Merritt Parkway looking more brown than green?

NEW CANAAN — A stretch of brown landscape that should be green this time of year on the Merritt Parkway between New Canaan and Norwalk will improve after more construction in the area wraps up, according to a conservancy group.

The construction, which began this summer between Exit 37 in New Canaan and Exit 40A in Norwalk, includes safety improvements, bridge work and pavement reconstruction, according to the state Department of Transportation.

Officials with the Merritt Parkway Conservancy, a Stamfordbased nonprofit dedicated to stewardship of the parkway, alerted residents to the work recently, as the shoulders of the road had prompted the removal of some mature trees.

“The roadside plantings look pretty bad right now,” Executive Director Wes Haynes said in a statement. “But when the project is finished and the new plants are in, we’ll have a better, safer parkway looking as beautiful as its designers first intended.”

Officials said new canopy and understory trees will be planted next year once the shoulder regrading work has been completed on the parkway, which is also known as Route 15.

“As guardians of the flora and aesthetics of the Parkway, the conservancy wants everyone to understand what’s happening,” said Haynes. “We have been working closely with Connecticut DOT and contractors on this project, so rest assured we’re looking out for the parkway’s future.”

He said he wanted to assure residents that “it’s not as bad as it looks.”

Shannon King, deputy communications manager with the Department of Transportation, said in an email that planned safety improvements include adding four feet of pavement and a reinforced grass area to the roadway and replacing existing guide rails with steel-backed timber railing. There are also drainage improvements, including cross-slope corrections and resurfacing, to “ensure the roadway remains in a state of good repair.”

“(C)oncrete curbs and gutters will also be installed to provide additional roadway drainage and outline the edge of the road,” said King. “Upcoming construction work planned for the remainder of 2022 includes continued removal of invasive plant species, strategic clearing and thinning of roadside vegetation, and completing the initial roadway surface patching and resurfacing in preparation for cross-slope corrections.”

King noted that the department’s “landscape design team actively coordinates with various stakeholder groups” and maintenance staffers on “strategic planting and clearing, resulting in more manageable and less frequent maintenance.”

“CTDOT has been working collaboratively with partners like the Merritt Parkway Conservancy and will continue to do so through the completion of this project scheduled for fall 2024,” said King.

According to the DOT, workers have recently been clearing tree and brush impacted by the construction recently between Exit 37 and 39A, beginning on the northbound side.

The $55 million project was awarded earlier this year to Yonkers Construction. It is the last phase of an eight-part project begun 20 years ago to improve safety along the entire length of the Merritt. This phase is scheduled for completion in early 2024. It will widen the travel lanes eight feet in each direction with four feet of new paving bordered by four feet of stabilized shoulder for breakdowns.

Widening the roadway and shoulder requires the removal of some mature trees along the Merritt. The conservancy worked with the DOT to inspect the trees in the work zone and preserve the bucolic nature of the parkway.