Route 53 (Connecticut)
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Map of Fairfield County in southwestern Connecticut with Route 53 highlighted in red
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| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by ConnDOT | ||||
| Length: | 23.57 mi (37.93 km) | |||
| Existed: | 1932 – present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end: |
 US 1 in Norwalk
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| North end: |
  Route 39 / Route 37 (near  I-84) in Danbury
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| Location | ||||
| Counties: | Fairfield | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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Route 53 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Connecticut, connecting the cities of Norwalk and Danbury. Most of the route has been made redundant by U.S. Route 7, except for the last section from Bethel to Danbury, which is part of a direct route (Route 58) from the Bridgeport area to Danbury.
Route 53 begins at US 1 in Norwalk and travels through the towns of Norwalk, Wilton, Weston, Redding, and Bethel. Route 53 ends in downtown Danbury at a quadruple junction with Routes 37, 39, and a secondary state road leading to Interstate 84.
A 2.03-mile (3.27 km) section in Redding, running from the Weston town line to the beginning of a brief concurrency with Route 107, is a designated state scenic road.
The main road connecting the city of Norwalk to the borough of Newtown was organized as a private turnpike in May 1829. Known as the Norwalk and Newtown Turnpike, or more commonly as just the Newtown Turnpike, the road mostly used modern Route 53 from Norwalk to the Saugatuck Reservoir in Redding. Northeast of the reservoir, the old Newtown Turnpike continued the straight route using what are now town roads (Newtown Turnpike, Hopewell Woods Road, Poverty Hollow Road, and Key Rock Road) to Route 302 in the Dodgingtown section of Newtown, then Route 302 into Newtown borough. The portion of modern Route 53 between the West Redding section of Redding and Bethel center was the northern half of the Norwalk and Danbury Turnpike. This turnpike was chartered in 1795 and used part of modern US 7, modern Route 107, and Umpawaug Road to West Redding, then continued on modern Route 53. Between Redding center and West Redding, modern Route 53 was the northern half of the Northfield Turnpike, which was chartered in 1826. The southern half is now Valley Forge Road and Lyons Plains Road.
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Wikipedia