is a multi-state north-south
State Highway in the
New England region of the
United States , running from
Groton, Connecticut through
Worcester, Massachusetts and
Keene, New Hampshire , to
Morrisville, Vermont . Its number dates from 1922, when it was a
New England Interstate Route , also known as the '''Keene Way'''. From then to the present day, only relatively minor changes have been made to its routing, the most major of which was the relocation south of
Norwich, Connecticut to the east bank of the
Thames River . Additionally, the north end has been truncated and relocated to end at
Morrisville, Vermont . The original route ran to
Derby, Vermont ; that is now mostly
Route 14 from
Montpelier to
Hardwick ,
Route 16 from Hardwick to
Barton , and
U.S. Route 5 from Barton to Derby.
12 shield]]
From its original southern terminus at
New London, Connecticut to
Norwich , the original alignment along the west bank of the Thames River is now designated as part of
Route 32 (which itself ran where Route 12 now runs until the swap). Route 12 crosses the border from
Thompson, Connecticut into
Dudley, Massachusetts , passes through
Worcester, Massachusetts , continuing north up to
Winchendon, Massachusetts .
Route 12 then crosses into
Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire , goes through
Keene , then travels along the east bank of the
Connecticut River until
Claremont, New Hampshire . From there, it crosses the Connecticut River into the town of
Weathersfield, Vermont , and then continues north along the west bank of the Connecticut River, overlapped with
U.S. Route 5 , until
Hartland, Vermont . Route 12 then heads west to
Woodstock, Vermont and then north through
Montpelier, Vermont to end at
Route 100 in
Morrisville .
Route 12 closely parallels the routes of
Interstate 395 ,
Interstate 290 , and
Interstate 190 from
Griswold, Connecticut to
Leominster, Massachusetts .
Route 12 is the only state highway in the entire country to pass through four states without changing its number.
The section of Route 12 from Groton to Nowrich is a primary route, serving the
Naval Submarine Base New London and is known as . Route 12 goes through the following towns in Connecticut: Groton, Ledyard, Preston, Norwich, Lisbon, Griswold, Canterbury (0.14 miles only), Plainfield, Killingly, Putnam, and Thompson.
Route 12 goes through the central Massachusetts towns of
Webster ,
Oxford ,
Auburn ,
Worcester ,
West Boylston ,
Sterling ,
Leominster ,
Fitchburg ,
Westminster ,
Ashburnham , and
Winchendon .
Route 12 has a junction with
Interstate 90 (the
Massachusetts Turnpike ) at an interchange in Auburn that also includes Interstates 290 and 395 and
US 20 . Route 12 has an interchange with I-290 in Worcester, and two interchanges with I-190, in Worcester and Sterling.
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