Route 49 is a

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

state highway from

Route 2 The following highways are numbered 2. For roads numbered A2, see list of A2 roads. For roads numbered B2, see list of B2 roads. For roads numbered M2, see list of M2 roads. For roads numbered N2, see list of N2 roads. International * AH2, As ...

in Stonington to Route 14A in Sterling, in the southeast part of the state. It is a scenic route that runs through the Pachaug State Forest.

Route description

Route 49 begins as North Street at an intersection with

in the northeastern corner of the town of Stonington. It proceeds north into the town of

North Stonington North Stonington is a town in New London County, Connecticut which was split off from Stonington in 1724. The population was 5,149 at the 2020 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of whi ...

as Pendleton Hill Road, intersecting with

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1, US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between M ...

and Route 184. Route 49 continues north, soon intersecting Route 216. As it enters the town of Voluntown, Route 49 then becomes Westerly Road, while still on a northward track. Route 49 briefly overlaps with Route 165 and Route 138 within the town center. North of the overlap, Route 49 continues as Ekonk Hill Road, crossing the

Pachaug River The Pachaug River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 river arising from the Pachaug State Forest at the Connecticut - Rhode Island border and draining in ...

and running through the Pachaug State Forest, before reaching its end at Route 14A in the Sterling Hill Historic District of the town of Sterling. Route 49 is designated as a scenic road from Route 184 (milepost 2.09) in North Stonington to milepost 12.95 (south of Route 165) in Voluntown and from the Voluntown boat launch (milepost 13.84) to the northern terminus in Sterling.

History

In the 1920s, the road from the northeast corner of Stonington (at

New England Route 17 , , , , , The New England road marking system was a regional system of marked numbered routes in the six-state region of New England in the United States. The routes were marked by a yellow rectangular sign with black numbers and border ...

) heading north through

and Voluntown to the Sterling Hill section of Sterling was designated as State Highway 216. In the 1932 state highway renumbering, State Highway 216 was renumbered to Route 95. In 1950, Route 95 was extended east along modern Route 14A up to the Rhode Island state line. In 1958,

was formally designated in Connecticut, and Route 95 was in need of a new designation due to the numbering conflict. The new designation chosen was Route 49. In 1963, as a result of the Route Reclassification Act, Route 14A was created and the north end of Route 49 was relocated to its current terminus. In early 2003, work on Route 49 and Route 14A Corridor Management Plan was started, funded by the

FHWA The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program a ...

and

ConnDOT The Connecticut Department of Transportation (often referred to as CTDOT and occasionally ConnDOT, or CDOT) is responsible for the development and operation of highways, railroads, mass transit systems, ports and waterways in Connecticut. ...

. The concerns are speed along Route 49, stone walls, and the surrounding scenery. Since state budget constraints preclude adding more police, one idea was to repaint the fog line so that the lanes are wide. In October 2003, the state turned down a N. Stonington request to lower the speed limit from to 35 and .

Junction list

References

External links

{{Portal, Connecticut 049 Transportation in New London County, Connecticut Transportation in Windham County, Connecticut