Vermont Route 103

Vermont Route 103
Route information
Maintained by VTrans
Length:	42.036 mi[1] (67.650 km)
Major junctions
South end:	US 5 in Rockingham
	VT 100 in Ludlow
North end:	US 7 in Clarendon
Location
Counties:	Windham, Windsor, Rutland
Highway system
State highways in Vermont ← VT 102 VT 104 →

Vermont Route 103 (abbreviated VT 103) is a north–south state highway in southern Vermont, United States. It runs from Rockingham in the east to Clarendon near Rutland in the west. The Vermont Country Store's second branch is one attraction along the route, as well as the Okemo Ski Resort in Ludlow.

Route description

VT 103 is a major arterial road for Vermont, being the most direct path from Boston and southeastern New England to Rutland and the Green Mountains ski areas and attractions. Although U.S. Route 4 is a shorter and slightly better road across the Green Mountains to Rutland, it is a direct east–west road intersecting Interstate 91 significantly north of the diagonal 103. Numerous proposals to widen 103 into a two-lane freeway or similar limited-access roadway have failed, even though a substantial power company right of way shadows the road for much of its length.

Vermont Country Store location on VT 103

Windham and Windsor Counties

VT 103 begins at U.S. Route 5 in Rockingham just east of Interstate 91 and just north of Bellows Falls. From there, it interchanges with I-91 at exit 6 and proceeds northeast to a pair of intersections with Meetinghouse Road, a loop road connecting VT 103 to the Rockingham Meetinghouse. Farther northwest, the route passes by one of Vermont Country Store's two locations and intersects Williams Road and Lower Bartonsville Road, a pair of local roads leading to the Worrall Covered Bridge and the Bartonsville Covered Bridge, respectively. VT 103 continues as a wide sweeping road into Chester, Windsor County, where it briefly overlaps VT 11 and crosses the Williams River on a new bridge.

Ludlow Baptist Church and Black River Academy

Just north of Chester, VT 103 passes through Stone Village, an area listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Here, houses made of local granite line both sides of VT 103. Outside of Stone Village, the road varies from a narrow and winding shoulder-less 2-lane between the river and mountains to a more wide-shouldered road. This variation remains until the village of Ludlow, where the route passes by the Ludlow Baptist Church and the Black River Academy near the village green. A few blocks to the west, VT 103 intersects VT 100 and joins VT 100 north past the Okemo Ski Resort into the town of Ludlow, where the concurrency ends roughly 1 mile (2 km) north of the village. While VT 100 continues north and parallels the county line, VT 103 turns west and crosses into Rutland County.

Rutland County

Across the county line in Mount Holly, VT 103 passes within a few miles of the Crowley Cheese factory as it heads into the Shrewsbury village of Cuttingsville with even more variations in road quality. Outside Cuttingsville, it proceeds through Clarendon, where it crosses over the conjoined Long and Appalachian Trails and intersects Airport and East Clarendon Roads, two local roadways leading, respectively, to the Kingsley and Brown Covered Bridges. Shortly after the junction with East Clarendon Road, VT 103 intersects VT 7B, the former routing of U.S. Route 7, before terminating at modern US 7 adjacent to the Rutland Airport, just south of Rutland.

Major intersections

County	Location	Mile[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Windham	Rockingham	0.000	0.000	US 5
		0.142	0.229	I-91	Exit 6 (I-91)
Windsor	Chester	9.242	14.874	VT 11 east	Eastern terminus of overlap
		9.629	15.496	VT 11 west	Western terminus of overlap
	Cavendish	19.307	31.072	VT 131	Western terminus of VT 131
	Village of Ludlow	22.449	36.128	VT 100 south	Southern terminus of overlap
	Town of Ludlow	24.283	39.080	VT 100 north	Northern terminus of overlap
Rutland	Mount Holly	33.525	53.953	VT 140	Eastern terminus of VT 140
	Wallingford	33.924	54.595	VT 155	Northern terminus of VT 155
	Clarendon	41.842	67.338	VT 7B
		42.036	67.650	US 7
Concurrency terminus •      Closed •      Unopened

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vermont Route 103.