The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Train service derailed state’s first road tolls in the 1800s
Commuting is nothing new to Nutmeggers. But to appreciate our current challenges, consider what it was like centuries ago.
As early as 1699, roads were laid out on routes still used today. While those roads are now lined with trees, the area had been cleared in the mid1700s to allow for farming.
In the 1770s, the maintenance of Country Road (now known as Boston Post Road) was the responsibility of the locals. Every able bodied man and beast could be drafted for two days each year to keep the roads in good shape. But traffic then consisted mostly of farm carts, horses and
pedestrians.
Attheendofthe18th century, it was clear Connecticut needed more roads and the state authorized more than 100 privatelyfunded toll roads to be built. Yes, friends: Toll roads are part of our DNA.
After building the road and charging tolls and once investors recouped their costs plus 12 percent annual interest, the roads were revert to state control. Of the 121 tollroad franchises authorized by the legislature, not one met that goal.
One of the first such toll roads was the original Connecticut Turnpike, now Route 1, the Boston Post Road. Another was the Norwalk to Danbury ‘pike, now Route 7.
On the Post Road, four toll gates were erected: Greenwich, Stamford, the Saugatuck River Bridge and Fairfield. No tolls were collected for those going to church, militia muster or farmers going to the mills. Everyone else paid 15 cents at each toll barrier — about $4 in today’s money.
The locals quickly found roads to bypass the tolls, which were nicknamed “shunpikes.” Sound familiar?
Regular horsedrawn coaches carried passengers from Boston to New York. And three days a week, there was a coach from coastal towns to Stamford, connecting to a steamboat to New York.
The last tolls were collected in 1854, shortly after the New York & New Haven Railroad started service. An early timetable showed three trains a day from Stamford to New York City, each averaging 2 hours and 10 minutes. MetroNorth now makes the run in just under an hour.
The oneway fare was 70 cents vs. today’s $15.25 at rush hour.
In the 1890s, the onetrack railroad was replaced with four tracks, above grade, thereby eliminating street crossings.
In the 1890s, the trolleys arrived. The Stamford Street Railroad ran up the Post Road connecting with the Norwalk Tramway; the latter also offered openair excursion cars to the Roton Point amusement park in the summer.
Riders could catch a trolley every 40 minutes for a nickel a ride. There were so many trolley lines in the state that it was said you could go all the way from New York to Boston, connecting from line to line, for just five cents apiece.
The trolleys were replaced by buses in 1933.
Fast forward to the present when we are still debating tolls on our roads, possible trolley service in Stamford and transitoriented development is all the rage. Have things really changed that much over 200 years?