Route 58 is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Connecticut connecting the towns of Fairfield and Bethel. Route 58 is long and is one of the primary routes to the downtown Danbury area via Routes 302 and 53.
Route description
Route 58 officially begins at U.S. Route 1 in Fairfield, traveling for about on Tunxis Hill Road up to the Black Rock Turnpike. Route 58 continues northward along the Black Rock Turnpike, passing through the towns of Easton and Redding. There is an interchange with the Merritt Parkway in Fairfield. Within Easton, Route 58 can also go by the name "Black Rock Road" as well as "Black Rock Turnpike." Route 58 passes by two reservoirs that supply the Greater Bridgeport area with much of its drinking water. On crossing into the town of Bethel, Route 58 runs along "Putnam Park Road", ending at Route 302. Black Rock Turnpike continues south after Route 58 separates from it in Fairfield. It ends at a junction between U.S. Route 1 and Interstate 95. This portion is designated as State Road 732 and is long. A section in Easton near the Hemlock Reservoir is a designated scenic highway.
History
On April 25, 1777, during the Revolutionary War, British soldiers under the command of General William Tryon marched up the Redding Road, which paralleled present-day Route 58 south of Easton center and ran along Route 58 north of Easton center, on their way to Danbury to destroy homes, warehouses and ammunition stores as part of the Danbury Raid. In May 1797, the northern portion of Redding Road was chartered as the Fairfield, Weston, and Redding Turnpike. The turnpike company improved the road from Easton village through Redding Ridge into Bethel. It ran from Easton center along modern Route 58 then along Sunset Hill Road and Hoyts Hill Road. In May 1832, the road from Black Rock harbor to Easton village was chartered as a private toll road known as the Black Rock and Weston Turnpike, or more commonly as just the Black Rock Turnpike. The old road ran north up to the Branch Turnpike and used the Branch Turnpike to reach Easton. Both turnpike roads are collectively known as Black Rock Turnpike today. In the 1922, the Bridgeport to Danbury road became a state road and was known as State Highway 124. Highway 124 uses a newer alignment through Putnam Memorial State Park instead of the 19th century turnpike alignment. It also continued into downtown Danbury using modern Route 302 and 53. Modern Route 58 was created in the 1932 state highway renumbering from old Highway 124. The route was truncated in 1935 to end in Bethel instead of Danbury, when U.S. Route 202 was designated, which was designated on the Danbury-Bethel segment. The state developed plans in the 1960s to extend Route 58 northward as a freeway from its present terminus to I-84 in Danbury to divert through traffic around Danbury's congested central business district. Although the Route 58 Connector was cancelled, a short segment near the Danbury Train Station between White Street and Liberty Street was built.
