I first drove on the Merritt Parkway in 2019 and had no idea about all this until I drove on this. My friend and I were like "Woah, this is the fanciest highway ever". We joked that there were probably cops hiding that would shine a flashlight into your car to make sure you were well-dressed enough to use the road lol.
Haha on the contrary the Merritt is notorious for its lack of policing sic a few exits. But I wouldn’t be surprised if the cops patrolling those exits had their flashlights on
@@kazikian I wish we had 5mph increments in our speed limits here in the UK. The only time you'll ever see a speed limit ending in 5 is when it's literally 5mph in some car-park or something. Those are very rare though. And my car really doesn't want to go 5mph. But yeah, all our speed limits are in increments of 10. But I often feel like a 25, 35 or 45 limit would be sensible in many places.
The Parkways from Long Island, through NYC, and up into Connecticut are a special breed. I’ve ridden the Merritt many times. The interesting thing is how the rest areas get fuel. Some the trucks enter the parkway the exit before and leave the exit after. One of them has tanks only on one side of the parkway and pipes run to the pumps on the other side. One receives fuel deliveries from a side street off the parkway, and if I remember correctly, they back up the hill to behind the service area to where the fills are.
@@phillipbanes5484 Clearly you aren't a local. When locals say Long Island, they refer to Nassau and Suffolk Counties, which are not part of New York City proper. I have a hunch you're referring to Brooklyn and Queens, which are part of NYC, and while technically on the piece of land called Long Island, NOBODY in New York ever says Brooklyn and Queens are on Long Island.
The Post Road story is surprisingly relevant. Everyone complains about how when highways get to downtowns there's too much traffic. Maybe it's because there shouldn't be a highway there lol.
That's the complicated part about the collision between traffic engineering and urban planning. Planners are not wrong that we've done some terrible things to downtown areas. But some really underestimate the value and demand of long distance trips, which have to go someplace.
Urbanists trying to bring about nicer walkable places and folks who want more efficient fast traffic roads/highways should really be allies. Each certainly has a place and valuable function.
This is why I'm glad my small city has 3-lane one-way roads going around Main St to divert the highway traffic, kind of like a ring road. The road layout also discourages thru traffic on Main St. They also narrow one highway to 2 lane roads when they enter city limits except for a small section of stroad. Perfect balance between allowing a reasonable travel time through our city but still preserving our pleasant, walkable main street.
They want to rectify this around Hartford with the Hartford 400 plan, which hopefully will get funded. Opens up the entire downtown and restores the Bulkeley Bridge to local & pedestrian only.
My father would drive us from Long Island to Vermont for weekend ski trips when I was growing up in the 1970's and 80's. We'd take the Hutchison River Parkway up to 684 to 84, and then 91, getting off somewhere along the Hutch to avoid a 25 cent toll. He did this well into the 90's, long after the toll booths had been removed.
@@RoadGuyRob Yes, and somewhere along the bypass route you needed to make a U-turn, which was illegal, but there was someone - a dentist, I think - who had a horseshoe driveway on a corner lot just past where you would get back on. Poor guy had to put chains up at the end of his driveway to keep people from using it for that turn around.
@@RoadGuyRob Nothing like a scenic shunpike or two to save a few dollars. Common enough that there is a word for it dating back to the 1800s.... and the old routes are called "Shunpike Rd" long after the tolls disappeared.
The Merritt Parkway is a refreshing change of pace over the normal interstate experience. The on and off ramps are atypical if you're not used to driving in New England, though. You have get up to speed and merge fast on those approaches! Way different than the roads out west, that's for sure.
Agreed 💯. Underpowered cars and folks with zero sense of merging etiquette are a huge hazard. Some entrance ramps have newer decently-long acceleration ramps, but others still do not. Too many Parkway hotshots simply floor it and seize the right of way, letting drivers in both travel lanes brake and grit their teeth.
@@TimothyStuder Not disagreeing, but the *refusal* of most on-rampers to hold back slightly (when needed) to make a smooth merge is insane to me. Offenders see their task as PASSING existing cars in the right lane to force their way in.
The Pasadena Freeway, now officially again the Arroyo Seco Parkway, says hi with its 90 degree, 5 mph, on ramps. And the entrances to the lower deck of I-35 in Austin and some of the older highways in Texas are quite exciting.
He's definitely a fascinating figure who did some great and terrible things for the City of New York. Urban planners to see him as an absolute monster. And some of his ideas for other cities certainly were not great. But I also know he built some pretty solid parks and roads. A complicated figure.
Robert Moses built a dozen major bridges and 627 miles of parkways and roadways. The number of miles of road built by planners who succeeded Moses - 7.
I've never appreciated the art/nature of the Merritt Parkway the hundreds of times I've driven on it, I'll make sure to definitely take a better look next time! I just typically avoid Route 15 because so many Massachusetts/NY/NJ drivers are rerouted that way for through traffic and its just so congested all the time.
Imagine being so classist that you deliberately design a roadway of convenience to specifically exclude the lesser people. (edit: I'm speaking of the New York road project) Some HOA boards are envious of that kind of exclusionary principle.
Being a New Jersey driver myself, I want to take exception to your comment, but I know it's true 😂 I've been on the Merritt Parkway a few times and quite enjoyed it, but the NY and NJ drivers did make it less fun 😂
I lived in Queens from 1959 to 1972. I remember the Belt Parkway system. My Father would take us on trips to Long Island. This was before 495 was completed. I also remember taking rides with my grandma to Staten Island to visit her parents. Robert Moses and his parkway systems has its plus and minuses. True he didn't want commercial -- and buses on the parkway. Plus where the parkways went tore down and even divided neighborhoods.
The teacher makes the interest; the passion makes the teacher. We've all had bored, uninspired professors. It doesn't matter what such a man teaches, it will be boring. Then there's this breath of fresh air, RGR; who, I'm sure, could make anything interesting.
Ah, but this b-roll missed the joys of bumper-to-bumper traffic on the parkway at 8:20am every weekday. 😉 Seriously though thanks for the interesting history lesson! If you’re ever back in the area, a couple of the old toll booths are on display at a park in Stratford.
I remember a couple summers ago coming back to my grandparent's in NJ after a road trip that took me through NY, VT, and New Hampshire. My family took the Merritt through CT instead of 95, and while traffic was horrible (Friday afternoon in the NY Metro Area in the summer, not a great mix), One thing that stood out was all of the art-deco bridges. This video makes me appreciate this road more than I ever would have though, and I never really gave it too much thought until now
OMG I GO TO COLLEGE IN CT!! I CANT BELIEVE I MISSED THE ROAD GUY edit: i drive on the merritt ALL THE TIME to go to clinical locations and such. i had no idea it had such an amazing history! I did always love those bridges though.
As a New Yorker, I take the Merritt whenever I go through Connecticut - it is a true work of art! Thank you for the outstanding video, I hope you will consider doing one on Long Island’s parkway system next!
Glad to see someone finally appreciate and explain the Merritt Parkway and the parkways systems. In the Midwest no one believes me when I describe them. I always heard growing up in CT that every single bridge had a different design, no two were the same. Until modern intersections were built, like at Routes 7, 25, and 8. It's also supposed to have the widest right of way of any road - 300 feet wide in total with the road taking up 100 feet. I believe the road was declared to be a National Historic Site, which prevents future widening. They also had picnic areas along the route in some places, which were designed like mini rest areas. These are long gone but you can still see some remnants of asphalt and wood guard rail posts in the woods... One was in Orange or Milford I believe. You can also call us Nutmeggers instead of Connecticuters. Very rare to hear that term anymore.
The quality of your videos is seriously top notch. All the work you put into these really shines through and I love it. So glad you're able to keep making them.
Thank you for making this video. My dad always said his uncles and aunts would tell him to take the merrit parkway to avoid I-95. When traveling from NJ to New England. It's such a beautiful drive and surprisingly scenic for a highway. Love your videos ❤
Ever since I first traveled the Merritt back in 1981 as a kid in the family car, I’ve been in love with this road. Even to this day, when I drive toward that area from the Cuomo Bridge, I get off 287 at the Hutch and take the Merritt for its full length. It’s my fave freeway, just beating out I-86/Rte 17 in NY
@@zoicon5 - I'm originally from Cape Cod. I'm used to it. Also, I actually tend to call the whole stretch from I-90 in PA to the Thruway "I-86" even though not all of it is officially an interstate yet. I've actually been living in MN for the last 25 years, but every once in a blue moon I come back east. :)
I love the Merritt parkway but some on ramps are scary. It’s quite literally a stop sign 10 feet away from the road, without a merge lane. Fortunately most aren’t like that
When I moved from California to New England, that parkway was one of the first things I noticed. Freeways in New England are mostly slow, narrow and frustrating, but the prettiness of that one makes it as much of a pleasure as the scenery of I-8 or US-395 or any highway in California.
Even in California you have vastly different freeways - compare I-5 as it cuts through San Diego in this concrete snakebutt vs 163 not even any distance away that meanders through Balboa Park in a jungle
Those 'roads leading to the Golden Gate Bridge' is known as 101 here in Marin. It is a very scenic drive in this section. It never occurred to me that that might be because it was built so early when people still cared about making freeways scenic
Just south of San Francisco is Daly City. When I-280 from SF to San Jose opened in the early 1960s, a sign was posted somewhere on it in Daly City that read "World's Most Beautiful Freeway." According to Wikipedia this sign still exists, but I honestly don't remember seeing it for decades.
@@phillipbanes5484 The approach to the Golden Gate Bridge goes through Golden Gate Park so... Out west a parkway is normally an at-grade street with all the traffic lights synchronized. I wouldn't expect it to be freeway or highway like.
My first memory of driving the Merrit Parkway was when my stepmom accidentally took a Uhaul truck onto it, and basically had to split the lanes just to fit under the bridges lol
0:20 Reminds me how beautiful a Highway can be. Like California 163 begins in San Diego winding through Balboa Park. Only a few miles worth before typical California takes over😅
Hey Road Guy Rob! You mentioned the attempt to get trucks through areas of congestion with less congestion. As a truck driver of 47 years could you try to explain to us why, when going through cities that have three lanes in one direction, trucks aren’t allowed to use the left lane. The trucks are simply trying to get through this city and instead of being in the left lane where they could flow right through, and everyone else could do their entrance and exits freely, the powers that be insist that the trucks are not allowed in the left lane and thus they are always interacting with traffic getting on and off the highway. It causes more accidents. It causes more congestion. Maybe you could get us the answer to this universal problem! Please?
That was a really cool history lesson! Thanks for doing this! I'm an Arizona desert rat and haven't driven any further east than New Mexico and Colorado. If I'm ever out there, I'll have to check out that parkway!
As someone who lived 5 years on bronx blvd right off the bronx river parkway off the gun hill road exit. I would walk along the river the newer park even got some recent upgrades in 2021 and walking to the pedestrian bridge to the hidden exit of Rockefeller's and jp Morgan's and Carnegies botanical garden. This Video was so well done thank you so much specially someone who grew up in broward county where i95 south is the madmax fury road it really put the hutch into perspective really well
In Massachusetts, the beautiful old bridges with cut stone were "updated" with not-so beautiful concrete along Route 128/I-95 from Westwood to Waltham. Very sad to lose the aesthetically pleasing bridges.
I remember those as a kid in the 70s, which was around the time they started replacing them. I was too young to appreciate what was being lost. Route 9 and Route 2 had the stone too. Route 9 still has a couple in the Wellesley Hills area, like where Weston Road and Cliff Road pass under Route 9, but that's about it.
Beautiful architecture on this Parkway - So in Arizona you will find so many over/under passes that are architecturally different including painted concrete colors. In contrast Oregon has unpainted modern but zeroxed architecture . Do some states like Arizona have legislative requirements for beauty in their designs? If so which states do? ON Interstate 19 in Tucson you will find a beautiful deep blue on slate colored concrete walls and bridges, on I10 you will find history on the bridges, in Oro Valley it's historical ranch branding iron designs, etc.
Texas does this on its newer highway interchanges and Interstate rebuilds. Over/underpasses are often adorned with locally relevant motifs, and urban through projects have a common theme through a city.
Oregon has a lot of copy/pasted bridge designs, but since the 80s, there has been a law that a percentage of the cost of public building projects must be spent on art installations, and that's been expanded to include road projects, so you will see art on the newer road works.
Oklahoma does this in some areas. Many new bridges on interstates have decor on them such as the emblem on the state flag. Some retaining walls along the side of interstates have some artwork in earthy tones.
My favorite is the Saw Mill River Parkway. Quite an exciting drive, at times. This was back before I-91 and I-84 actually had an interchange in Hartford and the original Tappan Zee Bridge was still in use.
Evidently, because the state of New York decided to call the Bronx River parkway a parkway, because it was a park, but it also happened to have a road next to it that they named after the park, so that's why we drive on parkways? Honestly, it's a good question.
I've always wondered why the designers of the Interstate highways back in the 1950s repeated the mistake of the post roads by running them through or next to the downtown cores of most major cities. They should have bypassed all major cities and had spurs into them. Why did they think that cross-country truck and auto traffic needed to go downtown in all major metros on the way?
in many cases, it's the same as the cause of Stroads. the road builders build their road outside of town, and the town builders expand the town around the road. in some cases, it's because the town was built around the only route a road can logistically follow. in my own town, there is just no route a bypass could take without devastating a significant part of the terrain.
@@stevengordon3271 no. in other words, the only land that is horizontal is where the original road went. I mean sure, they would rather buy cheap real estate, but it's a lot more expensive to build a road if you don't have any level ground.
The Interstate System is part of the National Defense structures of the United States. It has to be that way, because it's not constitutional for the Federal Government to build roads. So, technically, commerce is a byproduct of the interstate system. It's primary justification is national defense and nuclear preparedness. That includes evacuating cities in case of nuclear attack.
Some cities were afraid that with the automobile becoming the way to get around, you'd either accommodate the car or watch your city die to its suburbs.
I *love* the Merritt Parkway. When I used to semi-regularly drive between Boston and Philadelphia, I'd take this road even if the navigation app said I-95 was quicker. There really is nothing like it.
Native plants are a staple of long stretches of interstate in Colorado and Wyoming... but it looks less structurally impressive since the interstates are largely through grassland lol.
I was scrolling through TH-cam and I was like “that looks like the signs on the Merritt.” I grew up in CT and drive back from Florida every year. I always take the Merritt to avoid 95 through NYC. Lots of cool info!
I haven't had to regularly drive on the merritt in a while, but it was always, and still is, my favorite parkway or highway. Although the taconic is also pretty nice, and made for the scenery. Also the 55 mph is kind of funny because everybody drives at least 80 down the merit
It's a little bit of a culture shock to then hear about like Australia where they are super strict about speed limits, and it's generally accepted by the public.
Great to learn more about this! It's fascinating to me that, with all these congestion and freight problems, the railroad industry didn't swoop in and compete with the new personal vehicle industry. Need to get a lot of people quickly bypassing the Post Road between NYC and Boston without having to buy up a ton of land? Build a separated-grade railroad and crank its capacity. Need to ship things and travel as quickly as possible from Pittsburg to Philadelphia? Trains, baby. Not everyone could afford a car, and the railroads should have lobbied the government for funding under that argument. Any history peeps here to explain why this didn't happen?
The railroads were the most heavily regulated and publicly scrutinized corporations in the country at the time. They would not have gotten far lobbying the government for subsidies. The railroads essentially had their hands tied behind their backs competing an unregulated and highly subsidized trucking industry. Once the Depression hit, there was no chance that any railroad would have the funds for major upgrades.
So glad you could visit near my birthplace in Connecticut. The Merritt is a treasure and I'm hoping I can finally drive on it when I go back up there from Florida.
I have lived next to the Merritt my whole life, the history has always fascinated me, I'm always grateful of the people who take the time to photographically document history. I've seen that book around stores in CT, maybe it's about time to pick one up. Thanks for the great video, as always, Rob!
I live in NYC and my parents live in Hartford, CT. When I go visiting, I always use the parkways. Especially Merritt because it’s a beautiful parkway especially in the fall. The bridges that cross the parkway are beautiful too. I also love that it’s just car traffic. No trucks or buses.
Thanks for covering this! As a fellow CT resident coming from the east side of the state, we have to use the Merritt Parkway almost exclusively if we want to get through New York City to get to the George Washington Bridge. 95 is usually grid locked by then.
"...and that's only possible thanks to you and your generous contribution at Patreon... where I eat the profits... to stay alive" I'm just imagining Rob eating dollar bills out of a bag while Netflix and chilling bahshshshs 😭😭
In the early 90s during the last days of the tolls, lots of people figured out that the Merritt Parkway token ($0.25) fit nicely into the NYC subway token ($1.35) slot!
Took that highway down from Meriden to New Haven and Bridgeport for years. My favorite parts are when you get on going south from 91, you can see Sleeping Giant State Park in the distance; going over the Housatonic in Milford; and when you get off 15 to get onto 91, it drops you into this valley where you can see Powder Ridge & Mount Higby.
My Father took this road twice while were visiting family in the Conn / NYC metro area when I was young, and even better, it was after a snow event with the snow on the trees still mid-day. Truly a beautiful drive that was.
When TH-cam forces their ads down your throat, here's a neat little trick; mute your device, and look away for 15 seconds. They can shove their unskippable ads down your throat, but they can't make you to watch or listen to them.
The part about no commercial trucks is exactly what we need on all roads everywhere. I'd love to see something like a 25,000lb gvw max limit across the entire USA. If a big box store or a factory wants heavy cargo transport they need to fund a 100% separate road network (or railway) to do it. Then imagine how quickly passenger cars could transport people if instead of building these ridiculous huge roads to handle these monster semi trucks, we built dedicated small passenger vehicle only freeway like this parkway with strictly enforced 80mph minimum speed limits. No pickups nor SUVs I mean small cars and motorcycles only.
The reason you only see on-highway service plazas in the northeast is that the Interstate Highways Act banned them, to protect business interests in the towns being bypassed by the new roads. Existing ones on toll roads brought into the Interstate system were grandfathered in, in such a way that updates and expansions could be done so long as there was *some sort* of hot food and gas service plaza operating on the site before 1955.
Anybody who ever drove between Seattle and Ellensburg, prior to 1978, and got caught in Labor Day or Memorial Day traffic will remember this. There was still a solitary traffic light in North Bend (30 miles East of Seattle). This stop light had miles long traffic backups that took literally hours to make it through. Otherwise the whole trip was new freeway. Zoom zoom. It added that time to every single vacationer's trip. No shoulder driving either, WSP (wash. state patrol) is watching dutifully. The light was barely regulated in traffic's favor either. North Bend down town didn't mind the business it brought. Hellish hot summer days at 5 mph. All for a single stop light.
Amazing content as always, really happy to see this one as I did a recent work trip in Connecticut for the first time and was remarking to myself how different this road was than any other I’ve traveled and I couldn’t articulate it and then boom this video hits my feed! Love it, thank you!
This is beautiful. This is how I think many people would love to see America. Something as simple as a road that repects the landscape and nature. Bridges that celebrate themselves by their beauty.
The first time I went down the Merritt Parkway I was dumbstruck. The bridges and sides are gorgeous. And the high speeds, blind hills and turns with no shoulders or enforcement was a white knuckle ride. AND A TUNNEL! It's a ride. Advice: Stay in the left lane when approaching an onramp. You might have to travel faster than you'd like, but onramp traffic joins the first lane at half speed.
I-35E from downtown St Paul to the Mississippi River is actually quite pretty as well. I drive it a lot and it's noticeable how much more pleasant it is (traffic jams notwithstanding) compared to other freeway corridors in the area. A big factor is the way it follows the geography of the landscape it goes through, and the way it incorporates trees and other landscaping
Definitely a location I would love to visit someday. Up north of the border in BC, Canada is the Coquihalla - it's almost a hybrid of the Merritt Parkway and the more basic Interstates. Down towards the coast approaching Vancouver it is an absolutely gorgeous drive. Coincidentally, it goes past Merritt, BC.
Car broke down on this freeway and due to the short bridges it took hours to find a tow truck. My insurance gave up trying to find a tow truck. I kept calling around and it was the same everywhere, no towing on the highway. Finally I found a guy who could tow and it was only because he happened to be between bridges and was able to take it to this little shop that was around and that was able to make the car run again. It was a nightmare.
ive been watching your vids for a couple years now, rob. always love them, and i absolutely love the parkways in the northeast. every time i drive up the taconic state parkway in ny (which gets a lot of hate from a lot of people) i can't help but smile at the beauty in every direction :)
I preferred the Taconic over the NYS Thruway. At least in the summer, one way you knew you drove the Taconic was to look at your windshield. A lot more bugs in your windshield with the Taconic. Also at night, you had to be careful about deer on the Taconic. But you save a lot of money with tolls.
I got this from ChatGPT regarding the zig zag edges on the Connecticut signs… Connecticut road signs (and some other states in the United States) have zig-zag or "sawtooth" edges as a safety feature. These zig-zag edges are designed to provide a more distinct and noticeable border around the signs. The serrated or jagged edges help increase the visibility of the signs, especially during inclement weather conditions or at night when headlights from vehicles can reflect off the edge, making them more visible to drivers. The enhanced visibility of the road signs can contribute to safer driving conditions, reducing the risk of accidents and improving overall road safety. This feature is one of the many measures taken to enhance the effectiveness of road signs and improve the safety of motorists and pedestrians.
I first drove on the Merritt Parkway in 2019 and had no idea about all this until I drove on this. My friend and I were like "Woah, this is the fanciest highway ever". We joked that there were probably cops hiding that would shine a flashlight into your car to make sure you were well-dressed enough to use the road lol.
Haha on the contrary the Merritt is notorious for its lack of policing sic a few exits. But I wouldn’t be surprised if the cops patrolling those exits had their flashlights on
@@kittycomentator282that’s why my top speed records are all on this parkway. The moment you enter NY tho, better drive 55!
@@kazikian I wish we had 5mph increments in our speed limits here in the UK. The only time you'll ever see a speed limit ending in 5 is when it's literally 5mph in some car-park or something. Those are very rare though. And my car really doesn't want to go 5mph. But yeah, all our speed limits are in increments of 10. But I often feel like a 25, 35 or 45 limit would be sensible in many places.
@@PiousMoltar Aren't speed limits in the UK in kilometers per hour (kph)?
@@WW-hr1hd No, UK does use mph.
The Parkways from Long Island, through NYC, and up into Connecticut are a special breed. I’ve ridden the Merritt many times. The interesting thing is how the rest areas get fuel. Some the trucks enter the parkway the exit before and leave the exit after. One of them has tanks only on one side of the parkway and pipes run to the pumps on the other side. One receives fuel deliveries from a side street off the parkway, and if I remember correctly, they back up the hill to behind the service area to where the fills are.
I never knew about the fuel but recently I figured out a secret entrance/exit to the parkway from one the rest stops
Taconic Parkway as well.
@@phillipbanes5484 Clearly you aren't a local. When locals say Long Island, they refer to Nassau and Suffolk Counties, which are not part of New York City proper. I have a hunch you're referring to Brooklyn and Queens, which are part of NYC, and while technically on the piece of land called Long Island, NOBODY in New York ever says Brooklyn and Queens are on Long Island.
@@phillipbanes5484 people like you, sir, are one of the many reasons I moved away.
@@holidaytrackerI know which one you're talking about.
The Post Road story is surprisingly relevant. Everyone complains about how when highways get to downtowns there's too much traffic. Maybe it's because there shouldn't be a highway there lol.
That's the complicated part about the collision between traffic engineering and urban planning. Planners are not wrong that we've done some terrible things to downtown areas. But some really underestimate the value and demand of long distance trips, which have to go someplace.
Urbanists trying to bring about nicer walkable places and folks who want more efficient fast traffic roads/highways should really be allies. Each certainly has a place and valuable function.
True but we don't need as much capacity for longer distance trips when there are viable, reasonable alternatives.
This is why I'm glad my small city has 3-lane one-way roads going around Main St to divert the highway traffic, kind of like a ring road. The road layout also discourages thru traffic on Main St. They also narrow one highway to 2 lane roads when they enter city limits except for a small section of stroad. Perfect balance between allowing a reasonable travel time through our city but still preserving our pleasant, walkable main street.
They want to rectify this around Hartford with the Hartford 400 plan, which hopefully will get funded. Opens up the entire downtown and restores the Bulkeley Bridge to local & pedestrian only.
My father would drive us from Long Island to Vermont for weekend ski trips when I was growing up in the 1970's and 80's. We'd take the Hutchison River Parkway up to 684 to 84, and then 91, getting off somewhere along the Hutch to avoid a 25 cent toll. He did this well into the 90's, long after the toll booths had been removed.
So, the newspaper archive wasn't wrong! People really would wind around through the countryside to get around those toll booths. 😆
@@RoadGuyRob Yes, and somewhere along the bypass route you needed to make a U-turn, which was illegal, but there was someone - a dentist, I think - who had a horseshoe driveway on a corner lot just past where you would get back on. Poor guy had to put chains up at the end of his driveway to keep people from using it for that turn around.
@@RoadGuyRob Nothing like a scenic shunpike or two to save a few dollars. Common enough that there is a word for it dating back to the 1800s.... and the old routes are called "Shunpike Rd" long after the tolls disappeared.
The Merritt Parkway is a refreshing change of pace over the normal interstate experience. The on and off ramps are atypical if you're not used to driving in New England, though. You have get up to speed and merge fast on those approaches! Way different than the roads out west, that's for sure.
Agreed 💯. Underpowered cars and folks with zero sense of merging etiquette are a huge hazard. Some entrance ramps have newer decently-long acceleration ramps, but others still do not.
Too many Parkway hotshots simply floor it and seize the right of way, letting drivers in both travel lanes brake and grit their teeth.
Yep if you're in New England we expect you to merge going at least 60. If you're too slow, good luck merging.
@@TimothyStuder Not disagreeing, but the *refusal* of most on-rampers to hold back slightly (when needed) to make a smooth merge is insane to me.
Offenders see their task as PASSING existing cars in the right lane to force their way in.
@@TimothyStuder I'm in Texas and I merge at fucking 85 in some situations, it's not just you bruv
The Pasadena Freeway, now officially again the Arroyo Seco Parkway, says hi with its 90 degree, 5 mph, on ramps. And the entrances to the lower deck of I-35 in Austin and some of the older highways in Texas are quite exciting.
I've been on the Merritt Parkway half a dozen times. It's a really nice drive.
My first time driving it was at night, with some rain. That was *not fun*
People drive like bozos, not a fan
We need a deeper dive into Robert Moses and his impact on the highway system as a whole
He's definitely a fascinating figure who did some great and terrible things for the City of New York.
Urban planners to see him as an absolute monster. And some of his ideas for other cities certainly were not great. But I also know he built some pretty solid parks and roads. A complicated figure.
Robert Moses built a dozen major bridges and 627 miles of parkways and roadways. The number of miles of road built by planners who succeeded Moses - 7.
It's been said Moses took the NYC subway system originally was the best subway system and made it the worst subway system.
I've never appreciated the art/nature of the Merritt Parkway the hundreds of times I've driven on it, I'll make sure to definitely take a better look next time!
I just typically avoid Route 15 because so many Massachusetts/NY/NJ drivers are rerouted that way for through traffic and its just so congested all the time.
Imagine being so classist that you deliberately design a roadway of convenience to specifically exclude the lesser people.
(edit: I'm speaking of the New York road project)
Some HOA boards are envious of that kind of exclusionary principle.
Being a New Jersey driver myself, I want to take exception to your comment, but I know it's true 😂
I've been on the Merritt Parkway a few times and quite enjoyed it, but the NY and NJ drivers did make it less fun 😂
@@MonkeyJedi99 I mean that was the 1930s/40s/50s, when racism was kind of a package deal with new york...
The Merritt is the fastest way between NJ/NYC and Boston. Until it isn't, which is... usually only once you're already on it.
i remember driving to Boston once during covid and the merritt was EMPTY it was surreal
I lived in Queens from 1959 to 1972. I remember the Belt Parkway system. My Father would take us on trips to Long Island. This was before 495 was completed. I also remember taking rides with my grandma to Staten Island to visit her parents. Robert Moses and his parkway systems has its plus and minuses. True he didn't want commercial -- and buses on the parkway. Plus where the parkways went tore down and even divided neighborhoods.
My interest in road infrastructure is nearly zero, and yet when Rob posts a video I watch it, and am interested in the content.
Wow, thank you! I'm so happy to hear that 👍
The teacher makes the interest; the passion makes the teacher. We've all had bored, uninspired professors. It doesn't matter what such a man teaches, it will be boring. Then there's this breath of fresh air, RGR; who, I'm sure, could make anything interesting.
Ah, but this b-roll missed the joys of bumper-to-bumper traffic on the parkway at 8:20am every weekday. 😉 Seriously though thanks for the interesting history lesson! If you’re ever back in the area, a couple of the old toll booths are on display at a park in Stratford.
Yeah, I found out about the toll booths after I caught my plane back west. Would love to have filmed those!
Thank you Rob for blessing us with yet another masterpiece, keep it up man we will be here for it
Will do!
"Out of my way, New York couch coming through!" 😂😂
I can't do accents. So I had to watch several Brooklyn accent TH-cam videos to tape that. Glad you enjoyed it!
That was so good tho
I remember a couple summers ago coming back to my grandparent's in NJ after a road trip that took me through NY, VT, and New Hampshire. My family took the Merritt through CT instead of 95, and while traffic was horrible (Friday afternoon in the NY Metro Area in the summer, not a great mix), One thing that stood out was all of the art-deco bridges. This video makes me appreciate this road more than I ever would have though, and I never really gave it too much thought until now
You’re telling me I’ve been driving on the first and prettiest freeway in America and I DIDNT KNOW?!? Now I appreciate the merit much, much more.
OMG I GO TO COLLEGE IN CT!! I CANT BELIEVE I MISSED THE ROAD GUY
edit: i drive on the merritt ALL THE TIME to go to clinical locations and such. i had no idea it had such an amazing history! I did always love those bridges though.
I caught covid on that trip, so it was probably a good time to miss me lol
It's become my guilty pleasure to sit in my car eating a hamburger and watching your videos
I do that too! LOL
As a New Yorker, I take the Merritt whenever I go through Connecticut - it is a true work of art! Thank you for the outstanding video, I hope you will consider doing one on Long Island’s parkway system next!
Glad to see someone finally appreciate and explain the Merritt Parkway and the parkways systems. In the Midwest no one believes me when I describe them. I always heard growing up in CT that every single bridge had a different design, no two were the same. Until modern intersections were built, like at Routes 7, 25, and 8. It's also supposed to have the widest right of way of any road - 300 feet wide in total with the road taking up 100 feet. I believe the road was declared to be a National Historic Site, which prevents future widening.
They also had picnic areas along the route in some places, which were designed like mini rest areas. These are long gone but you can still see some remnants of asphalt and wood guard rail posts in the woods... One was in Orange or Milford I believe.
You can also call us Nutmeggers instead of Connecticuters. Very rare to hear that term anymore.
Shortly after The interchange opened up I got rear ended well trying to merge northbound on to the parkway...
This is my area and I love the Merritt (except for the traffic). Thanks for the interesting history lesson.
The quality of your videos is seriously top notch. All the work you put into these really shines through and I love it. So glad you're able to keep making them.
Thank you for making this video. My dad always said his uncles and aunts would tell him to take the merrit parkway to avoid I-95. When traveling from NJ to New England. It's such a beautiful drive and surprisingly scenic for a highway. Love your videos ❤
Just subscribed!!!
Ever since I first traveled the Merritt back in 1981 as a kid in the family car, I’ve been in love with this road. Even to this day, when I drive toward that area from the Cuomo Bridge, I get off 287 at the Hutch and take the Merritt for its full length.
It’s my fave freeway, just beating out I-86/Rte 17 in NY
I love 17. The Merritt is okay if your idea of a good time is being tailgated by Audis and BMWs.
@@zoicon5 - I'm originally from Cape Cod. I'm used to it.
Also, I actually tend to call the whole stretch from I-90 in PA to the Thruway "I-86" even though not all of it is officially an interstate yet.
I've actually been living in MN for the last 25 years, but every once in a blue moon I come back east. :)
Tappan Zee bridge! Cuomo...blech
@@intrepidfox37 - Um... the TZ was demolished. 🤔
I love the Merritt parkway but some on ramps are scary. It’s quite literally a stop sign 10 feet away from the road, without a merge lane. Fortunately most aren’t like that
When I moved from California to New England, that parkway was one of the first things I noticed. Freeways in New England are mostly slow, narrow and frustrating, but the prettiness of that one makes it as much of a pleasure as the scenery of I-8 or US-395 or any highway in California.
Even in California you have vastly different freeways - compare I-5 as it cuts through San Diego in this concrete snakebutt vs 163 not even any distance away that meanders through Balboa Park in a jungle
Those 'roads leading to the Golden Gate Bridge' is known as 101 here in Marin. It is a very scenic drive in this section. It never occurred to me that that might be because it was built so early when people still cared about making freeways scenic
Just south of San Francisco is Daly City. When I-280 from SF to San Jose opened in the early 1960s, a sign was posted somewhere on it in Daly City that read "World's Most Beautiful Freeway." According to Wikipedia this sign still exists, but I honestly don't remember seeing it for decades.
@@phillipbanes5484 The approach to the Golden Gate Bridge goes through Golden Gate Park so...
Out west a parkway is normally an at-grade street with all the traffic lights synchronized. I wouldn't expect it to be freeway or highway like.
My first memory of driving the Merrit Parkway was when my stepmom accidentally took a Uhaul truck onto it, and basically had to split the lanes just to fit under the bridges lol
0:20 Reminds me how beautiful a Highway can be. Like California 163 begins in San Diego winding through Balboa Park. Only a few miles worth before typical California takes over😅
Oh my gosh, yes! I'd love to learn more about the history of that freeway.
Hey Road Guy Rob! You mentioned the attempt to get trucks through areas of congestion with less congestion. As a truck driver of 47 years could you try to explain to us why, when going through cities that have three lanes in one direction, trucks aren’t allowed to use the left lane. The trucks are simply trying to get through this city and instead of being in the left lane where they could flow right through, and everyone else could do their entrance and exits freely, the powers that be insist that the trucks are not allowed in the left lane and thus they are always interacting with traffic getting on and off the highway. It causes more accidents. It causes more congestion. Maybe you could get us the answer to this universal problem! Please?
That was a really cool history lesson! Thanks for doing this! I'm an Arizona desert rat and haven't driven any further east than New Mexico and Colorado. If I'm ever out there, I'll have to check out that parkway!
As someone who lived 5 years on bronx blvd right off the bronx river parkway off the gun hill road exit. I would walk along the river the newer park even got some recent upgrades in 2021 and walking to the pedestrian bridge to the hidden exit of Rockefeller's and jp Morgan's and Carnegies botanical garden. This Video was so well done thank you so much specially someone who grew up in broward county where i95 south is the madmax fury road it really put the hutch into perspective really well
In Massachusetts, the beautiful old bridges with cut stone were "updated" with not-so beautiful concrete along Route 128/I-95 from Westwood to Waltham. Very sad to lose the aesthetically pleasing bridges.
I remember those as a kid in the 70s, which was around the time they started replacing them. I was too young to appreciate what was being lost. Route 9 and Route 2 had the stone too. Route 9 still has a couple in the Wellesley Hills area, like where Weston Road and Cliff Road pass under Route 9, but that's about it.
Beautiful architecture on this Parkway - So in Arizona you will find so many over/under passes that are architecturally different including painted concrete colors. In contrast Oregon has unpainted modern but zeroxed architecture . Do some states like Arizona have legislative requirements for beauty in their designs? If so which states do? ON Interstate 19 in Tucson you will find a beautiful deep blue on slate colored concrete walls and bridges, on I10 you will find history on the bridges, in Oro Valley it's historical ranch branding iron designs, etc.
Texas does this on its newer highway interchanges and Interstate rebuilds. Over/underpasses are often adorned with locally relevant motifs, and urban through projects have a common theme through a city.
Oregon has a lot of copy/pasted bridge designs, but since the 80s, there has been a law that a percentage of the cost of public building projects must be spent on art installations, and that's been expanded to include road projects, so you will see art on the newer road works.
Oklahoma does this in some areas. Many new bridges on interstates have decor on them such as the emblem on the state flag. Some retaining walls along the side of interstates have some artwork in earthy tones.
it's 55mph speed limit but the REAL speed limit is 80
You mean 15 with how bad traffic can get lmao
I can validate this hahaha
Nah not approved
My favorite is the Saw Mill River Parkway. Quite an exciting drive, at times. This was back before I-91 and I-84 actually had an interchange in Hartford and the original Tappan Zee Bridge was still in use.
Why do we drive on a parkway and park on a driveway? Love your videos. :)
Evidently, because the state of New York decided to call the Bronx River parkway a parkway, because it was a park, but it also happened to have a road next to it that they named after the park, so that's why we drive on parkways?
Honestly, it's a good question.
To keep standup comedians employed.
I've always wondered why the designers of the Interstate highways back in the 1950s repeated the mistake of the post roads by running them through or next to the downtown cores of most major cities. They should have bypassed all major cities and had spurs into them. Why did they think that cross-country truck and auto traffic needed to go downtown in all major metros on the way?
in many cases, it's the same as the cause of Stroads. the road builders build their road outside of town, and the town builders expand the town around the road. in some cases, it's because the town was built around the only route a road can logistically follow. in my own town, there is just no route a bypass could take without devastating a significant part of the terrain.
@@kenbrown2808 In other words, cheap land with slums and warehouses were downtown.
@@stevengordon3271 no. in other words, the only land that is horizontal is where the original road went. I mean sure, they would rather buy cheap real estate, but it's a lot more expensive to build a road if you don't have any level ground.
The Interstate System is part of the National Defense structures of the United States. It has to be that way, because it's not constitutional for the Federal Government to build roads. So, technically, commerce is a byproduct of the interstate system. It's primary justification is national defense and nuclear preparedness. That includes evacuating cities in case of nuclear attack.
Some cities were afraid that with the automobile becoming the way to get around, you'd either accommodate the car or watch your city die to its suburbs.
I *love* the Merritt Parkway. When I used to semi-regularly drive between Boston and Philadelphia, I'd take this road even if the navigation app said I-95 was quicker. There really is nothing like it.
Is there any chance for a NJ jughandle video in the near future (since you seem to have gone to the east coast to film anyway)?
Yes. Next time I go back east I definitely will.
@@RoadGuyRob Suburban Detroit has a very similar concept, as I was surprised to find
As much as I love doing this drive, every time I see a a CT license plate I keep some distance 😂 truly unpredictable drivers.
The parkways are a treat, especially in fall I will almost always drive the Taconic to New York instead of the thruway
Native plants are a staple of long stretches of interstate in Colorado and Wyoming... but it looks less structurally impressive since the interstates are largely through grassland lol.
THE KING THE LEGEND IS BACK! ROAD GUY ROB! 🎉 We missed ya! 😊
I was scrolling through TH-cam and I was like “that looks like the signs on the Merritt.” I grew up in CT and drive back from Florida every year. I always take the Merritt to avoid 95 through NYC. Lots of cool info!
I haven't had to regularly drive on the merritt in a while, but it was always, and still is, my favorite parkway or highway. Although the taconic is also pretty nice, and made for the scenery. Also the 55 mph is kind of funny because everybody drives at least 80 down the merit
(Admission) As did I. It's actually kind of fun to drive at higher speed.
Side note, I thought Californians drove fast. And then I visited Boston.
It's a little bit of a culture shock to then hear about like Australia where they are super strict about speed limits, and it's generally accepted by the public.
Awesome video, love the history!
Great to learn more about this! It's fascinating to me that, with all these congestion and freight problems, the railroad industry didn't swoop in and compete with the new personal vehicle industry. Need to get a lot of people quickly bypassing the Post Road between NYC and Boston without having to buy up a ton of land? Build a separated-grade railroad and crank its capacity. Need to ship things and travel as quickly as possible from Pittsburg to Philadelphia? Trains, baby. Not everyone could afford a car, and the railroads should have lobbied the government for funding under that argument. Any history peeps here to explain why this didn't happen?
maybe cos they didn't bother?
The railroads were the most heavily regulated and publicly scrutinized corporations in the country at the time. They would not have gotten far lobbying the government for subsidies. The railroads essentially had their hands tied behind their backs competing an unregulated and highly subsidized trucking industry. Once the Depression hit, there was no chance that any railroad would have the funds for major upgrades.
I want to congratulate Road Guy Rob. For continually great videos that met my niche for interstates and roads
Well done. Great video.
So glad you could visit near my birthplace in Connecticut. The Merritt is a treasure and I'm hoping I can finally drive on it when I go back up there from Florida.
I have lived next to the Merritt my whole life, the history has always fascinated me, I'm always grateful of the people who take the time to photographically document history. I've seen that book around stores in CT, maybe it's about time to pick one up. Thanks for the great video, as always, Rob!
This is one of the only transportation planning channel that doesn’t browbeat viewers about how evil cars are.
Cars are machines. They’re not capable of being “evil.”
I live in NYC and my parents live in Hartford, CT. When I go visiting, I always use the parkways. Especially Merritt because it’s a beautiful parkway especially in the fall. The bridges that cross the parkway are beautiful too. I also love that it’s just car traffic. No trucks or buses.
As is tradition I like and comment every Road Guy Rob video to help him with the algorithm.
So exciting to see an east coast video from you! Roads really are different here than out west in really interesting ways.
Thanks for covering this! As a fellow CT resident coming from the east side of the state, we have to use the Merritt Parkway almost exclusively if we want to get through New York City to get to the George Washington Bridge. 95 is usually grid locked by then.
"...and that's only possible thanks to you and your generous contribution at Patreon... where I eat the profits... to stay alive"
I'm just imagining Rob eating dollar bills out of a bag while Netflix and chilling bahshshshs 😭😭
I turn them into Del Taco first. 😅 🌮
As a Connecticut resident I was so excited to see you made this video!
16:38 that bicyclist behind the camera car is a legend goddam
Wow, the production quality of this video is top-notch. Great job!
In the early 90s during the last days of the tolls, lots of people figured out that the Merritt Parkway token ($0.25) fit nicely into the NYC subway token ($1.35) slot!
Took that highway down from Meriden to New Haven and Bridgeport for years. My favorite parts are when you get on going south from 91, you can see Sleeping Giant State Park in the distance; going over the Housatonic in Milford; and when you get off 15 to get onto 91, it drops you into this valley where you can see Powder Ridge & Mount Higby.
My Father took this road twice while were visiting family in the Conn / NYC metro area when I was young, and even better, it was after a snow event with the snow on the trees still mid-day. Truly a beautiful drive that was.
Reminds me of the Arroyo Seco Parkway (formally the Pasadena Freeway) in LA. Fun road to drive on, but definitely not up to modern freeway standards.
Wow I live near the Merritt and did not know these things.
When TH-cam forces their ads down your throat, here's a neat little trick; mute your device, and look away for 15 seconds. They can shove their unskippable ads down your throat, but they can't make you to watch or listen to them.
The part about no commercial trucks is exactly what we need on all roads everywhere. I'd love to see something like a 25,000lb gvw max limit across the entire USA. If a big box store or a factory wants heavy cargo transport they need to fund a 100% separate road network (or railway) to do it. Then imagine how quickly passenger cars could transport people if instead of building these ridiculous huge roads to handle these monster semi trucks, we built dedicated small passenger vehicle only freeway like this parkway with strictly enforced 80mph minimum speed limits. No pickups nor SUVs I mean small cars and motorcycles only.
The reason you only see on-highway service plazas in the northeast is that the Interstate Highways Act banned them, to protect business interests in the towns being bypassed by the new roads. Existing ones on toll roads brought into the Interstate system were grandfathered in, in such a way that updates and expansions could be done so long as there was *some sort* of hot food and gas service plaza operating on the site before 1955.
Bridges like the same type that were on the PA Turnpike
Watching this as a passenger on the Merrit. Very interesting!
This will be great for my New England road-trip coming up.
Another home run video Rob!
Anybody who ever drove between Seattle and Ellensburg, prior to 1978, and got caught in Labor Day or Memorial Day traffic will remember this. There was still a solitary traffic light in North Bend (30 miles East of Seattle). This stop light had miles long traffic backups that took literally hours to make it through. Otherwise the whole trip was new freeway. Zoom zoom. It added that time to every single vacationer's trip. No shoulder driving either, WSP (wash. state patrol) is watching dutifully. The light was barely regulated in traffic's favor either. North Bend down town didn't mind the business it brought. Hellish hot summer days at 5 mph. All for a single stop light.
This is interesting, i love the full tab signs on the images.
Amazing content as always, really happy to see this one as I did a recent work trip in Connecticut for the first time and was remarking to myself how different this road was than any other I’ve traveled and I couldn’t articulate it and then boom this video hits my feed! Love it, thank you!
We need more of those, especially the lower bridges and then some cargo train tracks
AI seinfeld about old traffic was something i didnt know i needed
I hope you are going to discuss the Taconic Parkway and it’s relationship to the I87 section of the NYS Thruway.
Wow, yeah, this video _did_ take a long time! But thank you for making it!
Yet another fantastic American invention!
Fun fact, that interchange in Trumbull is already a pain, and as you see theyre adding apartments... RIGHT THERE
I love driving the Merrit during rush hour in a line of luxury/sports vehicles in the left lane going 80mph well into Westchester. So fun
Lol @ the computer being ‘Yell’ instead of Dell. 😂😂😂 Great vid as always Rob!!
I"m always there (driving up & down), 3 days a week. North -South- North From Exit 35 to 54. ❤ That Pkwy!
As a guy who is semi-regularly on the merrit, I never thought about how important this roadway is.
This is beautiful.
This is how I think many people would love to see America.
Something as simple as a road that repects the landscape and nature. Bridges that celebrate themselves by their beauty.
The first time I went down the Merritt Parkway I was dumbstruck. The bridges and sides are gorgeous. And the high speeds, blind hills and turns with no shoulders or enforcement was a white knuckle ride. AND A TUNNEL! It's a ride. Advice: Stay in the left lane when approaching an onramp. You might have to travel faster than you'd like, but onramp traffic joins the first lane at half speed.
How do you not have millions of subscribers yet.
4:45 The guy with the Bob nametag is Robert Moses and he has his own state park in NY
I-35E from downtown St Paul to the Mississippi River is actually quite pretty as well. I drive it a lot and it's noticeable how much more pleasant it is (traffic jams notwithstanding) compared to other freeway corridors in the area. A big factor is the way it follows the geography of the landscape it goes through, and the way it incorporates trees and other landscaping
This road definitely has some Merritt.
What?!? No mention of the Arroyo Seco Parkway when talking about other early freeways?
Shhhhhhh..... I'm saving that for something special in the future. 👍
I live an hour away from the arroyo seco after all
@RoadGuyRob I figured that was the case. I'm also about an hour away. But "an hour" could be 45 minutes or 2.5 hours. 😆
Definitely a location I would love to visit someday. Up north of the border in BC, Canada is the Coquihalla - it's almost a hybrid of the Merritt Parkway and the more basic Interstates. Down towards the coast approaching Vancouver it is an absolutely gorgeous drive. Coincidentally, it goes past Merritt, BC.
Car broke down on this freeway and due to the short bridges it took hours to find a tow truck. My insurance gave up trying to find a tow truck. I kept calling around and it was the same everywhere, no towing on the highway. Finally I found a guy who could tow and it was only because he happened to be between bridges and was able to take it to this little shop that was around and that was able to make the car run again. It was a nightmare.
2014 My fam and i took a trip from South Carolina to Boston, Merritt Parkway popped up as route to get us there… it was definitely worth the drive!
15:44 Someone getting pulled over?
Also thanks for featuring my comment on your horizontal traffic lights video!
Rob finally made it out east!
Now I'm waiting for him to come to the Midwest. Lake Shore Drive video maybe?
YOU CAME TO CONNECTICUT I'M SO EXCITED I just wish I bumped into you!! My 8 year old son and I love your videos 😎
"55mph: A cruisin and zoomin high speed road"
huh? I drive that fast on my local roads!
ive been watching your vids for a couple years now, rob. always love them, and i absolutely love the parkways in the northeast. every time i drive up the taconic state parkway in ny (which gets a lot of hate from a lot of people) i can't help but smile at the beauty in every direction :)
I preferred the Taconic over the NYS Thruway. At least in the summer, one way you knew you drove the Taconic was to look at your windshield. A lot more bugs in your windshield with the Taconic. Also at night, you had to be careful about deer on the Taconic. But you save a lot of money with tolls.
I got this from ChatGPT regarding the zig zag edges on the Connecticut signs… Connecticut road signs (and some other states in the United States) have zig-zag or "sawtooth" edges as a safety feature. These zig-zag edges are designed to provide a more distinct and noticeable border around the signs. The serrated or jagged edges help increase the visibility of the signs, especially during inclement weather conditions or at night when headlights from vehicles can reflect off the edge, making them more visible to drivers.
The enhanced visibility of the road signs can contribute to safer driving conditions, reducing the risk of accidents and improving overall road safety. This feature is one of the many measures taken to enhance the effectiveness of road signs and improve the safety of motorists and pedestrians.