Upon crossing into Vermont from New York, US 4 immediately expands from a two-lane highway to a four-lane expressway. US 4 changes from being signed north–south (in New York) to being signed east–west (in Vermont). The historic routing of US 4 runs nearby as Vermont Route 4A (VT 4A), which later becomes US 4 Business (US 4 Bus.) as it enters the town of Rutland.
The 19-mile (31 km) US 4 expressway was built in anticipation of the proposed, but never built, East–West Highway which was supposed to link the population centers of northern New England. As such, this section of freeway meets Interstate Highway standards. The freeway has junctions with VT 22A in Fair Haven and VT 30 in Castleton. In West Rutland, the last numbered exit on the highway, exit 6, leads to US 4 Bus., which provides access to West Rutland and Center Rutland. The expressway veers south just outside of Rutland, ending at an at-grade intersection with US 7 south of the city.[4]
West junction with VT 12 in the center of Woodstock
US 4 overlaps with US 7 north into downtown Rutland, meeting the east end of its business route along the way. US 4 then leaves US 7 along Woodstock Avenue as it heads northeast out of the city. East of Rutland, US 4 is a two-lane highway, meandering through the Green Mountains and passing by the towns of Mendon and Killington. In Killington, US 4 joins VT 100 as they pass through Killington along the Ottauquechee River valley until reaching West Bridgewater. VT 100 splits off to the south while US 4 continues following the Ottauquechee River east through Bridgewater center into the town of Woodstock. Several miles later, US 4 enters the incorporated village of Woodstock, where it meets VT 12 and VT 106. Southbound VT 12 and eastbound US 4 overlap for about four miles (6.4 km) along the river and split in the Taftsville Historic District, in the northwest corner of the town of Hartland.[5]
US 4 continues following the Ottauquechee River into Quechee, passing through the Quechee State Park and circling south of Deweys Pond to cross the river on the Quechee Gorge Bridge, before heading north to the south bank of the White River. Here, US 4 has an interchange with Interstate 89 (I-89), then turns eastward following the river bank into the village of White River Junction. In the village, US 4 joins US 5 as they cross the White River. At a four-way intersection immediately after the crossing, US 5 continues north, VT 14 begins to the west, and US 4 continues to the east. US 4 crosses the New Hampshire state line at the Connecticut River on the Lyman Bridge after a quarter of a mile (0.40 km).[6]
History
The road running from the New York state line (toward Whitehall, New York) at Fair Haven eastward through Rutland and Woodstock to White River Junction was designated as Route 13 of the New England road marking system in 1922.[7][8] In late 1926, Route 13 was incorporated into the newly established U.S. Numbered Highway System as US 4.[9] In the 1960s, construction of the 19-mile (31 km) expressway section of US 4 began.[citation needed] The middle segment of the expressway from exit 5 in Castleton to exit 6 in West Rutland opened to traffic in 1969. Two years later, the western segment from the New York line in Fair Haven to exit 5 also opened. The original surface alignment of US 4 was redesignated as VT 4A. The construction of the eastern segment (from exit 6 to the intersection with US 7) was delayed for several years and did not open to traffic until 1986.[10] The original surface alignment east of exit 6 was redesignated as US 4 Bus.
Northern New England is served by three north–south freeways radiating generally northwards from Boston, Massachusetts—from east to west, I-95, I-93, and US 3, all coming from or through Greater Boston; and westernmost of all, by I-91, which follows the Connecticut River. However, the northernmost complete east–west freeway existing within the region, I-90, does not enter northern New England. Continuous east–west freeway travel through (and within) northern New England is presently accomplished by three segments, only one of which is truly east–west.
^Automobile Legal Association Green Book, 1925 edition, (Scarborough Motor Guide Co., Boston, 1925). The book has a route log of the New England inter-state routes showing the planned alignment in 1922.
^Official Automobile Blue Book, Vol. 1, 1926 and 1927 editions, (Automobile Blue Books Inc., Chicago, 1926 and 1927). The 1926 map shows routes just prior to the designation of U.S. Highways.
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