Route 102 used to extend to the New York state line, but now exists entirely within Ridgefield.
Updated Nov 10, 2024
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Route 102 used to extend to the New York state line, but now exists entirely within Ridgefield.
In the 1920s, State Highway 102 followed today's Route 85 from Colchester to New London.
The modern Route 102 was commissioned in 1932, from the 1920s SH 329. Its original extent was from the New York State line to US 7, a distance of 7.54 miles:
Around 1934, Route 102 was moved from Old Branchville Road to the new Branchville Road.
Route 102 was straightened in Branchville in spring 1958, away from Florida Road and Brook Lane, resulting in a length of 7.48 miles.
The 1961 route reclassification called for the section west of Route 35 to be returned to the town; however, that remained under arbitration into the 1970s. The state noted that the road on the New York side was not state-maintained, and the existing Route 102 was dropping motorists off "in the middle of nowhere."
Across the border, West Mountain Road becomes Main Street in South Salem, New York; it sounds like an important road, but to my knowledge was never a state or county route.
On March 1, 1979, the Route 102 numbering on this section was dropped; Route 102 west of Route 35 became to secret route SR 822: still under state maintenance, but no longer signposted.
In 1961, the state abandoned plans to realign a portion of Route 102 east of Route 35. The new road would have started at the corner of West Lane and Main Street (Route 33 and Route 35), continuing east to intercept present-day Route 102 near its intersection with Rockwell Road. This was opposed by town officials, who wanted no new roads in the village district, and wanted to preserve a pre-revolutionary house that would have been destroyed.
In 1968, the state investigated the possibility of using an old railroad alignment as a new path for the Branchville Road section of Route 102.
"... with the passage of this bill, state route 102, West Mountain Road, will become the property of the town of Ridgefield... I consider that this state route 102 is an inter-state highway, one that serves through traffic from Westchester County in New York, to other parts of this state, and consideration of that fact must have been overlooked."