New England Interstate Route 32

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Route 32
Length:	129.64 mi (208.64 km) Connecticut: 54.88^[1] mi (87.36 km) Massachusetts: 60.66^[2] mi (97.66 km) New Hampshire: 14.11 mi^[3] (196.74 km)
Formed:	1922
South end:	I-95/US 1 in New London, CT
Major junctions:	I-395 in Norwich, CT US 6 in Willimantic, CT I-90 in Palmer, MA US 202/Route 2 in Athol, MA
North end:	NH 12 in Keene, NH

Route 32 is a multi-state north-south state highway in the New England region of the United States, running from New London, Connecticut through Massachusetts to Keene, New Hampshire. Its number dates from 1922, when it was a New England Interstate Route, also known as the Lake Sunapee Route. (The original route used to end near Lake Sunapee). The New Hampshire segment of the old New England route was completely decomissioned and the number was reassigned to a much shorter, completely unrelated route.

1 Route description
2 History
3 References
4 See also

[edit] Route description

[edit] Connecticut

Main article: Route 32 (Connecticut)

Route 32 begins in New London and runs north to Norwich along the west bank of the Thames River. North of Norwich, it heads northwest going through Willimantic before entering Massachusetts.

[edit] Massachusetts

Route 32 begins at the Connecticut state line in Monson. It runs through the town of Palmer, where it has junctions with both U.S. Route 20 and the Massachusetts Turnpike. From Palmer, it continues north through Ware, Barre, and Petersham before crossing U.S. Route 202 and Route 2 in Athol. The route then continues into New Hampshire.

[edit] New Hampshire

New Hampshire Route 32 (NH-32) runs from Richmond on the Massachusetts border to Keene. The northern terminus of NH-32 is at New Hampshire Route 12, near its junction with NH-101 in the village of Joslin, just south of central Keene. NH-32 is locally named Old Homestead Highway. In Keene, NH-32 provides access to the local Dillant-Hopkins Airport.

Town	Milepost	Junction	Notes
Richmond	2.4	NH 119
Keene	14.1	NH 12

[edit] History

New England Interstate Route 32 shield

New England Route 32 has had many major realignments particularly in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. In New Hampshire, the current route has actually no relation to the original New England route.

In 1932, Route 32 swapped places with Route 12 south of Norwich, Connecticut. The original route began in Groton instead of its current southern terminus in New London. In northern Connecticut, the alignment was also shifted west by several miles, entering Massachusetts at Monson instead of at Wales. The old alignment is now Route 19.

From Connecticut, the original New England route entered Wales, Massachusetts on what is now Route 19. It followed Route 19 into Brimfield, then west along current U.S. Route 20 until Palmer. The portion between between Palmer and Athol more or less still follows the original route with only minor alignment changes. North of Athol, the old route went along current US 202 up to the New Hampshire state line.

In New Hampshire, the old New England Route was completely decommissioned sometime in the 1930s. The current alignment in New Hampshire was established later as a continuation of modern Route 32 from the Massachusetts line and is unrelated to the original route. The original route continued from the state line to Henniker along US 202, then along NH 114 to Bradford, and finally along NH 103 to its original Newport terminus west of Lake Sunapee at New England Route 10.