In 1655, the ferry across the Connecticut River started service, as a raft guided by long poles.

In the 1920s, State Highway 160 followed today's Route 177, from Plainville (route 372) to Canton (US 44).

The modern Route 160 was commissioned in 1932, and is basically unchanged since then. In Sept. 1960, however, Glastonbury state representatives submitted a bill asking that Hopewell Road be added to the state highway system. This road, leading eastward from Route 17 in South Glastonbury to New London Turnpike (near (Route 2)), was deemed a logical extension of Route 160 by town officials. However, the Hopewell Road request did not pass the General Assembly, and it never became a state road.

Commuters: Rate hikes on ferry 'all wet'

(My attempt at a New York Post-style headline) In September 2003, the state raised fares significantly on both the Route 148 and Route 160 ferries: from $2.25 to $5 per vehicle, and from $0.75 to $1.75 per additional passenger or cyclist. A discounted advance purchase plan, at about 50 percent off, has been discontinued.

This was not popular.

The DOT said the rate hike was required by the state's budget implementation bills; and in the remarks of Chris Cooper, communications director, the seasonal ferry "could hardly be considered part of the state's transportation infrastructure." However, Route 160 does serve commuter traffic between the two Hartford suburbs it connects; operators say about 40 percent of its riders are commuters.

Some drivers are worried that the rate hikes are behind a plan to scale back or even stop the ferry service. Even though ConnDOT assures that this will not happen, activists point out that ridership will decrease (demand curve, Econ 101) and it will appear that the ferry is underused or not needed.

Extend east along Chestnut Hill Road to Route 83 in East Glastonbury. At least one map error agrees with me (aka "mappo," analogous to "typo").

• "Scoville and Connery Submit 5 Bills for General Assembly." Hartford Courant, Sept. 28, 1960.
• "Chances Seen as Dim On Takeover of Road." Hartford Courant, Apr. 2, 1961. (New York Post version: "No Hope for Hopewell" :-)
• "Riders blast 120 percent hike in river ferry fee." Middletown Press, Sept. 1, 2003.
• "Fare Increases Concern Ferry Users." Hartford Courant, Sept. 2, 2003.
• "Activists push for improvements in Rocky Hill-Glastonbury ferry." Stamford Advocate, Nov. 2, 2003.

• Route 148, whose Chester-Hadlyme ferry also crosses the Connecticut River
• Route 160 Ends (Photos; Doug Kerr at state-ends.com)
• CT 160 photos (Steve Alpert)