ConnecticutTowns: Bridgeport

Overview

Connecticut's largest city at nearly 150,000 residents, Bridgeport is the home of P. T. Barnum, Subway, and the Frisbee.

I-95 and the Route 8/25 freeway dominate the highway landscape. Originally Route 8 ended in Stratford instead of Bridgeport%mdash;and the north-south freeway was primarily called Route 25 throughout its planning stages. The extension to I-84 never happened, although I-84's Exit 11 freeway interchange, now used for Route 34, would have been the northern end of 25.

US 1, US 1A, and Route 130

From 1932 to 1963, US 1 followed a more southern route through the Bridgeport and Stratford, mainly along pairs of one-way streets.

Northbound US 1:

  • Fairfield Avenue (now SR 771)
  • Railroad Avenue (now a city street)
  • Water Street (part of this is now Route 130 northbound)
  • Stratford Avenue 2-way section (now part of Route 130)
  • Stratford Avenue 1-way section (later SR 770; now part of Route 130)

Southbound US 1:

  • Connecticut Avenue (later SR 770, then SR 769; now part of Route 130)
  • Stratford Avenue 2-way section (now part of Route 130)
  • Fairfield Avenue 1-way section (now part of Route 130)

In 1963, US 1A to the north was redefined to be part of US 1, as it is today. The old US 1 became a string of city streets and unsigned state roads. In 1992, old US 1 became Route 130, Connecticut's newest signed state route.

Having said that, Route 130 is sparsely signed. It appears to be well marked mainly at freeway interchanges.

Links

Present routes

  • I-95 Freeway to Norwalk and New Haven (and a few larger cities)
  • US 1 The Post Road; ancestor to I-95
  • CT 8 Freeway to Winsted
  • CT 25 Freeway to Danbury Trumbull
  • CT 59 to Monroe
  • CT 113 to Stratford; a J-shaped route around Sikorsky Airport
  • CT 127 to Trumbull
  • CT 130 old US 1; to Fairfield and Stratford
  • SR 700 Fairfield Avenue; it's treated (though sparingly signed) as Route 130 westbound
  • SR 722 Chopsey Hill Road; a wide 1970s-style boulevard connector from US 1 to CT 8/25
  • SR 730 Huntington Turnpike; old CT 8

Past routes

  • US 1A (1932-1963) along today's US 1. (US 1 in the past basically followed CT 130.)
  • CT 65 (1932-1951) precursor to CT 8; Noble Avenue and Huntington Turnpike
  • SR 700 (1970-1973) Temporary number for Route 8/25 freeway, when the only part open was from I-95 to Lindley Street
  • SR 701 (1970-1985) N/S frontage roads from Main St to Water St, and Water St northerly to Fairfield Ave
  • SR 724 (1993-1998) E. Washington Ave bridge over Pequonnock River
  • SR 751 (1963-1992) Stratford Avenue Bridge
  • SR 769 (-1992) Connecticut Avenue; now Route 130
  • SR 770 (1963-1992) Stratford Avenue 1-way section; now Route 130
  • SR 771 (1963-1992) Fairfield Avenue 2-way section; now Route 130

Cancelled routes

  • None