Connecticut US 7 in
Connecticut (also known as Route 7, Ethan Allen Highway, and Super 7) is mostly a surface road but has two short expressway sections in the
Norwalk and
Danbury areas. US 7 begins in Norwalk with a expressway to nearly the
Wilton town line. There are three exits on this short section, signed as "The Forty Third Infantry Division Memorial Highway", named after the
43rd Infantry Division. Exit 1, just past
I-95 (the southern terminus), leads to the Central Norwalk Business District and
US 1. Exit 2 leads to
Route 123 which extends from US 1 in Norwalk to the
New York state line, passing through the town of
New Canaan. After exit 2, the expressway reduces to four lanes from six. Exit 3 leads to
Route 15 southbound, also known as the
Merritt Parkway. This interchange was half built and only allows southbound access from the expressway; northbound access is gained via Route 123 at exit 2. The expressway section ends at Grist Mill Road in Norwalk, about past exit 3. US 7 then passes through
Wilton as a four-lane highway until just after
Cannondale, where it becomes a two-lane highway. It continues through
Ridgefield as a two-lane highway. Near Danbury, another expressway section was built beginning south of
I-84 near
Danbury Municipal Airport. This section is also signed as "The Forty Third Infantry Division Memorial Highway". Through Danbury proper, US 7 overlaps with I-84 for about . Through this section of expressway, I-84, US 7,
US 6, and
US 202 are concurrent. US 7 and Route 202 then leave I-84 at exit 7 and travel on their own expressway for approximately to just south of the
New Milford town line. On this section there are two exits. At exit 11 (Federal Road), US 202 exits the expressway and at exit 12, US 202 crosses back over US 7. On southbound US 7, the exit for I-84 eastbound is signed as exit 10. There is no exit number for I-84 west because of the concurrency. The US 7 expressway then bypasses
Brookfield to the west and terminates at an intersection with US 202 at the
Fairfield–
Litchfield county line. Construction on the section between I-84 and exit 12 began in 1974 and completed in 1976. The Brookfield bypass segment between exit 12 and the current expressway terminus opened in November 2009, after two years of construction. The former US 7 route through Brookfield is now signed solely as US 202. US 7 is cosigned with US 202 until central New Milford, where US 202 turns east with
Route 67 while US 7 continues north. Recent construction has also made large parts of US 7 between the terminus of the expressway and New Milford a four-lane divided highway with at-grade intersections. North of New Milford center, US 7 remains a two-lane road through the rest of Connecticut and leaves Connecticut in the town of
North Canaan.
Massachusetts US 7 enters Massachusetts in the town of
Sheffield and remains a two-lane road until
Lenox. There, a four-lane bypass of Lenox was built in two pieces, and the old US 7 is now
Route 7A. US 7 continues on as a four-lane road to
Pittsfield, where it is then a three-lane road, narrowing to two lanes for a short time, then widening to four lanes in downtown Pittsfield. US 7 leaves downtown Pittsfield as a two-lane surface arterial and continues as a rural highway with occasional three-lane stretches for climbing the grades along the
Berkshires. It passes west of
Mount Greylock before passing through
Williamstown, connecting the
Taconic Trail with the
Mohawk Trail. The road passes
Williams College before entering
Vermont. Like Connecticut, Massachusetts planned a US 7 expressway from the existing bypass in Lenox all the way to
Lanesborough. This plan was never initiated, although land takings occurred. The highway was ultimately canceled due to environmental and community opposition. In Massachusetts, US 7 passes through the towns of Sheffield,
Great Barrington,
Stockbridge,
Lee, Lenox, Pittsfield, Lanesborough,
New Ashford, and Williamstown, before crossing into
Pownal, Vermont.
Vermont from US 7 in Charlotte US 7 remains a rural two-lane highway from the Massachusetts line to
Bennington, where it becomes a grade separated freeway north of Bennington. Once complete, US 7 will utilize this new bypass, while the existing two-lane road into town will become part of
Vermont Route 7A (VT 7A). North of town, the highway then again returns to expressway status. For , it is a four-lane freeway with a grass median. US 7 then narrows down to an undivided
two-lane freeway, with brief passing lanes in each direction. Just north of
Manchester, the expressway ends. From Manchester to
Wallingford, the road is two lanes and rural. North of Wallingford, US 7 becomes a four-lane divided highway with at-grade intersections, until its southern junction with
US 4, south of the city of
Rutland. From Rutland north, the road is either two-lane or four-lane undivided, uncontrolled road all the way to the Canada–United States border, except between
Shelburne and
Burlington, which is a four-lane divided highway. US 7 and
US 2 run concurrently from Burlington to Chimney Corners in
Colchester. It is known as the Ethan Allen Highway for much of the path through Vermont. In Vermont, it passes through the towns of
Pownal, Bennington,
Shaftsbury,
Glastenbury,
Arlington,
Sunderland, Manchester,
Dorset,
Danby,
Mount Tabor,
Wallingford,
Clarendon, and
Rutland; the city of Rutland; the towns of
Pittsford,
Brandon,
Leicester,
Salisbury,
Middlebury,
New Haven,
Waltham,
Ferrisburg,
Charlotte, and Shelburne; the cities of
South Burlington (at which point
I-89 begins to parallel it), Burlington, and
Winooski; the towns of Colchester,
Milton,
Georgia, and
St. Albans; the city of
St. Albans; and the towns of
Swanton and
Highgate before ending at I-89 just south of the customs offices at the Canada–United States border. ==History==