[HeadedWest]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Oh come on now, during off peak hours it is not that bad. For someone who has never been on it, and I have taken people from out of state there, it is scenic and attractive. People like the unusual bridges over the highway. The James Farm Road bridge, with its angel wings, is a particular favorite. Jay

I commuted on the Merritt for 15 years. Maybe 10 trips in that stretch of time there was an opportunity to view it as a scenic road.

[Raider111]

Originally Posted by BeyondtheHorizon

Yes you are right that it would definitely be a battle.

Scenic highway....lol The LAST place I would ever want to go on a scenic drive would be the Merritt. Maybe 60 years ago it was a nice place to go for a scenic drive through the countryside. Not anymore. It's now an ultra congested road rage infested suburban commuter highway. These people are stuck in the past.

The NIMBYers are a joke here. Don't think there's much you can do with 95 expansion, but there is plenty of room to expand The Merritt and bring it up to modern day standards. This is exactly what the Pres talked about tonight in regards to crumbling infrastructure. People here are going to cry over crumbling bridges.

[Henry10]

Originally Posted by Raider111

The NIMBYers are a joke here. Don't think there's much you can do with 95 expansion, but there is plenty of room to expand The Merritt and bring it up to modern day standards. This is exactly what the Pres talked about tonight in regards to crumbling infrastructure. People here are going to cry over crumbling bridges.

I understand the hurrah here, but I agree with Jay's reasons. So, Merritt is an immovable object, and not gonna happen. Nowadays, you can't expand a footpath without 10-20 year studies and several lawsuits.

[Raider111]

Originally Posted by Henry10

Nowadays, you can't expand a footpath without 10-20 year studies and several lawsuits.

Hopefully The Pres and his great new initiatives will change that

[East of the River]

This site has a good history on the Merritt and widening.

The Merritt Parkway

I think it's a non starter even if the Feds wanted to do it it would take years to navigate the Historic landmark status and Environmental studies. (On the new president we are a country of laws and the system is designed to make it very hard to remove laws or to circumvent them).

[allanny13]

Originally Posted by Raider111

The NIMBYers are a joke here. Don't think there's much you can do with 95 expansion, but there is plenty of room to expand The Merritt and bring it up to modern day standards. This is exactly what the Pres talked about tonight in regards to crumbling infrastructure. People here are going to cry over crumbling bridges.

It's a beautiful historic roadway that they have been modernizing within reasonable standards, it is not crumbling. 95 is an entirely different story, both in terms of infrastructure and historical/aesthetic standards.

[Raider111]

Originally Posted by allanny13

It's a beautiful historic roadway that they have been modernizing within reasonable standards, it is not crumbling. 95 is an entirely different story, both in terms of infrastructure and historical/aesthetic standards.

What's beautiful? the asphalt. Modernizing is not going to change the scenery.
But yeah agree, nothing will happen. We'll just continue along in having the worst commuting traffic in the hemisphere.

[Henry10]

Originally Posted by Raider111

What's beautiful? the asphalt. Modernizing is not going to change the scenery.
But yeah agree, nothing will happen. We'll just continue along in having the worst commuting traffic in the hemisphere.

Merritt, just like the Taconic and the Palisades was supposed to be a Sunday drive in the 1920s and 1930s in a Model T topping 12 mph.

It was not designed for commuter and mall traffic.

Being disappointed in the Merrick is like being angry why Sistine Chapel can't accommodate a Trump rally.

[allanny13]

Originally Posted by Raider111

What's beautiful? the asphalt. Modernizing is not going to change the scenery.
But yeah agree, nothing will happen. We'll just continue along in having the worst commuting traffic in the hemisphere.

The "country" setting and the unusual overpasses. Also nice that larger trucks can't utilize it. Making it look like 95 would in fact change the scenery quite a bit. Agreed also that it will never happen.

[BeyondtheHorizon]

Originally Posted by Raider111

What's beautiful? the asphalt. Modernizing is not going to change the scenery.
But yeah agree, nothing will happen. We'll just continue along in having the worst commuting traffic in the hemisphere.

I know. WHAT are these people talking about??? It's just bizarre. The meritt is not a scenic road. It's just some trees(which kill people every year on that road with the overhanging trees on the center median) and I find nothing attractive about some little dinky overpass bridges. It's a STRESSFUL road to drive when it's not jammed at Rush hour. It has people going high speeds on a road with stop signs to enter a highway merging so you can't enjoy it even if it was scenic. It's a MAJOR artery for traffic traversing the state, not a scenic byway.

This is a scenic road.

If you're going to go on a scenic drive in CT I'd recommend route 8 north of waterbury or backroads in litchfield county. or here's another 318 on near barkhamstead resevoir.