U.S. Route 44

U.S. Route 44
Route information
Length:	236.7 mi (380.9 km)
Existed:	1935[1] – present
Major junctions
West end:	US 209 / NY 55 in Kerhonkson, NY
	US 9W in Highland, NY US 9 in Poughkeepsie, NY Taconic Parkway in Pleasant Valley, NY US 7 in Canaan, CT I-91 in Hartford, CT I-84 in Manchester, CT US 1 in Providence, RI
East end:	Route 3A in Plymouth, MA
Highway system
United States Numbered Highways List • Bannered • Divided • Replaced

U.S. Route 44 is an east–west United States highway that runs for 237 miles (381 km) through four states in the Northeastern region of the United States. The western terminus is at U.S. Route 209 and New York State Route 55 in Kerhonkson, a hamlet in the Hudson Valley region of New York. The eastern terminus is at Route 3A in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Route description

Lengths

	mi	km
NY	65.98[2]	106.18
CT	106.03[3]	170.64
RI	26.3	42.3
MA	38.40[4]	61.80
Total	236.7	380.9

New York

Main article: U.S. Route 44 in New York

US 44 begins at US 209/NY 55 in the hamlet of Kerhonkson in Ulster County. Route 44 is about 66 miles (106 km) long in the state, progressing through Ulster and Dutchess Counties. The route crosses into Connecticut after intersecting with New York State Route 22 in Millerton.

Hairpin turn on US 44 and NY 55 near Mohonk Preserve in New York's Shawangunk Mountains.

Connecticut

Main article: U.S. Route 44 in Connecticut

From the New York state line at Salisbury to the Rhode Island state line at Putnam, US 44 runs for a total of 106.03 miles (170.64 km) in Connecticut. Most of US 44 is known in the state as the Jonathan Trumbull Highway. It begins as rural arterial road in Litchfield county, going through the towns of North Canaan, Norfolk, Colebrook, Winchester, Barkhamsted, and New Hartford. It is a 2-lane road with 4-lane sections in Winchester.^[5]

In Canton, US 44 is joined by US 202 and becomes a mostly 4-lane principal arterial road serving the Hartford metro area. US 44 continues through Simsbury, Avon, and West Hartford. US 202 splits from US 44 in Avon following the route of Route 10 after overlapping for 5.3 miles (8.5 km). US 44 then enters the city of Hartford along Albany Avenue, then goes up onto I-84/US 6 to cross the Connecticut River on the Bulkeley Bridge. In East Hartford, US 44 then returns to surface roads right after crossing the river. It becomes a 2-lane minor arterial road through Manchester, Bolton, Coventry, and Mansfield, then becomes a rural road through Willington, Ashford, Eastford, Pomfret, and Putnam. In Manchester, US 44 overlaps with US 6 for 6.9 miles (11.1 km) up to Bolton until just after the eastern terminus of I-384. This segment of US 44 up to Willington is known as the Boston Turnpike while the segment approaching Rhode Island is called Providence Pike.

Rhode Island

Stagecoach on Route 44 in Greenville at the turn of the century.

US 44 runs 26.2 miles (42.2 km) in Rhode Island. During this part of the road, Route 44 is often referred to locally as "Putnam Pike" as the road runs through Rhode Island and into Putnam, Connecticut. US 44 enters the state at Glocester, traveling for several miles in between several reservoirs of the Providence area as it heads towards the village of Greenville in the town of Smithfield. US 44 has a junction with I-295 in Smithfield at a cloverleaf interchange. Soon after the I-295 junction, US 44 enters the city of North Providence along Smith Street, then enters the city proper of Providence after another 1.7 miles (2.7 km). In downtown Providence, US 44 separates into one-way couplets. Eastbound US 44 runs along Canal Street and South Water Street (via a section of Memorial Boulevard). Westbound US 44 runs along South Main Street and North Main Street. US 44 joins I-195/US 6 at Exit 2 as they cross the Seekonk River into East Providence. US 44 leaves I-195/US 6 at Exit 4 just after crossing the river and continues east towards the Massachusetts state line along Taunton Avenue.

Massachusetts

Looking east on the new US 44 freeway at Route 3 in Plymouth.

US 44 runs for 38.4 miles (61.8 km) in Massachusetts. It enters the state in the town of Seekonk along Taunton Avenue. It goes to the city of Taunton passing through the towns of Rehoboth and Dighton along the way. It continues eastward from Taunton through the towns of Raynham, Lakeville, Middleborough, Carver, Plympton and Kingston before reaching its eastern terminus at Plymouth. US 44 has interchanges with Route 24 in Raynham and with Interstate 495 in Middleborough. East of the Middleborough Rotary, US 44 becomes an arterial highway for five miles (8 km) until just past the intersection with Route 105, where it turns into a two-lane freeway with a guard rail acting as a median divider for three miles (5 km) until just before the intersection with Route 58. After that, it becomes a newly-built, 7.5-mile (12.1 km) long freeway section to Route 3 which bypasses the congested business district in Plymouth. (The old section of US 44 appeared on some maps starting in 2005 as Route 44A; however, Route 44A signs were not put up after the bypass was built, and the route has not appeared in the official route log of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.) Near its eastern terminus, Route 44 overlaps Route 3 for about 1.0-mile (1.6 km), then exits and continues as a surface road for approximately another half mile, ending at Route 3A.

In Middleborough, Route 44 passes by the historically significant Oliver Mill Park, site of Judge Peter Oliver's 18th-century industrial complex. Ancient stone-walled waterways still remain here on the banks of the Nemasket River.

History

New York

US 44 was designated along its modern alignment at the beginning of 1935. West of the Hudson, it was overlaid on already existing NY 55, with US 44 officially beginning at US 209, which was extended into New York in 1935. East of the Hudson, US 44 was assigned to the original Dutchess Turnpike main line to Amenia and to the short piece of NY 199 between NY 22 and the Connecticut line. The two sections were connected via an overlap with NY 22.

Connecticut

Most of the alignment of modern US 44 in Connecticut was at one time part of an early network of turnpikes in the state during the 19th century. From the New York state line at Salisbury to the village of Lakeville, the route was the westernmost section of the Salisbury and Canaan Turnpike. Between North Canaan and New Hartford, modern US 44 was known as the Greenwoods Turnpike. The southeastward continuation of the Greenwoods road to the West Hartford-Hartford line was known as the Talcott Mountain Turnpike. From East Hartford to Eastford, the Boston Turnpike was chartered mostly along modern US 44 as the direct route from Hartford to Boston. The Boston Turnpike differed from modern US 44 by using a more direct route between Eastford and Pomfret Center along modern Route 244, while US 44 runs via the village of Abington. Past Pomfret Center, the Boston Turnpike diverged from modern US 44 heading northeast across the town of Thompson. The route through Putnam to the Rhode Island state line was a different turnpike road known as the Pomfret and Killingly Turnpike.

In 1922, the New England states designated route numbers on its main roads. Route 101 was assigned as the route used by the Pomfret and Killingly Turnpike (modern US 44) to Pomfret Center, then modern US 44 to Phoenixville via Abington (short portions of two other turnpike roads), then a road southward from Phoenixville to South Chaplin (modern Route 198), ending at New England Route 3. The direct road connecting Phoenixville to Bolton Notch was designated as Route 109. From Hartford to Bolton Notch, modern US 44 was at the time known as New England Route 3. West of Hartford, modern US 44 was designated as part of New England Route 17, which stretched in Connecticut from North Canaan to Stonington (via modern Route 2). Between the New York state line at Salisbury and North Canaan, the road was known as Route 121.

In 1926, most of New England Route 3 became U.S. Route 6. In the 1932 state highway renumbering, New England Route 17 was broken up into two newly assigned routes: modern Route 2 east of Hartford, and part of Route 101 west of Hartford. Route 101 was reconfigured in 1932 from its 1920s alignment to continue west of Phoenixville along former Route 109, then overlapping with US 6 to Hartford. Route 101 then used the western half of former New England Route 17 to North Canaan where it ended. The road from North Canaan to Salisbury was renumbered in 1932 to Route 199 to match the route number in New York at the time. In 1935, US 44 was designated and utilized Route 101 across the states of Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. Route 199 was also incorporated into the new route, connecting with the New York state line.

In the 1940s, US 44 was relocated along a portion of the Wilbur Cross Highway for several years with the former surface alignment becoming US 44A. The change was later reversed. US 6 was also relocated in East Hartford and Manchester to use I-84 and the overlap between US 6 and US 44 is now only between Manchester and Bolton Notch.

Rhode Island and Massachusetts

In the 19th century, almost all of the alignment of modern US 44 in Rhode Island was part of an early turnpike route. From the Connecticut line in Putnam to the Smithfield town line, what is now the Putnam Pike was part of the West Glocester Turnpike (Connecticut line to Chepachet) and the Glocester Turnpike (Chepachet to Smithfield line). The continuation of the road in Smithfield and North Providence was another turnpike road known as the Powder Hill Turnpike, running along the alignment of modern Smith Street. Between East Providence and Taunton, the road was part of yet another turnpike, the Taunton and Providence Turnpike, running along modern Taunton Avenue and Winthrop Street.

In 1922, when the New England states first assigned route numbers to its main thoroughfares, the route from Putnam through Providence and Taunton to Plymouth was designated as Route 101. Route 101 extended across Rhode Island and Massachusetts along modern US 44, with an extension into Connecticut along an alignment different from US 44. In 1932, Connecticut relocated its Route 101 to the modern US 44 alignment, with the route now extending across the three states from North Canaan in Connecticut to Plymouth in Massachusetts. In 1935, the multi-state Route 101 was incorporated into newly-designated US 44. Connecticut and Rhode Island reassigned the Route 101 designation to a much shorter but parallel alignment between the two states.

On 14 December 2005, a freeway realignment opened to the north of the original surface alignment US 44 in the towns of Carver and Plymouth.^[6] US 44 was rerouted onto the new expressway and now runs concurrent with Route 3 from the latter freeway's exit 7, where the new freeway ends, south to exit 6, where US 44 rejoins its former alignment.

Major intersections

A directional assembly showing the US 9W/US 44/NY 55 overlap west of the Mid-Hudson Bridge.

• U.S. Route 209/New York State Route 55 in Kerhonkson, New York
• U.S. Route 9W near Poughkeepsie, New York (0.56 mile overlap)
• U.S. Route 9 in Poughkeepsie, New York
• Taconic State Parkway northeast of Pleasant Valley, New York
• U.S. Route 7 in North Canaan, Connecticut
• U.S. Route 202 in Canton, Connecticut (western terminus of overlap)
• U.S. Route 202/Route 10 in Avon, Connecticut (eastern terminus of overlap)
• Interstate 84/U.S. Route 6 in Hartford, Connecticut
• U.S. Route 5 in East Hartford, Connecticut
• Interstate 84 in Manchester, Connecticut
• U.S. Route 6 in Manchester, Connecticut (western terminus of overlap)
• Interstate 384 in Bolton, Connecticut
• U.S. Route 6 in Bolton, Connecticut (eastern terminus of overlap)
• Interstate 395 in Putnam, Connecticut
• Interstate 295 in Smithfield, Rhode Island
• Interstate 195 in East Providence, Rhode Island
• Interstate 495 in Middleborough, Massachusetts

Exit list

A segment of US 44 in Massachusetts is a limited-access freeway. All exits are unnumbered. The entire route is in Plymouth County.

Location	Mile	Destinations	Notes
Middleborough	25	Freeway begins at Route 105, at-grade intersection. continues west as an arterial highway.
Carver	29	Route 58 - Carver, Plympton
	32	Spring Street - Carver, Plympton
Plymouth	35	Commerce Way - To Route 80, To Cherry Street - North Plymouth
	36	Route 3 - Boston (north), Cape Cod (south)	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; US 44 joins Route 3 south eastbound and leaves Route 3 north westbound

References

1. ^ US Highways from US 1 to US 830 Robert V. Droz
2. ^ "2007 Traffic Data Report for New York State" (PDF). New York State Department of Transportation. July 25, 2008. https://www.nysdot.gov/divisions/engineering/technical-services/hds-respository/NYSDOT_Traffic_Data_Report_2007.pdf. Retrieved July 17, 2009. 
3. ^ "Connecticut State Numbered Routes and Roads" (PDF). Connecticut Department of Transportation. http://www.ct.gov/dot/LIB/dot/Documents/dpolicy/hwylog/hwylog.pdf. Retrieved 2007-08-17. 
4. ^ Executive Office of Transportation - Office of Transportation Planning Roads - GIS Data
5. ^ Mile by Mile: U.S. Highway 44 Travel Guide - City of Putnam to Connecticut/New York State Line
6. ^ "A LONG TIME COMING: New Route 44 finally opens". http://ledger.southofboston.com/articles/2005/12/15/news/news06.txt. Retrieved 2007-02-23. 

External links

• US 44 Expressway-Massachusetts on Bostonroads.com

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Lists		U.S. Routes • Bannered • Divided • Bypassed

Browse numbered routes
← NY 43	NY	NY 45 →
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