Route 15 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Connecticut that runs from a connection with New York's Hutchinson River Parkway in Greenwich, Connecticut, to its northern terminus intersecting with Interstate 84 (I-84) in East Hartford, Connecticut. Route 15 consists of four distinct sections: the Merritt Parkway, the Wilbur Cross Parkway (both limited access roads), the Berlin Turnpike, and part of the Wilbur Cross Highway. The unified designation was applied to these separate highways in 1948 to provide a continuous through route from New York to Massachusetts. The parkway section of Route 15 is often referred to locally as "The Merritt".
Route description
Merritt Parkway
Route 15 begins at the New York border, where the Hutchinson River Parkway continues southwest towards New York City, at the New York State Route 120A interchange in the village of Rye Brook, in the town of Rye, New York. The highway comes into the state of Connecticut, continuing as the Merritt Parkway, a four-lane controlled-access parkway with low bridges, sharp curves, and a tree-filled median, that passes through the affluent urbanized areas of southern Fairfield County. Commercial vehicles are prohibited on this section of Route 15. The parkway heads into the town of Greenwich, where it passes a service plaza in both directions and curves north-northwest, before heading northeast and meeting interchanges at Round Hill Road, providing access to Downtown Greenwich, and at Lake Avenue. From there, Route 15 turns northeast, and curves through its interchange with North Street, which provides another outlet into Downtown Greenwich. Past this interchange, the parkway enters the city of Stamford, where it crosses over the Mianus River within the Mianus River State Park, before reaching an interchange with Route 104 in the residential areas of North Stamford, providing access to Downtown Stamford and the University of Connecticut Stamford Campus. Route 15 continues to an interchange with Route 137 before the route leaves Stamford.
The parkway comes into the town of New Canaan, where it crosses the Noroton River within its interchange with Route 106, adjacent to the Talmadge Hill station on the New Canaan Branch of the Metro-North Railroad's New Haven Line, located to the southeast of the interchange. Afterwards, Route 15 passes under the New Canaan Branch and curves around to meet an interchange for Route 124 before reaching the New Canaan Service Plaza. After crossing the Fivemile River, the parkway enters the city of Norwalk and immediately comes to an interchange with Route 123, which provides access to the Norwalk Community College. Just past its crossing of the Silvermine River, Route 15 meets the U.S. Route 7 (US 7) freeway at an incomplete interchange before it crosses over the Danbury Branch of the New Haven Line just south of the Merritt 7 station, and the Norwalk River and comes to a cloverleaf interchange with Main Avenue which provides the missing movements between the parkway and US 7. From there, Route 15 continues northeast through residential areas in the neighborhood of Cranbury before it leaves Norwalk, after crossing over Route 53 without an interchange.