History
In the 1940s, the I-691 routing was part of a planned US 6A Expressway from Southington to Willimantic. A section of the expressway (from its Middlefield terminus west to Exit 8) first opened in 1966. By 1968, the US 6A designation was dropped in favor of Route 66. The highway was extended west to Exit 4 by 1971. The connection to I-84 was eventually completed in 1987, with the renumbering to I-691 done at the same time. The portion east of I-91 remained as Route 66. Environmental and community groups successfully blocked attempts to extend the freeway east of its present terminus due to potential impacts on a reservoir that provides drinking water for the local area. A compromise was reached in the late 1990s allowing CONNDOT to convert Route 66 from a 2-lane road to a 4-lane divided highway from the eastern end of the I-691 freeway to Route 9 in Middletown. Construction on the Route 66 widening project was completed in 2005.
Read more about this topic: Interstate 691
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Certainly there is not the fight recorded in Concord history, at least, if in the history of America, that will bear a moment’s comparison with this, whether for the numbers engaged in it, or for the patriotism and heroism displayed.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“It would be naive to think that peace and justice can be achieved easily. No set of rules or study of history will automatically resolve the problems.... However, with faith and perseverance,... complex problems in the past have been resolved in our search for justice and peace. They can be resolved in the future, provided, of course, that we can think of five new ways to measure the height of a tall building by using a barometer.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)
“The only history is a mere question of one’s struggle inside oneself. But that is the joy of it. One need neither discover Americas nor conquer nations, and yet one has as great a work as Columbus or Alexander, to do.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)