View source for Interstate 691

{{short description|Interstate Highway in Connecticut}}
{{More citations needed|date=November 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox road
| state = CT
| type = I
| route = 691
| alternate_name = Henry D. Altobello Highway
| map = {{maplink|frame=yes|plain=yes|frame-align=center|frame-width=290|frame-lat=41.55|frame-long=-72.838|zoom=11|type=line|raw={{Wikipedia:Map data/Wikipedia KML/Interstate 691}}}}
| map_custom = yes
| map_notes = I-691 highlighted in red
| spur_type = I
| spur_of = 91
| length_mi = 8.38
| length_ref = <ref name="fhwa">{{cite web |last=Starks |first=Edward |date=January 27, 2022 |title=Table 2: Auxiliary Routes of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways |url=https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/national_highway_system/interstate_highway_system/routefinder/table02.cfm |access-date=December 11, 2022 |work=FHWA Route Log and Finder List |publisher=[[Federal Highway Administration]]}}</ref>
| established = 1988 (completed)
| direction_a = West
| terminus_a = {{Jct|state=CT|I|84}} near [[Southington, Connecticut|Southington]]
| junction = {{Jct|state=CT|US|5}} in [[Meriden, Connecticut|Meriden]]
| direction_b = East
| terminus_b = {{Jct|state=CT|CT|66|I|91|CT|15}} / [[Wilbur Cross Parkway]] in [[Meriden, Connecticut|Meriden]]
| counties = [[Hartford County, Connecticut|Hartford]], [[New Haven County, Connecticut|New Haven]]
| previous_type = I
| previous_route = 684
| next_type = US
| next_route = 1
}}
'''Interstate&nbsp;691''' ('''I-691''') is an [[auxiliary Interstate Highway]] in [[Connecticut]] beginning at [[Interstate 91 in Connecticut|I-91]] in [[Meriden, Connecticut|Meriden]] and ending at [[Interstate 84 in Connecticut|I-84]] near the [[Cheshire, Connecticut|Cheshire]]–[[Southington, Connecticut|Southington]] town line. According to the [[Federal Highway Administration]], it is {{convert|8.38|mi|km}} in length;<ref name="fhwa" /> however, the [[Connecticut Department of Transportation]] (CTDOT) includes the 0.54 miles (0.87 km) of the exit ramp that I-691 uses to the merge with westbound [[Interstate 84 in Connecticut|I-84]], making their recorded length {{Convert|8.92|mi|km}} long.<ref name="log">{{cite web |date=December 31, 2014 |title=Highway Log - Connecticut State Numbered Routes and Roads |url=http://www.ct.gov/dot/LIB/dot/Documents/dpolicy/hwylog/hwylog.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905063334/http://www.ct.gov/dot/LIB/dot/Documents/dpolicy/hwylog/hwylog.pdf |archive-date=September 5, 2015 |access-date=December 11, 2022 |work=[[Connecticut Department of Transportation]]}}</ref>

I-691 is also known as the '''Henry D. Altobello Highway''' for its entire length.

==Route description==
I-691 is the main east–west highway of the city of [[Meriden, Connecticut|Meriden]]. The freeway actually begins in [[Middlefield, Connecticut|Middlefield]] as [[Connecticut Route 66|Route&nbsp;66]], technically becoming I-691 at the junction with [[Interstate 91 in Connecticut|I-91]] (exit&nbsp;11). However, westbound signage indicates I-691 begins at the start of the freeway (just west of exit&nbsp;13), while eastbound signage shows I-691 ending at the [[Connecticut Route 15|Route&nbsp;15]] interchange (at eastbound exit&nbsp;10 about {{Convert|0.5|mi|km|disp=sqbr}} west of the interchange with I-91). To go from I-91 northbound to I-691 westbound (or from I-691 eastbound to I-91 southbound), one must actually use Route&nbsp;15. Exit&nbsp;9 westbound provides access to Route&nbsp;15 north.

West of the I-91/Route&nbsp;15 interchange, I-691 meets [[U.S. Route 5 in Connecticut|US Route&nbsp;5]] (US&nbsp;5), which provides access to Route&nbsp;15 north for eastbound traffic. Exit&nbsp;7 provides access to downtown Meriden. Westbound traffic exits onto State Street Extension, while eastbound traffic enters onto Columbia Street. Exits&nbsp;6 and 5 provide access to [[Connecticut Route 71|Route&nbsp;71]], as well as access to [[Meriden Mall]]. Exit&nbsp;6 exits to Lewis Avenue, while exit&nbsp;5 exits directly to Route&nbsp;71. From here, I-691 passes along the north side of [[Hubbard Park (Meriden, Connecticut)|Hubbard Park]] as well as by [[Castle Craig]] before it crosses into [[Southington, Connecticut|Southington]]. It then meets the eastern end of [[Connecticut Route 322|Route&nbsp;322]] at exit&nbsp;4. It then crosses the [[Quinnipiac River]] into [[Cheshire, Connecticut|Cheshire]], where it has an interchange with [[Connecticut Route 10|Route&nbsp;10]], then continues west to end at [[Interstate 84 in Massachusetts|I-84]] at the Southington–Cheshire town line. The highway officially ends as it merges into I-84 west.

==History==
[[Image:US 6A.svg|90px|left]]
In the 1940s, the I-691 routing was part of a planned US&nbsp;6A expressway from Southington to Willimantic. A section of the expressway (from its Middlefield terminus west to exit&nbsp;8) first opened in 1966. By 1968, the US&nbsp;6A designation was dropped in favor of Route&nbsp;66. The highway was extended west to exit&nbsp;4 by 1971. The connection to [[Interstate 84 in Connecticut|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&nbsp;66. Environmental and community groups successfully blocked attempts to extend the freeway east of its present terminus due to potential impacts on the Mt. Higby Reservoir, which provides drinking water for the local area. A compromise was reached in the late 1990s allowing [[Connecticut Department of Transportation|CTDOT]] to convert Route&nbsp;66 from a two-lane road to four lanes from the eastern end of the I-691 freeway to the business district in [[Middletown, Connecticut|Middletown]]. Construction on the Route&nbsp;66 widening project was completed in 2005.

{{clear}}

==Exit list==
Exits are currently [[Sequential exit numbering|sequential]] but are planned to be converted to [[mileage-based exit numbering]] in 2023.{{Update after|2023}}
{{jcttop|old|length_ref=<ref name="log" />}}
{{CTint|old
|county1=Hartford
|county2=New Haven
|cspan=2
|location1=Southington
|location2=Cheshire
|lspan=2
|mile=8.38
|old=1
|exit=8B
|road={{Jct|state=CT|I|84|dir1=west|city1=Waterbury}}
|notes=Western terminus and Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; exit 40A on I-84
}}
{{CTint|old
|mile=7.96
|type=incomplete
|old=2
|exit=8A
|road={{jct|state=CT|I|84|dir1=east|city1=Hartford}}
|notes=Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; exit 40A on I-84
}}
{{CTint|old
|county=New Haven
|location=Cheshire
|mile=6.97
|old=3
|exit=7
|road={{Jct|state=CT|CT|10|location1=[[Cheshire Village, Connecticut|Cheshire]]|city2=Plantsville}}
}}
{{CTint|old
|county1=Hartford
|county2=New Haven
|location1=Southington
|location2=Meriden
|mile=4.78
|old=4
|exit=5
|road={{Jct|state=CT|CT|322|city1=Southington}}
|notes=Eastern terminus of Route 322
}}
{{CTint|old
|county=New Haven
|cspan=8
|location=Meriden
|lspan=8
|type=incomplete
|mile=3.02
|old=5
|exit=3
|road={{Jct|state=CT|CT|71|name1=Chamberlain Highway}}
|notes=Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
}}
{{CTint|old
|type=incomplete
|mile=2.47
|old=6
|exit=3
|road={{Jct|state=CT|CT|71|to1=yes|name1=Chamberlain Highway}}
|notes=Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; access via Lewis Avenue
}}
{{CTint|old
|mile=2.36
|mile2=1.71
|old=7
|exit=2B
|type=
|road=[[Meriden, Connecticut|Downtown Meriden]]
|notes=Access via Columbia Street eastbound, State Street westbound
}}
{{CTint|old
|mile=1.31
|old=8
|exit=2A
|road={{Jct|state=CT|US|5|location1=[[Meriden, Connecticut|Downtown Meriden]]}}
|notes=
}}
{{CTint|old
|mile=0.40
|mspan=2
|type=incomplete
|old=10
|exit=1B
|road={{jct|state=CT|I|91|dir1=south|CT|15|dir2=south|name2=[[Wilbur Cross Parkway]]|city1=New Haven}}
|notes=Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
}}
{{CTint|old
|mile=none
|type=incomplete
|old=9
|exit=1C
|road={{Jct|state=CT|CT|15|dir1=north|name1=[[Wilbur Cross Parkway]]}}
|notes=Westbound exit only; Wilbur Cross Parkway. signed as Berlin Turnpike.
}}
{{CTint|old
|mile=0.00
|mspan=2
|type=incomplete
|old=10-11
|exit=1A-B
|road={{Jct|state=CT|I|91|CT|15|dir2=south|name2=[[Wilbur Cross Parkway]]|city1=Hartford|city2=New Haven}}
|notes=No eastbound access to I-91 south/Route 15; signed as exits 1B (I-91 south) and 1A (I-91 north)
}}
{{CTint|old
|mile=none
|old=—
|exit=—
|road={{jct|state=CT|Route|66|dir1=east|city1=Middlefield|city2=Middletown}}
|notes=Continuation east
}}
{{jctbtm|old|keys=incomplete}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Attached KML|display=inline,title}}
{{commons category}}
*[http://www.kurumi.com/roads/ct/i691.html kurumi.com - I-691]
*[http://www.virtualhighways.com virtualhighways.com - I-691]

{{3di|91}}

[[Category:Auxiliary Interstate Highways|91-6]]
[[Category:Interstate Highways in Connecticut|91-6]]
[[Category:Interstate 91|6]]
[[Category:Transportation in Hartford County, Connecticut]]
[[Category:Transportation in New Haven County, Connecticut]]
[[Category:Transportation in Middlesex County, Connecticut]]
[[Category:1988 establishments in Connecticut]]