys Street Hartford Hartford A segment is tagged as primary rather than secondary between Charter Oak Avenue and Main Street. It links Wyllys Street north of Charter Oak Avenue (primary) and Main Street (primary).
  1. ↑
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ Excluding US 1A in Stonington, which is classified as highway=secondary. This is the only remaining alternate U.S. highway in Connecticut, and forms a short detour from US 1.
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