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An urban arterial route following the historical alignment of US 1 through Fairfield, Bridgeport, and Stratford, Route 130 is four-lane divided in some sections. It's also the state's newest signed state highway, designated in 1992.
The older version of Route 130 once crossed over Bulls Bridge, one of the 3 remaining covered bridges in the state.
In the 1920s, State Highway 130 followed today's Route 63 between Route 4 and Route 64.
The old Route 130, commissioned in 1932, connected the Lake Waramaug area to Bulls Bridge and the New York state line, through the village of Merryall. It served the old Kent Iron Mines and the South Kent School. A history page for Kent, by the CTHumanities Project, states that Bulls Bridge was part of a major highway between Hartford and Newburgh, N.Y.
In late 1931, however, as engineers prepared for statewide route renumbering in 1932, Route 341 was to be designated only west of US 7. The Woodville Road and Warren Road segment, from Route 45 to US 202, was to be called Route 130; and the 1932 version of Route 130 was not on the map. By January 1932, Route 130 was designated to the south, and Route 341 was created as it exists today.
Though Route 130 started disappearing from oil company maps in 1940 and 1941, it remained in the highway log throughout the 1940s, and even in the 1959 official state map. The 1942, '44 and '47 highway logs list Route 130 as 6.86 miles long, extending from the New York State line to Route 129.
Even in 1963, state documents still showed 0.71 miles of Route 130 under arbitration for proposed state to town transfer. This was the year Route 130 finally was cancelled.
The modern Route 130 was commissioned in 1992, and mainly follows the alignment of US 1 before 1963. It incorporated some streets that remained in the state highway system, but were not signed:
To drive the original Route 130, start at Route 45 in Washington and turn west on Preston Road. Crossing into New Milford, continue on Chernishe Road and Parker Road; veer right on West Meetinghouse Road. As you cross into Kent, the road changes to Camps Flat Road. You'll notice two isolated sections that were maintained by the state (the pavement gets better); these were secret routes SR 820 and SR 821, until the state deleted them in 2000. Then the road becomes Bulls Bridge Road and crosses US 7, taking you to the New York state line.