MERRITT SPUR AT WESTPORT TO THE SOUND: In 1935, the Merritt Highway Commission, the authority assigned for the design and construction of the Merritt Parkway, published an official map revealing a proposed north-south spur through Westport from the Merritt Parkway to Sherwood Island State Park. The Sherwood Island Parkway was designed not only for recreational purposes, but also to provide an express route from US 1 (Boston Post Road) to the Merritt Parkway.



The proposed 4.5-mile-long parkway was to begin at the Merritt Parkway at an unbuilt EXIT 43 near the Westport-Fairfield border. Continuing south past US 1, it was to run along the Sherwood Island Connector (unposted CT 476) alignment to Sherwood Island State Park.



From the onset, the proposed Sherwood Island Parkway ran into local opposition. A petition circulating through the Prospect Hill section of Westport and the Greenfield Hill section of Fairfield read as follows:



Access for or from the Merritt Parkway in this vicinity is not only unnecessary, but very undesirable for the community.



These residents ultimately were successful in their bid to stop EXIT 43 on the Merritt Parkway and the Sherwood Island spur.



In 1964, the Regional Plan Association (RPA) resurrected plans for the Sherwood Island Parkway in its recommended network of controlled-access highways in the tri-state area. However, the proposed parkway was not adopted by the Connecticut Highway Department in statewide plans developed in the late 1960's.

