Connecticut Route 34 - History

History

The Derby Turnpike Company was chartered to build a toll road from New Haven to Derby on May 1798. It ran from downtown New Haven, beginning at York Street, and followed Chapel Street to Derby Avenue, which connected to modern Route 34 and continued to downtown Derby. The Derby Turnpike was the longest-lived of the state's early toll roads and only stopped collecting tolls in 1895. West of downtown Derby, another turnpike corporation, the Ousatonic Turnpike, was chartered also in 1795 to build a toll road between Derby and New Milford following the east bank of the Housatonic River. Unlike the Derby Turnpike, the Ousatonic proved to be unprofitable. In 1813, the portion between Southbury and New Milford was discontinued as a toll road. In 1834, the northern half of the remaining portion (north of the present Stevenson Dam) was given to another company, the River Turnpike Company, to try and make the road profitable. In 1841, however, the River Turnpike road reverted back to the Ousatonic, and the Ousatonic company itself was dissolved the following year in 1842. The portion of the old Ousatonic road north of Stevenson Dam is now mostly submerged as a result of the damming of the Housatonic to form Lake Zoar and Lake Lillinonah.

The state took over the road at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1922, when route numbers were first publicly signed in the New England region, the route from New Haven to the village of Sandy Hook was designated as State Highway 117. The road followed the Derby Turnpike and the remaining portion of the Ousatonic Turnpike to the village of Stevenson, then the rest of modern Route 34 to Sandy Hook. In the 1932 state highway renumbering, old Highway 117 was renumbered to Route 34 with an additional westward extension to the city of Danbury. At the time, Route 34 overlapped with US 6 into the borough of Newtown, then used modern Route 302 to Bethel and modern Route 53 to downtown Danbury. In 1935, US 202 was established and used the original path of Route 34 between Danbury and Newtown. Route 34 was cut back to end at US 6 in Sandy Hook.

The four-lane section in Derby, Orange, and West Haven was opened in 1940. In the 1940s, Route 34 ended at Sherman Avenue (former US 5 and Route 10). The Oak Street Connector appeared in state highway plans in the mid-1950s and the present expressway opened in 1960. When the expressway opened, Route 34 was designated on it. Route 34 was assigned onto city streets (Chapel Street and George Street) to connect with the original eastern end. When North Frontage Road was completed, Route 34 was relocated onto it via an overlap with current Route 10.

In December 2008, the City of New Haven received nine proposals for design/engineering services for the planned boulevardization of the Downtown New Haven (limited access) section of Route 34. Plans for redeveloping the highway's western section in New Haven (in a neighborhood also demolished for a limited access highway, but where the highway was never built) have undergone significant public discussion as part of the City of New Haven's MDP process for re-using the 36 acres (150,000 m2) of empty land.