New England Interstate Route 8 - History

History

The original Route 8 began in Stratford, Connecticut, running along the west bank of the lower Housatonic River until Shelton. The southern end of Route 8 was relocated in 1951 to its current Bridgeport terminus as part of the freeway upgrading. The old surface road is now parts of Route 113 and Route 110. North of Shelton, the old surface road (where it still exists) generally parallels the freeway, much of it still state-maintained.

In the late 1940s, a four-lane bypass was built south of North Adams, Massachusetts and designated as Route 8A. Around 1975, Routes 8 and 8A were swapped, with the original route now designated as Route 8A and the bypass route as Route 8.

Though the original Route 8 in Vermont did not run north of Wilmington, Route 8 was extended north to Londonderry by 1927 along present Vermont Route 100, and by 1938 to Weston and along Vermont Route 155 to Wallingford. This was still Route 8 in 1961, with Route 100 ending at Route 8 north of Weston. Route 100 was later extended south along Route 8 to the Massachusetts state line. The short piece of Route 8 between Weston and Wallingford became Vermont Route 155, and the Route 8 designation was assigned to its current alignment. (The piece of current Route 8 between Route 100 at Heartwellville and Route 9 at Searsburg had been unnumbered.)