Interstate 291 (I-291) is a short auxiliary Interstate Highway in the state of Connecticut that starts at I-91 at its junction with Route 218 in Windsor and ends at I-84 and I-384 in Manchester. It serves as a northeastern bypass of Hartford. According to the Federal Highway Administration, the official length of I-291 is ; however, the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) includes the of the exit ramp that I-291 uses to merge with eastbound I-84, making their recorded length long. I-291 is also known as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Highway for its entire length. Route description I-291 begins at I-91 in Windsor at an interchange that also provides access to and from Route 218. Heading southeast, I-291 has a partial interchange with Route 159, then crosses the Connecticut River on the Bissell Bridge. Originally constructed in 1957, the Bissell Bridge charged a toll until 1988 when the bridge was reconstructed. It has an interchange with US Route 5 (US 5) in South Windsor at its junction with Route 30, and ends at I-84 in Manchester in a complex interchange that also provides access to I-384. At the west end, stub ramps continue about past I-91 to provide access to Route 218. History The current I-291 is only the northeastern arc of what was originally planned as a three-quarter beltway around Hartford. From Windsor, I-291 would have continued to cross I-84 again in Farmington, and end at I-91 in Rocky Hill. While the remainder of I-291 was canceled amid environmental concerns, those two interchanges were built as part of I-84 and I-91 construction and stood unused for over 20 years as ramp stubs. Half of the stack interchange at I-84 was eventually placed in service when Route 9 was extended to run along a portion of the I-291 right of way south of I-84 in 1992. The I-91 ramp was demolished in 1999 during expansion of I-91. The northernmost of the Route 9 expressway follows the original path of the southwest segment of I-291 from I-84. Route 9 currently serves as the southwest quadrant around Hartford leaving only the northwest section of I-291 unbuilt. Route 218 is a four-lane divided arterial route serving what would have been the northwest quadrant of the I-291 beltway. When the interchange with I-91 was completed in the early 1990s, a pair of ramp stubs connecting I-291 to Route 218 were built to the west