Connecticut Route 53

Last updated

Connecticut Highway 53.svg

Route 53

Connecticut Route 53
Map of Fairfield County in southwestern Connecticut with Route 53 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by CTDOT
Length23.57 mi [1]  (37.93 km)
Existed1932–present
Major junctions
South endUS 1.svg US 1 in Norwalk
Major intersectionsConnecticut Highway 57.svg Route 57 in Weston
Connecticut Highway 107 wide.svg Route 107 in Redding
North endI-84.svgUS 6.svgUS 7.svgUS 202.svgConnecticut Highway 37.svgConnecticut Highway 39.svg I-84  / US 6  / US 7  / US 202  / Route 37  / Route 39 in Danbury
Location
Country United States
State Connecticut
Counties Fairfield
Highway system
  • Connecticut State Highway System
Connecticut Highway 52.svg Route 52 Connecticut Highway 55.svg Route 55

Route 53 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Connecticut, connecting the cities of Norwalk and Danbury. Most of the route has been made redundant by U.S. Route 7, except for the last section from Bethel to Danbury, which is part of a direct route (Route 58) from the Bridgeport area to Danbury.

Contents

Route description

Intersection of Routes 33 and 53 Conn Routes33 53.jpg
Intersection of Routes 33 and 53

Route 53 begins at US 1 in Norwalk and travels through the towns of Norwalk, Wilton, Weston, Redding, and Bethel. Route 53 ends in Downtown Danbury at a quadruple junction with Routes 37, 39, and a secondary state road leading to Interstate 84.

A 2.03-mile (3.27 km) section in Redding, running from the Weston town line to the beginning of a brief concurrency with Route 107, is a designated state scenic road. [2]

History

Danbury's historic Main Street near the northern end of 53. Main Street, Danbury, Connecticut.jpg
Danbury's historic Main Street near the northern end of 53.

The main road connecting the city of Norwalk to the borough of Newtown was organized as a private turnpike in May 1829. Known as the Norwalk and Newtown Turnpike, or more commonly as just the Newtown Turnpike, the road mostly used modern Route 53 from Norwalk to the Saugatuck Reservoir in Redding. Northeast of the reservoir, the old Newtown Turnpike continued the straight route using what are now town roads (Newtown Turnpike, Hopewell Woods Road, Poverty Hollow Road, and Key Rock Road) to Route 302 in the Dodgingtown section of Newtown, then Route 302 into Newtown borough. The portion of modern Route 53 between the West Redding section of Redding and Bethel center was the northern half of the Norwalk and Danbury Turnpike. This turnpike was chartered in 1795 and used part of modern US 7, modern Route 107, and Umpawaug Road to West Redding, then continued on modern Route 53. Between Redding Center and West Redding, modern Route 53 was the northern half of the Northfield Turnpike, which was chartered in 1826. The southern half is now Valley Forge Road and Lyons Plains Road.

In 1922, part of the Norwalk and Danbury Turnpike between West Redding and Bethel was given the designation State Highway 180 while part of the Newtown Turnpike between Redding Ridge and Newtown was assigned as State Highway 158. Route 53 was first defined in the 1932 state highway renumbering between Weston center to Georgetown along Georgetown Road (modern Route 57), then along Redding Road (Routes 107 and 53) to West Redding, then along former Highway 180 to Bethel. In 1954, the southern end was relocated and now ended at US 7 in Wilton. Route 57 took over the former Georgetown Road segment and the Newtown Turnpike became unsigned SR 725. In 1963, the southern part was relocated onto the Newtown Turnpike (former SR 725) to Weston Center, then shifted to the alignment of former Route 103 (Chestnut Hill Road/East Avenue) via Cedar Road/Norfield Road (former SR 741). [3] In 1973, Route 53 took over former US 202 to Downtown Danbury when US 202 was relocated to a new alignment. [4]

Major intersections

The entire route is in Fairfield County.

Locationmi [1] kmDestinationsNotes
Norwalk 0.000.00US 1.svgTo plate blue.svg
I-95.svg
US 1 (North Avenue) / East Avenue to I-95  Westport, Darien
Southern terminus
Wilton 3.916.29Connecticut Highway 33.svg Route 33  Westport
5.188.34West plate.svg
Connecticut Highway 106 wide.svg
Route 106 west (Chestnut Hill Road)
Eastern terminus of Route 106
Weston 6.4710.41South plate.svg
Connecticut Highway 57.svg
Route 57 south Westport
Southern terminus of Route 57 concurrency
7.2911.73North plate.svg
Connecticut Highway 57.svg
Route 57 north Georgetown
Northern terminus of Route 57 concurrency
Redding 13.7422.11South plate.svg
Connecticut Highway 107 wide.svg
Route 107 south Georgetown
Southern terminus of Route 107 concurrency
13.8522.29North plate.svg
Connecticut Highway 107 wide.svg
Route 107 north Redding
Northern terminus of Route 107 concurrency
Bethel 20.2932.65East plate.svg
Connecticut Highway 302 wide.svg
Rail Sign.svg Route 302 east Bethel, Railroad Station
Western terminus of Route 302
Danbury 23.5737.93I-84.svgUS 6.svgUS 7.svgUS 202.svgNorth plate.svg
Connecticut Highway 37.svg
North plate.svg
Connecticut Highway 39.svg
I-84  / US 6  / US 7  / US 202  / Route 37 north / Route 39 north New Fairfield
Northern terminus; southern termini of Routes 37 and 39
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairfield County, Connecticut</span> County in Connecticut, United States

Fairfield County is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is the most populous county in the state and was also its fastest-growing from 2010 to 2020. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 957,419, representing 26.6% of Connecticut's overall population. The closest to the center of the New York metropolitan area, the county contains four of the state's top 7 largest cities—Bridgeport (1st), Stamford (2nd), Norwalk (6th), and Danbury (7th)—whose combined population of 433,368 is nearly half the county's total population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Connecticut Route 34</span> State highway in Connecticut, US

Route 34 is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Route 34 is 24.37 miles (39.22 km) long, and extends from Washington Avenue near I-84/US 6 in Newtown to the junction of I-95 and I-91 in New Haven. The highways connects the New Haven and Danbury areas via the Lower Naugatuck River Valley. The portion of the route between New Haven and Derby was an early toll road known as the Derby Turnpike.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saugatuck River</span>

The Saugatuck River is a 23.7-mile-long (38.1 km) river in southwestern Connecticut in the United States. It drains part of suburban and rural Fairfield County west of Bridgeport, emptying into Long Island Sound.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">U.S. Route 7</span> Highway in the United States

U.S. Route 7 (US 7) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway in western New England that runs for 308 miles (496 km) through the states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont. The highway's southern terminus is at Interstate 95 (I-95) exit 15 in Norwalk, Connecticut. Its northern terminus is at I-89 exit 22 near the village of Highgate Springs, Vermont, immediately south of the Canada–United States border.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Connecticut Route 15</span> State highway in Connecticut, US

Route 15 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Connecticut that runs 83.53 miles (134.43 km) from a connection with New York's Hutchinson River Parkway in Greenwich, Connecticut, to its northern terminus intersecting with Interstate 84 (I-84) in East Hartford, Connecticut. Route 15 consists of four distinct sections: the Merritt Parkway, the Wilbur Cross Parkway, most of the Berlin Turnpike, and part of the Wilbur Cross Highway. The unified designation was applied to these separate highways in 1948 to provide a continuous through route from New York to Massachusetts. The parkway section of Route 15 is often referred to locally as "The Merritt".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate 95 in Connecticut</span> Highway in Connecticut

Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running in a general east–west compass direction for 111.57 miles (179.55 km) in Connecticut, from the New York state line to the Rhode Island state line. I-95 from Greenwich to East Lyme is part of the Connecticut Turnpike, during which it passes through the major cities of Stamford, Bridgeport, and New Haven. After leaving the turnpike in East Lyme, I-95 is known as the Jewish War Veterans Memorial Highway and passes through New London, Groton, and Mystic, before exiting the state through North Stonington at the Rhode Island border.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Connecticut Route 25</span> State highway in Fairfield County, Connecticut, US

Route 25 is a 28.59-mile (46.01 km), primary state highway connecting the city of Bridgeport and the town of Brookfield in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Route 25 is a six-lane freeway from Bridgeport to northern Trumbull and a two-lane surface road the rest of the way to Brookfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Connecticut Route 58</span> State highway in Fairfield County, Connecticut, US

Route 58 is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Connecticut connecting the towns of Fairfield and Bethel. Route 58 is 18.58 miles (29.90 km) long and is one of the primary routes to the downtown Danbury area via Routes 302 and 53.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Connecticut Route 57</span> State highway in Fairfield County, Connecticut, US

Route 57 is a secondary state highway in western Connecticut serving as the "Main Street" of and connecting the towns of Westport and Weston. The road continues north through Redding to end at US 7 just after crossing into Wilton, in the neighborhood of Georgetown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norwalk Transit District</span> Public transportation provider

The Norwalk Transit District (NTD) is the primary provider of public transportation services in Norwalk, Connecticut, United States, and surrounding communities. The local Norwalk fixed-route bus transit system, is the primary service of the district linking Norwalk and its immediate suburbs. The agency also operates regional bus services as far north as Danbury and as far east as Bridgeport and commuter shuttles to Metro-North stations. Paratransit door-to-door services are available for residents in the service area unable to use regular transit services. Norwalk Transit contracts with local transportation service providers to perform some of the door-to-door services, and is also the provider of public transit for the Westport Transit District.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Connecticut Route 107</span> State highway in Fairfield County, Connecticut, US

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">U.S. Route 7 in Connecticut</span> Highway in Connecticut

U.S. Route 7 (US 7) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway which runs 78 miles (126 km) in the state of Connecticut. The route begins at Interstate 95 (I-95) in Norwalk starting out as a freeway until the Wilton town line. The route then proceeds north as a two-lane surface road through Redding and Ridgefield, where it becomes a four-lane surface road until it reaches Danbury. The route becomes an freeway again, eventually merging with I-84 for a brief period before it turns and proceeds north with US 202 in Brookfield. The freeway section terminates at an intersection with US 202 at the Fairfield–Litchfield county line next to Candlewood lake. The route then continues north as a four-lane arterial road to New Milford, where it becomes a two-lane surface road, running north to the Massachusetts border in North Canaan. US 7 was aligned to its current route around 1930, and, since then, three sections totaling around 12 miles (19 km) have been upgraded to freeway standards.

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References

  1. 1 2 "Connecticut State Highway Log" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 27, 2011. Retrieved October 4, 2007.
  2. Connecticut Scenic Roads
  3. "Roads to Get New Numbers". The Bridgeport Post. February 28, 1963. pp. 1, 4 . Retrieved April 18, 2019 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  4. Connecticut Roads, Route 53
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