In the 1920s, State Highway 110 followed the old main route from Hartford into Massachusetts along the west side of the Connecticut River:

• today's Route 159, from Hartford to Windsor Center
• today's Route 75, to Suffield
• Maple Avenue (old Route 75) northeasterly to Route 159
• today's Route 159 to the state line

In the late 1920s SH 110 was realigned to follow Route 159 all the way up.

The modern Route 110 was commissioned in 1932 as the east-west portion only, between Routes 8 and 111. The north-south portion, from Stratford to Shelton, was part of Route 8 (north of where Route 113 intersects now), and Route 8A (south of there to US 1). (For the first year or so, E. Main St (Route 8A) was part of US 1A.)

Part of modern Route 110 in Shelton near Nicholdale Farm was constructed in 1935.

In 1952, Route 8 was moved west and Route 110 extended south along the former Route 8 (Main Street); Route 8A became Route 110A. In 1963, the southernmost part of 110 was shifted to East Main Street (former Route 110A), and the leftover given to a shifted Route 113.

In 1958, the Route 15/110 interchange was upgraded from a 4-ramp partial cloverleaf to a 7-ramp nearly full cloverleaf, to handle increased traffic from nearby industrial sites (notably Sikorsky Aircraft). The cost was $721,000, which can't even attract a breathing CEO candidate these days.

"Cool," you might be thinking, "let's go check this out." Well, you should have thought of that years ago. For safety reasons, the state removed two ramps around 1998.

Freeway plans

A Route 110 freeway? Yes, if the Tri-State Transportation Commission had its way. The Commission in the early 1960s proposed a new east-west expressway through mid-Fairfield County, from Route 8 in Derby to US 7 in Ridgefield, then connecting with a proposed NY 35 expressway over the state line. The proposed but unbuilt expressway might also have carried the 34 or 35 numbering.

Extension to Route 25

Other than I-84 / US 6, Route 34, and the Merritt Parkway, no east-west routes serve Fairfield County between the shore and Danbury. It's easy to look at a map and see an extended Route 110 helping out, wending its way westward from Route 111 to Ridgefield... or at least the few miles to Route 25.

As it turns out, this idea is not original, and it's not even new.

In 1935, Special Act 272 was passed, directing the state to extend Route 110 about three miles westward, to intersect Route 25 at Route 59. In 1971, the idea was brought up again, as a project associated with the proposed Route 25 freeway in Monroe. During the intervening years, local officials repeatedly asked the state to proceed with the extension -- there's not even a town road going directly from one side of town to the other.

At the 1971 Route 25/110 hearing, a map of the proposed Route 110 extension was shown: a two-lane road from Route 111 at existing Route 110, westward to Route 25 at Route 59, going slightly north of Longview Road. This was never built, and might have been "collateral damage" from the cancelled Route 25 freeway.

• "State to Renumber 4 Sections of Roads." Hartford Times, Sept. 27, 1951.
• "Transcript of public hearing: relocation of Route 25 and extension of Route 110." Held in Monroe, Jan. 28, 1971
• "Tri-State Transportation 1985; an interim plan." Tri-State Transportation Commission, 1966.
• "1975 Master Transportation Plan." Connecticut Department of Transportation.
• Gallagher, Teresa. "Nicholdale Farm." http://borntoexplore.org/trails/nicholdale_farm.htm. (30 August 2003)

• Route 34 (once a possible freeway extension in the 110 corridor)
• Route 25 (associated with 1971 Route 110 extension plan)
• Google Maps: 15/110 interchange
• Route 110 Ends (Photos; Doug Kerr at state-ends.com)