Connecticut Route 14 - History

History

Route 14A east of Route 12 was part of an early toll road connecting the cities of Norwich and Providence via Plainfield Village. The road was known as the New London and Windham County Turnpike and was chartered in 1795. It used modern Route 12 from Norwich to Plainfield and modern Route 14A to the Rhode Island state line. Modern Route 14 west of Route 12 was the eastern half of another early turnpike known as the Windham Turnpike, which was chartered in 1799 and began in Coventry and ran to Willimantic using modern Route 31 and Route 32, then from Willimantic through Scotland to Plainfield using modern Route 14.

In the 1920s, the Willimantic-Plainfield portion of the Windham Turnpike was designated as State Highway 141. The road from Central Village via Sterling center to the Rhode Island state line was assigned as State Highway 103, which continued as the same number in Rhode Island. The Route 14 designation was established as part of the 1932 state highway renumbering from old Highways 141 and 103 via an overlap with Route 12. When it was established, Route 14 extended further west than it does today. It extended all the way to Waterbury along modern Route 66, East Main Street in Meriden, modern Route 322, and Meriden Road in Waterbury (SR 844). The route served as an alternative to Route 6. This western extension was signed as part of U.S. Route 6A from 1941 to 1968, when it was replaced by I-84 as the main through route in the area. Route 14 was rerouted in Plainfield and Sterling in 1963, with the old route becoming the western half of modern Route 14A. The eastern half of Route 14A was designated on former unsigned SR 586 in Plainfield and former Route 211 in Sterling.