Merritt Parkway
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The Merritt Parkway is a limited-access highway in Fairfield County, Connecticut, designated as a National Scenic Byway. Signed as 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. However, it is the nearly universal habit of local residents when giving directions to describe the entire length of Route 15 as the "Merritt," which often confuses visitors and new residents since most printed maps label the segments of Route 15 by their official names.
The Merritt Parkway is one of the oldest parkways in the United States and 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 no two bridges on the parkway looked alike. Some of these bridges were constructed by the Works Progress Administration (WPA).
Recent reconstruction on several of the parkway's bridges 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 very exciting entrances onto the highway. Most have since been modernized, with the interchange of Rt. 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).
The highway was named after U.S. Congressman Schuyler Merritt. The section from Greenwich to Norwalk opened on June 29, 1938 and the section from Norwalk to the Housatonic River opened in 1940.
Tolls were collected on the parkway at one toll plaza in Greenwich from June 21, 1939 until June 27, 1988. However, two additional tolls were also located on the Wilbur Cross Parkway, in Milford and Wallingford.
In April 2001, an almost-complete reissuance of the parkway's signs was carried out, creating a uniform white-on-green and triangular border.
Miscellany
- When the parkway was first opened, families flocked to it to picnic in the grassy area in between the eastbound and westbound lanes.
- Vestiges of old picnic areas can still be seen along the highway.
- The highway still contains several service areas (gas station and convenience store).
- One of Denise Levertov's poems is about the parkway.
- Vehicles over 2.5 meters (8 feet) in height, weighing more than 3,650 kg (8,000 lb), or containing more than four wheels are not allowed on the parkway.[link].
- Bruce Radde's book "The Merritt Parkway"(ISBN 0300068778) was published in 1993 by Yale University Press. It details the construction of the parkway and includes many pictures dating from the road's early days.
Exit list
| Number | Mile | Town | Route and Destination | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merritt Parkway ends at New York state line - Road continues as the Hutchinson River Parkway | ||||
| 27N | 0.0 | Greenwich | New York State Route 120A (north) King Street Armonk | unsigned northbound |
| Greenwich | service station | Connecticut Information Center | ||
| 28 | 3.5 | Greenwich | Round Hill Road | |
| 29 | 4.7 | Greenwich | Lake Avenue | |
| 31 | 5.6 | Greenwich | North Street | To Greenwich business district |
| 33 | 8.9 | Stamford | Den Road | |
| 34 | 9.5 | Stamford | Route 104 Long Ridge Road | To downtown Stamford |
| 35 | 10.7 | Stamford | Route 137 High Ridge Road | |
| 36 | 13.2 | New Canaan | Route 106 Old Stamford Road | |
| 37 | 14.1 | New Canaan | Route 124 New Canaan Darien | |
| New Canaan | service station | |||
| 38 | 15.9 | Norwalk | Route 123 New Canaan Avenue | |
| 39 | 17.3 | Norwalk | U.S. Route 7 Norwalk Danbury | northbound exit only split into 39A and 39B |
| 40 | 17.6 | Norwalk | Main Street To US 7 | split into 40A and 40B |
| 41 | 20.6 | Westport | Route 33 Westport Wilton | |
| 42 | 21.6 | Westport | Route 57 Westport Weston | |
| 44 | 27.0 | Fairfield | Route 58 Fairfield Redding | To Fairfield business district |
| Fairfield | service station | |||
| 46 | 28.5 | Fairfield | Route 59 Fairfield Easton | |
| 47 | 29.2 | Trumbull | Park Avenue | |
| 48 | 30.6 | Trumbull | Route 111 Main Street | |
| 49 | 32.2 | Trumbull | Route 25 Bridgeport Danbury | split into 49N and 49S Exit 49S is northbound only |
| 50 | 32.8 | Trumbull | Route 127 Trumbull | southbound exit only |
| 51 | 33.7 | Trumbull | Route 108 Nichols Avenue | northbound exit only |
| 52 | 34.1 | Trumbull | Route 8 Bridgeport Waterbury | also signed southbound as Route 108 |
| 53 | 36.9 | Stratford | Route 110 Stratford Shelton | |
| Merritt Parkway ends at Sikorsky Memorial Bridge - Road continues as the Wilbur Cross Parkway | ||||
References
- "The Merritt Parkway", ISBN 0300068778
- "Traveling the Merritt Parkway", ISBN 0752409468
External links
- [Photos of the parkway at byways.org]
- [Connecticut Dept of Transportation rules about what vehicles are allowed on the parkway]
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