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15.75 miles; US 1 in Clinton to Route 154 in Higganum. There's an interesting 5-ramp interchange at Route 9, with direct access to 9 north from 81 north. A Route 81 freeway? Only in fiction: the plot of T. E. D. Klein's short story "Petey" hinges on a state plan for upgrading Route 81. (In some editions, including the "Dark Gods" collection, the highway is instead Route 501; but Route 81 is more appropriate for the story's Clinton or Killingworth location. I do not know which number was used first. Did 81 replace 501 for verisimilitude; or did 501 replace 81 to minimize any potential notoriety for the fictional "highway department" that some would read as ConnDOT? SR 501 is the once-planned I-84 spur into West Hartford Center.) |
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Route 81 was commissioned in 1932, from the old State Highway 106. Aside from interchanges at I-95 and Route 9, it has hardly changed; the 1942 Highway Log shows a difference of only 0.03 miles in length from today. |
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Updated Nov 21, 2009 |
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