Merritt cloverleaf draws fire

Nearly 150 people attended a Norwalk hearing last week at Silvermine School urging state officials to scrap the $124 million project to add cloverleaf ramps to link the Merritt Parkway to Route 7 and Main Avenue.

The Silvermine exit project has been in the works since the early 1990s with the goal to improve traffic flow and reduce congestion caused by recent office and commercial developments.

House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero Jr., R-Norwalk, sponsored the event and moderated the hearing with several Department of Transportation officials in attendance.

“If that cloverleaf gets accepted, you’re not going to recognize the neighborhood,” said Winthrop Baum, a Fairfield resident. “Where is the common sense here?”

Many residents blamed the Merritt Parkway Conservancy, which successfully challenged the original interchange design in federal court, arguing it would hurt the historic character of Route 15.

“Very vocally, we were told the Merritt Parkway is a gem, and we had to be extremely sensitive to it,” said Richard Armstrong, engineer for the Department of Transportation.

Though the cloverleaf was celebrated earlier in the year by a group of local and state officials, many residents felt the project was fast-tracked with their concerns and opinions left overlooked.

According to Cafero, he agrees that the Silvermine residents should have been consulted in talks between the Department of Transportation and the Merritt Parkway Conservancy.

Armstrong said the project was still in the approval process and the transportation department  was eager to receive public comment,. Final permits are not expected until 2011.

Armstrong also said the cloverleaf design had clear safety concerns and is not the ideal interchange design for the Silvermine exit. However, he also added the Department of Transportation believed safety issues were offset by the fact trucks are not allowed on the Merritt.

Many residents urged the Department of Transportation to contemplate another proposal, named 12A, a $169 million design that uses a different interchange plan.

“Choosing between these two plans is a no-brainer for me,” said resident Nancy Meany, indicating 12A was her choice.

Another public hearing on the interchange will be held by the Department of Transportation in City Hall in Norwalk on May 29th.