Merritt Parkway

Merritt Parkway
Map of Fairfield County in southwestern Connecticut with Merritt Parkway highlighted in red
Route information
Length:	37.27 mi (59.98 km)
Existed:	1938 – present
Tourist routes:	Merritt Parkway
Restrictions:	No commercial vehicles, trailers, towed vehicles, buses, or hearses[1]
Major junctions
South end:	Hutchinson River Parkway in Rye Brook, NY
	US 7 in Norwalk Route 8 in Trumbull
North end:	Route 15 (Wilbur Cross Parkway) in Milford, CT
Location
Counties:	Fairfield
Highway system
Routes in Connecticut Interstate U.S. State SSR SR
Merritt Parkway
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Architect	Connecticut Highway Department; et al.
Architectural style	Colonial Revival, Classical Revival, Modern Movement
NRHP Reference #	91000410
Added to NRHP	April 17, 1991[2]

The Merritt Parkway (also known locally as "The Merritt") is a historic limited-access parkway in Fairfield County, Connecticut, the first of its kind. Designed for Connecticut's Gold Coast, the parkway is known for its scenic layout, its uniquely styled signage, and the architecturally elaborate overpasses along the route. It is designated as a National Scenic Byway and is also listed in the National Register of Historic Places.^[3] Signed as part of Route 15, it runs from the New York state line in Greenwich, where it serves as the continuation of the Hutchinson River Parkway, to the Housatonic River in Stratford, where the Wilbur Cross Parkway begins. Facing bitter opposition, the project took six years to build in three different sections, with the Connecticut Department of Transportation constantly requiring additional funding due to the area's high property value. The parkway was named for U.S. Congressman Schuyler Merritt. On May 19, 2010, the Merritt Parkway was named one of America's Most Endangered Historic Places.^[4]

Route description

Easton Turnpike bridge over the Merritt in Fairfield.

The Parkway is one of a handful of United States highways listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It is acknowledged for the beauty of the forest that it passes through, as well as the architectural design of its overpasses; at the time of its construction, each bridge was decorated in a unique fashion so that no two bridges on the parkway looked alike.^[5] However, newer overpasses used by intersecting expressways did not maintain this tradition, and as a result the highway is now spanned by several ordinary modern bridges constructed using undecorated concrete on steel I-beams.

The Parkway has two lanes in each direction. Due to its age, it was originally constructed without the merge-lanes, long on-ramps, and long off-ramps that are found on modern limited-access highways. Some entrances have perilously short and/or sharp ramps; some entrances even have stop signs, with no merge lane whatsoever; this leads to some dangerous entrances onto the highway. Most have since been modernized, with the interchange of Route 111 in Trumbull featuring Connecticut's first single point urban interchange (SPUI). The speed limit on the parkway ranges from 45 to 55 mph (70 to 90 km/h). A section between Westport and Fairfield is a stretch, roughly five and a half miles long without a single exit, referred to by local traffic reports as "The No Exit Zone"^[6] or "No Man's Land".^[7]

Vehicles over 8 feet (2.4 m) in height, weighing more than 8,000 pounds (3,600 kg), towing a trailer, or containing more than four wheels are not allowed on the parkway. (Under extenuating circumstances, however, ConnDOT may issue permits for oversize vehicles to use the Parkway.^[1])

History

Tree canopy over the Merritt, and grassy median

Toll booth 1955

Welcome sign in Greenwich

The Merritt Parkway is the oldest scenic parkway in the United States. The portion from Greenwich to Norwalk was opened on June 29, 1938. The section from Norwalk to Trumbull was completed in November 1939 and in 1940 was finished to the Housatonic River in Stratford. The parkway was named for U.S. Congressman Schuyler Merritt, who was instrumental in enacting legislation allowing the parkway to be built. The Merritt Parkway is the first leg of what would later become the modern Route 15. Built between 1934 and 1940, the Merritt runs for 37 miles (60 km) from the New York state line in Greenwich to the Housatonic River in Stratford. It was conceived as a way to alleviate congestion on the Boston Post Road (U.S. Route 1) in Fairfield County.

Six rest areas/service plazas featuring parking lots, gas stations, and convenience stores were also built along the Merritt so that drivers would not have to exit to refuel. Pairs of plazas are located opposite each other on either side of the parkway in Fairfield (near exit 46), New Canaan (near exit 37), and Greenwich (just beyond the CT-NY state line). The northbound-side plaza in Greenwich also houses a Connecticut welcome center. The plazas were originally constructed during the Parkway's days as a tolled highway, but remained even after the tolls were removed in 1988, making the Parkway one of only a few toll-free highways with service plazas along its length. Between 2011 and 2015, all six of the service plazas (along with the four located further north along the Wilbur Cross Parkway) were completely renovated. The renovations preserved the original brick and stone facade of the buildings, but completely redesigned and modernized the interiors. The plazas now include more modern gas pumps, Alltown convenience stores, and a Dunkin' Donuts shop at each location; three of the Merritt's six plazas also include a Subway shop. Prior to the renovations, no fast-food service had previously been available at the plazas. The renovation project was completed during the summer of 2015, when the New Canaan plazas were reopened.

After the parkway fully opened in 1940, it was not uncommon for travelers to stop and picnic along the side of the road.^[8] The Merritt Parkway Advisory Commission (later the Merritt Parkway Advisory Committee) decided upon banning horses and buggies, bicycles, pedestrians, billboards, and U-turns while a system of horse trails along the parkway was developed but later abandoned.^[9]

To ease objections from county residents who feared an influx of New Yorkers on their roads, in their towns, on their beaches and through their forests, highway planners called on engineers, landscape architects and architects to create a safe and aesthetically pleasing limited access highway – one with exit and entrance ramps, but no intersections – that would not spoil the countryside.

The bridges played a prominent role in the design. Architect George L. Dunkelberger designed them all. They reflected the popularity of the Art Deco style, with touches of neo-classical and modern design.^[10][11][12] Some of these bridges were constructed by the Works Progress Administration.

Tolls were collected on the parkway at one toll plaza in Greenwich from June 21, 1939, until June 27, 1988. Two additional tolls were also located on the Wilbur Cross Parkway, in Milford and Wallingford. One of the parkway's former toll plazas is now preserved in Stratford's Boothe Memorial Park near Exit 53, complete with still-flashing lights over each toll lane.

In April 2001, a complete reissuance of the parkway's signs was carried out creating a uniform white-on-green and sawtooth border.

During 2013, electric vehicle (EV) charging for Tesla automobiles was added to both the northbound and southbound Greenwich service plazas, with 4 Superchargers installed in each direction. In addition, charging for CHAdeMO-equipped EV's was added to the northbound Greenwich service plaza with the addition of 2 chargers. The parking/charging stalls are some of the first in the U.S. to be designated "shared use" - EV's may use the stall for up to 45 minutes to charge, or Internal-Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles may park for up to 15 minutes.^[13]

Safety of the parkway

One of the Merritt’s aesthetic features is also a potential danger to its drivers. Trees that line either side of the parkway, and often in the center median, grow branches that cover the roadway, and occasionally fall during severe weather, or with natural aging. Stretches of the parkway also lack guardrails on the right shoulders, creating a risk of tree impact accidents if cars veer off the pavement.

In 2007, after complaints were voiced about the danger of the trees along the parkway, state officials announced they would trim and eliminate some of them more aggressively. A large, seemingly healthy tree fell on a car near Exit 42 in Westport in June 2007, killing a couple from Pelham, New York. On June 23, 2011, a driver was killed in Stamford when a tree fell onto his car.^[14]

A state study of fatalities on Connecticut highways showed that from 1985 to 1992, about ten people died every three years in tree-related accidents, although no other state roadway averaged more than one in three years.

The state Department of Transportation commonly sends out work crews twice a year to drive along both sides of the parkway at 5 mph (8 km/h) in search of decrepit trees. Trees that had been scheduled to be cut down in five or ten years would be removed sooner. Some more trees also would be removed, as the shoulder of the parkway is being widened to eight feet in order to give drivers room to pull over.^[15]

Following the 2007 and 2011 incidents, the state became more aggressive in closing the parkway in times of severe weather. The parkway was closed during Tropical Storm Irene^[16] and the Halloween nor'easter in 2011, and Hurricane Sandy in 2012. With each of those storms, many trees and limbs fell across the parkway. After Sandy, the state began a large effort to remove unhealthy trees, and in the process created much wider clearances between the roadside and forest.^[14]

The parkway also has three sharp curves where speed limits are reduced to 45 miles per hour, two in Greenwich and one in Fairfield.

The state has a Merritt Parkway Advisory Committee that meets quarterly.^[15]

The Merritt Parkway in popular culture

• Willem de Kooning oil-on-canvas painting Merritt Parkway (1959) is owned by the Detroit Institute of Arts.^[17][18]
• Lisa Seidenberg, a filmmaker from Westport, produced a documentary film, The Road Taken...The Merritt Parkway (2008).^[19]
• The Merritt Parkway is mentioned in J. D. Salinger's short story, "Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut," published in The New Yorker in 1948 and included in his 1953 book, Nine Stories.

Exit list

The entire route is in Fairfield County.

Location	mi	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Greenwich	0.00	0.00	–	Hutchinson River Parkway south – New York City	Continuation into New York State, exit numbering roughly continues south
	0.05	0.080	27	NY 120A north (King Street) – Armonk
	3.48	5.60	28	Round Hill Road – Greenwich	Serves Greenwich business district
	4.69	7.55	29	Lake Avenue – Greenwich
	5.65	9.09	31	North Street – Greenwich	Serves Greenwich business district
Stamford	8.90	14.32	33	Den Road – Stamford
	9.48	15.26	34	Route 104 (Long Ridge Road) – Stamford, Long Ridge	Serves Downtown Stamford and UConn Stamford
	10.67	17.17	35	Route 137 (High Ridge Road) – Stamford, High Ridge
New Canaan	13.24	21.31	36	Route 106 (Old Stamford Road) – New Canaan, Springdale
	14.14	22.76	37	Route 124 – New Canaan, Darien
Norwalk	15.88	25.56	38	Route 123 (New Canaan Avenue) – New Canaan, Norwalk	Serves Norwalk Community College
	17.30	27.84	39	US 7 to I-95 – Norwalk, Danbury	Northbound exits and southbound exits signed as exits 39A (south) and 39B (north); interchange redesign in proposal stage[20]
	17.58	28.29	40	Main Avenue (SR 719) – Norwalk	Signed as exits 40A (south) and 40B (north); signed southbound for US 7 – Norwalk, Danbury
Westport	20.65	33.23	41	Route 33 – Westport, Wilton
	21.57	34.71	42	Route 57 – Westport, Weston
Fairfield	27.04	43.52	44	Route 58 – Fairfield, Redding	Serves Fairfield business district and Fairfield University
	28.53	45.91	46	Route 59 – Fairfield, Easton	Serves the old General Electric Headquarters
Trumbull	29.23	47.04	47	Park Avenue – Trumbull	Serves University of Bridgeport and Sacred Heart University
	30.58	49.21	48	Route 111 (Main Street) – Long Hill, Monroe	Single-point urban interchange
	32.17	51.77	49	Route 25 – Bridgeport, Danbury	Signed as exits 49N (north) and 49S (south) northbound; no exit 49S to Route 25 south
	32.76	52.72	50	Route 127 – Trumbull	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	33.73	54.28	51	Route 108 (Nichols Avenue) – Trumbull, Stratford	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	34.14	54.94	52	Route 8 to Route 108 – Bridgeport, Waterbury	Signed as exits 52N (north) and 52S (south); northbound access to Route 8 south is via exit 51
Stratford	36.87	59.34	53	Route 110 – Stratford, Shelton
Housatonic River	37.27	59.98	Igor I. Sikorsky Memorial Bridge
			–	Route 15 north (Wilbur Cross Parkway) – New Haven, Hartford	Continuation into New Haven County
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Incomplete access

Images

• 
  Map (west segment)
• 
  Map (east segment)
• 
  Talmadge Hill Metro-North station over the Parkway in New Canaan

See also

• Schuyler Merritt
• Merritt Parkway Bridges
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Fairfield County, Connecticut
• Wilbur Cross Parkway

References

• Radde, Bruce (1993). The Merritt Parkway. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-06877-8. 
• Larned, Larry (1998). Traveling the Merritt Parkway. Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia. ISBN 0-7524-0946-8. 

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Connecticut Route 15.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Merritt Parkway.

• Merritt Parkway Exhibit (Connecticut State Library)
• Merritt Parkway Conservancy
• Photos of the parkway at byways.org
• Photos of and information about the parkway at nycroads.com
• Connecticut Dept of Transportation rules about what vehicles are allowed on the parkway
• CT 15 (Greater New York Roads)