Founders Bridge

Founders Bridge
Founders Bridge
Coordinates	41°45′56.32″N 72°39′55.57″W / 41.7656444°N 72.6654361°W / 41.7656444; -72.6654361
Carries	7 lanes of Route 2
Crosses	Connecticut River, I-91
Locale	Hartford, Connecticut and East Hartford, Connecticut
Official name	Founders Bridge
Maintained by	Connecticut Department of Transportation [1]
Characteristics
Design	Stringer/multibeam or girder
Total length	1175 ft (358.1 m)
Width	86.0 ft (26.2 m)
Clearance below	49 ft (15 m)
History
Opened	December 23, 1957
Location

The Founders Bridge is one of the three highway bridges over the Connecticut River between Hartford, Connecticut and East Hartford, Connecticut. The steel stringer bridge carries the Route 2 freeway, and also crosses over Interstate 91 (which runs parallel to the river). As of 2013^[update] the bridge had an average daily traffic of 29,200.^[1]

One of the centerpieces of Hartford's Riverfront Recapture project, it features a wide pedestrian promenade and access to the rest of the riverfront park area as well as to Constitution Plaza.^[2]

The bridge makes up a section of the East Coast Greenway, a 3,000-mile (4,800 km) system of trails connecting Calais, Maine to Key West, Florida.