The Bradley Airport Connector (also the Bradley Field Connector) is a 4.6 miles (7.4 km) expressway built to connect Bradley International Airport

Bradley International Airport

Bradley International Airport is a joint civil-military public airport located in Windsor Locks on the border with East Granby and Suffield, in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It is owned by the State of Connecticut....

 to Interstate 91

Interstate 91

Interstate 91 is an Interstate Highway in the New England region of the United States. It provides the primary north–south thoroughfare in the western part of New England...

 in Windsor, Connecticut

Windsor, Connecticut

Windsor is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, and was the first English settlement in the state. It lies on the northern border of Connecticut's capital, Hartford. The population was estimated at 28,778 in 2005....

. It begins at Exit 40 of I-91 and heads west as Route 20

Route 20 (Connecticut)

Route 20 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It extends from Route 8 in rural Winchester to I-91 in Windsor. Route 20 consists of two distinct sections: a long, winding, scenic rural road, and a section of the freeway linking I-91 to Bradley International...

 roughly along the town line between Windsor and Windsor Locks

Windsor Locks, Connecticut

Windsor Locks is a town located in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2000 census, its population was 12,043. It is the site of Bradley International Airport, which serves the Greater Hartford-Springfield region. It is also the site of the New England Air Museum...

. The expressway then turns north, leaving Route 20 and becoming an unsigned state road (with designation Special Service Road 401) ending at the airport terminals.

On October 10, 1999, the Connector was named the "82nd Airborne Memorial Highway", in honor of the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division. According to the Connecticut Department of Transportation

Connecticut Department of Transportation

The Connecticut Department of Transportation is responsible for the development and operation of highways, railroads, mass transit systems, ports, waterways and aviation facilities in the U.S. state of Connecticut. The current Commissioner of ConnDOT is Jeffrey Parker...

, the expressway carries as many as 54,900 vehicles per day (as of 2007).

Route description

The highway begins at Exit 40 of I-91 in the town of Windsor. After traveling about a quarter of a mile along the exit ramp, the main roadway starts as a four-lane expressway with unnumbered exits. The highway's first exit is with Old County Road a mile later. The second exit is signed for Route 75

Route 75 (Connecticut)

Route 75 in the U.S. states of Connecticut and Massachusetts is a scenic route connecting the Hartford and Springfield areas. The route begins at Route 159 in the town of Windsor, Connecticut and ends at the junction of Route 159 and Route 147 in the city of Agawam, Massachusetts.The route...

, which provides access to the long-term parking lots of the airport and leads to the town of Suffield

Suffield, Connecticut

Suffield is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It had once been within the boundaries of Massachusetts. The town is located in the Connecticut River Valley with the town of Enfield neighboring to the east. In 1900, 3,521 people lived in Suffield; and in 1910, 3,841. As of the...

. After about 0.6 mile (0.965604 km), the highway has another exit for Hamilton Road. Soon after this exit, Route 20 exits at the highway's fourth exit to continue on surface roads to East Granby

East Granby, Connecticut

East Granby is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was estimated at 5,058 in 2005. The town recently celebrated its 150th anniversary with a three-day festival on June 7, 8, and 9, 2008.-Geography:...

. At this point, the expressway turns north to enter Windsor Locks and soon enters the perimeter of Bradley International Airport. After a partial interchange with Hamilton Road North, the highway ends at Schoephoester Road, a one-way road that connects to the terminal access road.

The highway designation becomes Special Service Road 401 (SSR 401) after Route 20 leaves the Connector. The SSR 401 designation continues east on Schoephoester Road, which continues for another 1.2 miles (1.9 km) as a four-lane surface road to connect with Route 75. Schoephoester Road also provides access to the Bradley Airport parking lots. The airport terminal access road connects to Schoephoester Road about half a mile east of the end of the expressway at a jughandle intersection. The airport terminal access road is a one-way, unsigned state road with designation Special Service Road 403 (SSR 403).

History

The project to build this connector was proposed in the early 1950s, but was not started until 1958. Three years later, on July 3, 1961, the four-lane expressway was open to traffic. The highway cost $3.9 million to construct. When the Connector opened to traffic, Route 20 was relocated to use the east–west portion of the highway. This resulted in Route 20 being truncated to end at I-91. The portion of the highway that is not part of Route 20 was assigned as SSR 401 in 1963.

Exit list