Governor Rell: DOT Keeps Merritt Parkway/Route Seven

Interchange Planning Process Moving Forward

            Governor M. Jodi Rell today announced that the Department of Transportation (DOT) is scheduling public hearings and will meet with key stakeholders as it weighs options for the long-delayed upgrade of the interchange between the Merritt Parkway and Route 7 in Norwalk.

            “I want this issue resolved once and for all, and as quickly as possible – as do the tens of thousands of commuters who get on and off the Merritt at Route 7 daily,” Governor Rell said. “It is time for everyone to listen to one another, come up with a plan that makes sense for everyone and the environment, and get this project off the drawing board and moving toward reality.”

            In recent months, the DOT has been meeting with the Merritt Parkway Conservancy in an effort to resolve differences over the best design for this heavily-used interchange.  In a letter to Governor Rell, former DOT Commissioner Ralph J. Carpenter said that both parties “have been open-minded in considering the relevant maters of traffic operations, safety and sensitivity to the Merritt Parkway and its environs.”

            “At this time, a suitable range of alternatives that would meet the transportation needs of the community have been identified and it is now appropriate, and in the best interest of the State and the region, to bring these alternatives to broader public involvement,” the Commissioner wrote.

He said the DOT would schedule meetings with “important stakeholders,” such as the City of Norwalk, the South Western Regional Planning Agency, the Merritt Parkway Advisory Committee, environmental organizations and the general public. This process will lead to a determination of a “preferred alternative” for a new interchange. The schedule of public hearings and meetings will be finalized within the next two weeks.

One concept being advanced by the Conservancy that will be included in this public process calls for an extended cloverleaf-style interchange, which would be long enough to ease what is known as the “weave” – the process through which vehicles weave between each other in getting on and off the parkway. This concept also includes widening Main Avenue (the “old” Route 7) underneath the Merritt to six lanes, from four.

The Merritt Parkway Conservancy sued the Federal Highway Administration and the state over the project in 2005, arguing that the proposed plans failed to consider alternative designs which would minimize or eliminate potential adverse impacts to the historic elements within the area of the project. The court ordered FHWA and the DOT to consider and review alternative designs that would avoid impacts on historic elements of the interchange.

Governor Rell emphasized that the state remains “fully open to design recommendations that support the goals of maximizing public safety and traffic flow in a manner that is also sensitive to the environment and the aesthetic and historical concerns in a project involving this landmark parkway.”

The DOT noted that the project will require full state and federal environmental reviews and permits – a process that could take several years.

The Merritt Parkway, also known as Route 15, opened in 1938 and is named for the late Fairfield County Congressman Schuyler Merritt, who championed its construction. Today, it is a designated National Historic Landmark.