Route 151 is a two-lane highway in the eastern Connecticut River Valley. It comes close to the river (though not close enough for a view) and serves two state parks: Hurd and Machimoodus.
Updated Oct 20, 2018
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Route 151 is a two-lane highway in the eastern Connecticut River Valley. It comes close to the river (though not close enough for a view) and serves two state parks: Hurd and Machimoodus.
In the 1920s, State Highway 151 followed today's Route 197, from Route 32 to the Massachusetts state line.
The portion of today's Route 151 from Cobalt to Haddam Neck opened in September 1920. A decade later, the highway from Cobalt to Moodus was called State Highway 167.
The modern Route 151 was commissioned in 1932, with an alignment similar to today's. The difference: near Moodus, it originally followed Leesville Road (today's SR 609) and a longer overlap with Route 149 along East Haddam - Moodus Road. In 1970, Route 151 was moved to Moodus - Leesville Road, and the old Route 151 became SR 609.
In the early 1960s, Route 151 was to be decommissioned. Because of its low traffic counts, the Highway Reclassification Act included a recommendation to delete Route 151, and turn it over to town maintenance.
At the time, a nuclear power plant was proposed near Haddam Neck. A Haddam resident contacted the state highway commissioner, asking that the state delay turning over the route, because of construction and employee traffic that would use the road.
The power plant, Connecticut Yankee, was commissioned in 1968; and Route 151 was retained in the state highway system.
(Connecticut Yankee ceased production in 1996 and is largely dismantled. Here's a Google Maps link to the former site: http://goo.gl/maps/I4gx1)