Waveny Park, a National Register listed former estate with an Olmsted Brothers landscape, abuts the Merritt Parkway along the southern margin in New Canaan, Connecticut. Heritage Landscapes was engaged to plan improvements to the Merritt trail to reduce noise and views of traffic from the busy Parkway, upgrade access, enrich biodiversity and improve access. The Waveny system of trails welcomes the  community and visitors to access the 130-acre historic landscape for exercise, exploration and time spent in nature. The heavily used trail along the southern margin, parallel to the Merritt Parkway, extends the experience of this treasured park from the main house through open fields, meadows and woodland.

• Engage in collaborative exchanges with WPC committee and town throughout
• Research and articulate the Waveny Olmsted Brothers design and landscape
• Prepare an existing landscape plan and narrative highlighting issues
• Provide a technical understanding of and measures to mitigate noise
• Test alternative alignments and details including Olmsted berm extension
• Finalize the Meritt trail landscape master plan with preliminary costs

Research revealed the original Olmsted design and the extensive Merritt Parkway modifications to include new berms. Complexities included adjacent wetlands, steep grades, trail surface erosion, invasive species infestation, declining tree health, lack of habitat, confusing wayfinding as well as traffic impacts. The trail plan addresses all these complexities providing preferred alignments, materials and details to guide trail upgrades and a preliminary order of magnitude cost estimate to facilitate funding. Implementing this Waveny Park Merritt Trail Master Plan (WPMTP) will uplift the trail experience with particular emphasis on activating Olmsted design principles to solve issues while  limiting ongoing maintenance. 

Waveny Park Merritt Trail Master Plan

Heritage Landscapes LLC