 |
Route 150 is a north-south route (that used to be an east-west route) through Wallingford. It intersects US 5 twice: once at its northern terminus, and again downtown. The northern half of the interchange with I-91 in Wallingford is actually found along E. Center St, SR 738.
Route 150 shares a one-lane railroad underpass with Route 71, controlled with a traffic light. This underpass, built in the 1800s, is reported to be the first skew arch underpass built in America.
In the 1920s, State Highway 150 followed today's Route 156 between Route 82 and US 1.
The modern Route 150 was commissioned in 1932, and has seen some changes over the years.
It originally had a western end, not in Wallingford, but in Prospect, at Route 68. I don't have the exact location, but the original Route 150 did follow Cornwall Avenue over a notch in the ridge at the Prospect-Cheshire town line. Cornwall Avenue in Prospect and Cornwall Avenue in Cheshire no longer connect, but there appear to be traces of the old road in the forest. A 1938 county map published by the state shows Route 150's western end at the town line.
Route 150 followed Cornwall Avenue into downtown Cheshire. After a short dogleg along Route 10, it continued along Wallingford Road, Gaylord Farm Road, Parker Farms Road, and Cheshire Road into Wallingford at South Turnpike Road.
In Wallingford, Route 150 followed Quinnipiac Avenue, Center Street, East Farms Road (now E. Center Street) and Northford Road to Route 15 (which today is Route 17) in North Branford.
Some of today's Route 150 was state maintained and some was not:
Not all of Route 150 may have been signed; and by 1960 much of the route was locally maintained. Only the stretch between Constitution Street and Northford Road in Wallingford was shown on the state highway system.
In 1961, the committee to reclassify state highways in Connecticut recommended the following:
In 1963, those changes resulted in the zigzag shape for Route 150 we see today.