Talk:Merritt Parkway

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Safety?

I love the scenery, but hesitate to drive the Merritt any more because I consider it too windy and its lanes too narrow. How does its accident rate compare with the parallel Connecticut Turnpike? -- Dynzmoar

I've never heard or experienced the road being too windy. But, yes, the lanes are narrower compared to Interstate standards. Also, I know that the Merritt Parkway portion of Route 15 does indeed have the highest accident rate of all limited access highways in Connecticut, but the accident rate is nearly equal to the Greenwich to Stratford portion of the Connecticut Turnpike. This could mean that it is the high traffic volume of that corridor responsible for the higher accident rate and not the structure of the parkway per se. I'll try and look for official figures. Polaron | Talk 15:53, 6 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I've never heard or experienced the road being too windy

Depends on the car you're driving, ehh?

Atlant 20:11, 6 June 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Might you be confusing "windy" (too much swiftly-moving air) with "winding" (too many twists and turns)? 18.173.1.42 18:09, 10 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The Merritt Parkway is somewhat winding (not windy) as it approaches the New York border. Speed limits drop from 55MPH to 45MPH as you approach that area from the east. Some turns are actually labeled as "Sharp Turn" in warning signs. Cfabbriumd 04:49, 7 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Experienced drivers often move to the left lane when approaching Merritt Parkway interchanges. They also avoid the Merritt in extreme weather conditions, like rain (poor drainage, pre-Interstate standard entrance-exits) and windy conditions (deaths from trees in 2007 and 2011, see Safety).

This report has the numbers and problem areas as of 2002: Fazzalaro, James J. (17 May 2002). "MERRITT PARKWAY TRAFFIC ACCIDENT ANALYSIS | 2002-R-0501". Connecticut General Assembly | Office of Legislative Research. Retrieved 14 March 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

See also "Merritt Parkway Preservation Landscape". CT.gov - Connecticut's Official State Website. Retrieved 2020-03-14.

--Lent (talk) 06:21, 14 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]

POV Comment on design

To state that the bridges are "handsomely designed", some source other than the editor's opinion is expected. (Offhand, I'd suppose that investigating this area might also lead into some comments about Art deco). Tedickey (talk) 16:34, 28 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Picnic areas in median

I have placed a Citation Needed tag next to two sentences that describe picnic areas:
"It was not uncommon for families to picnic in the grassy areas between the northbound and southbound lanes. In fact, vestiges of old picnic areas can still be seen along the highway."
The factual claim this makes needs to be sourced. If these areas "can still be seen", the page, or at least this talk page, could also make mention as to where those areas are. I have not noticed any evidence of such areas, but perhaps I do not know what to look for. MikeUMA (talk) 04:47, 9 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I've read something similar in History of Stratford or History of Trumbull (not sure which one) and will look it up. However I'm pretty sure the problem was with people pulling over on the side of the road, not in the median. Markvs88 (talk) 14:34, 18 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I've found the text, it looks like the original author let his imagination run a little wild. I've done an edit with a citation, but it's also found in "Images of America Trumbull", page 82. Markvs88 (talk) 19:49, 28 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The author should have said "beside" instead of "between" the northbound and southbound lanes. These picnic areas do still exist although they are deteriorated and access has been blocked. My Father and I stopped at many of these years ago when they were open. Most had benches, tables and even barbecue grills. You have to look off into the now wooded areas to find them. Some of the old asphalt access roads are still partially visible.Too Krazy (talk) 01:44, 20 October 2014 (UTC)[reply]

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