At exactly 1/10 its route number in miles (a coincidence), Route 201 has a good length for an afternoon's exploration of southeastern Connecticut's backroads.
Updated Sept 13, 2024
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At exactly 1/10 its route number in miles (a coincidence), Route 201 has a good length for an afternoon's exploration of southeastern Connecticut's backroads.
The first Route 201, commissioned in 1932, was a 4.45-mile route along the "stairstep" portion of Route 97 between present-day US 44 at Abington and US 44/Route 169 in Pomfret. In 1934 this became part of Route 97, and a new 2.19-mile Route 201 opened between Routes 138 and 165. Route 201 stayed this way for 29 years.
Much of what is now Route 201 was not numbered. The part south of Route 2 and Mystic Road (SR 627) was part of the old Route 84 (now Route 184), and became Route 119 when Route 84 was moved in 1936. Mains Crossing Road in that area was for a short time SR 629. The 2.19-mile section of Route 201 in Preston appears to have been state-maintained in 1932, but I don't have its SR number.
On March 29, 1963, Route 201's length increased 800%, taking over Route 119 and SR 629, and adding the Stonington-Voluntown stretch, as well as the fishhook north and west over to Route 12 in Jewett City.
About 6,000 feet of Route 201 in Griswold, from Monroe Road to I-395, was being straightened and widened in a state project that was scheduled to complete in Spring 2003. Tilting Rock, a large boulder near the road that is a local landmark, will be relocated to nearby property. Preliminary plans were to destroy the rock, about 10 feet in size, by explosives or chemicals, but residents persuaded the state to move the rock instead.
North of Route 165, small sections of Glasgo Road and Jarvis Road (as well as power lines along the old alignment) hint at an old alignment of Glasgo Road east of the current road.
"Route 201 winds through southeastern Connecticut like a stream, and wears as many facades as a chamelon. So diverse is its personality that it makes for a wonderful Sunday drive or a paradise for a serious or not-so-serious hiker."