Route 3 is a 14.45-mile-long (23.26 km) route connecting Middletown to Glastonbury. It passes through the towns of Cromwell, Rocky Hill, and Wethersfield. The northernmost 3 miles (4.8 km) of Route 3 is a freeway that was originally intended for the cancelled Interstate 491.

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Route 3 begins at Route 66 in Middletown, and is a surface road for its first 11 miles (18 km) up to Wethersfield. After crossing into Cromwell, it intersects Route 372, which offers access to Route 9 just east of the intersection. After overpassing Route 9, it continues north into Rocky Hill and overpasses Interstate 91 without an interchange. After a brief concurrency with Route 160, it crosses into Wethersfield, where it meets the eastern end of Route 287 and crosses over Route 99. After the Silas Deane Highway (Route 99) intersection, it becomes a four-lane undivided expressway. At an interchange with Interstate 91, it becomes a four-lane divided freeway crosses the Connecticut River on the William H. Putnam Memorial Bridge into Glastonbury. The freeway has one exit for Main Street (via Glastonbury Boulevard northbound and Putnam Boulevard southbound) before ending at a trumpet interchange with the Route 2 expressway at the East Hartford town line.

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Route 3 was established in 1941. It originally ran from West Street/Berlin Road in Cromwell, which was part of Route 72 at the time (now Route 372), to the Silas Deane Highway (Route 99) in Wethersfield.

Interstate 491
Location	Hartford, Connecticut
Existed	1958–1973

In late 1958, as part of the planned Interstate 491 (a southeastern bypass of Hartford), a freeway from I-91 to Main Street in Glastonbury, crossing the Connecticut River on the Putnam Memorial Bridge, was opened. The Route 3 designation was temporarily extended along this freeway pending completion of I-491. In 1973, I-491 was cancelled due to local opposition and the Route 3 designation along this freeway segment became permanent. In the late 1980s, the freeway was extended so that it terminated at Route 2, rather than at Main Street.

In 1991, when the Route 9 freeway through Berlin and New Britain was completed, Route 72 was truncated to end at Route 9 in New Britain. The east–west portion of the old alignment of Route 72 was reassigned to an extended Route 372 (running along Berlin Road/West Street to end at Route 99 in Cromwell). The north–south portion of old Route 72 from Cromwell to Middletown (ending at Route 66) was reassigned to Route 3.

As part of an upcoming sign replacement project on Route 3 between I-91 and Route 2, new mile-based exit numbers will be added along that stretch of expressway.

County	Location	mi	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Middlesex	Middletown	0.00	0.00		Route 66 – Middletown, Portland, Meriden	Southern terminus
	Cromwell	3.37	5.42		Route 372 to Route 9 – Middletown, Cromwell, Hartford, Berlin, New Britain
Hartford	Rocky Hill	6.59	10.61		To I-91 – Hartford, New Haven, Dinosaur State Park	Access via SSR 411
		7.21	11.60		Route 160 east – Rocky Hill	South end of Route 160 overlap
		7.40	11.91		Route 160 west – Berlin	North end of Route 160 overlap
	Wethersfield	10.21	16.43		Route 287 west – Newington	Eastern terminus of Route 287
		10.37	16.69		Route 99 – Hartford, Rocky Hill	Former Route 9
				Southern end of limited-access section
		11.31	18.20	11	I-91 – Hartford, New Haven	Signed as exits 11A (south) and 11B (north) southbound; exits 33A-B on I-91
	Connecticut River	11.63– 12.09	18.72– 19.46	Putnam Bridge
	Glastonbury	12.96– 13.27	20.86– 21.36	13A	Main Street – Glastonbury	Signed as exit 13 southbound; access via Glastonbury/Putnam Blvds
		13.51– 14.45	21.74– 23.26	13	Route 2 – East Hartford, Norwich	Eastern terminus; signed as exits 13B (west) and 13C (east); exit 4A on Route 2
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

• Connecticut State Highway Log (2023)
• kurumi.com - Route 3
• kurumi.com - I-491