 U.S. Route 5 | ||||
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 US 5 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by CTDOT | ||||
| Length | 54.59 mi[1] (87.85 km) | |||
| Existed | 1926–present | |||
| History | Designated Route 2 in 1922 | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |  I-91 in New Haven | |||
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| North end |  US 5 at the Massachusetts state line in Enfield | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Connecticut | |||
| Counties | New Haven, Hartford | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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U.S. Route 5 (US 5), a north–south United States Numbered Highway that is generally paralleled by Interstate 91 (I-91), begins at the city of New Haven in Connecticut and heads north through western Massachusetts and eastern Vermont to the international border with Canada. Within Connecticut, US 5 proceeds north from New Haven and passes through Meriden and Hartford toward Springfield, Massachusetts.
US 5 begins at exit 5 of I-91 northeast of Downtown New Haven, heading north through the suburbs of New Haven. It crosses the Quinnipiac River in North Haven, shifting eastward to a different road. US 5 continues north through the town of Wallingford before entering the city of Meriden. North of Meriden, it becomes a four-lane arterial road known as the Berlin Turnpike, where a long overlap with Route 15 also begins. US 5 continues through the southern suburbs of Hartford along the Berlin Turnpike, shifting just south of the city line to the Wilbur Cross Highway, a freeway. The Wilbur Cross Highway bypasses Downtown Hartford and crosses the Connecticut River on the Charter Oak Bridge into East Hartford. From here, US 5 exits the Wilbur Cross Highway and runs along a four-lane, divided surface road to South Windsor before returning to a two-lane road the rest of the way to the Massachusetts state line in Enfield.
US 5 roughly follows the route used by the Upper Post Road, an early colonial highway for transporting mail between New York City and Boston. The route was first improved in 1798 as the Hartford and New Haven Turnpike, which ran in a nearly straight line between the court houses of New Haven and Hartford. In 1922, the Upper Boston Post Road corridor was designated as Route 2 of the New England road marking system, crossing to the east of the Connecticut River in Hartford before continuing north to the Massachusetts state line. In 1926, Route 2 was redesignated as US 5. Several realignments have been made in the cities of New Haven and Hartford with the opening of several expressways in these areas. Because it is closely paralleled by I-91 between New Haven and Hartford, US 5 serves mainly as a secondary route today.
- ^ "Highway Log: Connecticut State Numbered Routes And Roads" (PDF). Connecticut Department of Transportation. December 31, 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 8, 2018. Retrieved February 16, 2023.