Understanding Stamford Traffic (Streets & Roads)
Stamford spans an area of about 40 square miles (a roughly 4X10 mile rectangle stood
on its end). It’s vast and easy enough to get around in, but it’s helpful to have a
general sense of how the city is laid out. Streets used to be cattle paths, so logic doesn’
t always apply.
1. The northern third of Stamford (North Stamford) is neatly dissected from the rest of
the city by the Merritt Parkway (Hwy 15), which becomes the Hutchinson River Parkway
as you west head toward NYC. In the South, the I-95 thruway cuts the Mid City area
from Dolphin Quay, Waterside, Shippan and Cove.
2. One of the interesting, local-knowledge things about Stamford is that several main
streets have different names, as they travel through the city (yes, it’s weird):
- Main Street, running east-west, turns into Broad Street, then runs northward,
where it splits into Stillwater Ave. and Westover Rd.
- Tresser Blvd., running east to west becomes West Main (NOT orphaned Main
Street in the center of town, which dead-ends after a few east-west blocks).
- Greenwich Ave., north to south, turns into Southfield Ave. going to Dolphin Quay
- Atlantic St. becomes Bedford St. running one-way north through the center of
the city
- Elm St., as it runs south to north, becomes Grove St., then Strawberry Hill, then
who knows what (Newfield Avenue)
- Hope St. becomes Ponus Ridge
- Glenbrook Rd. becomes Hoyt St. (unrelated to a short Hoyt St. in the center of
town)
3. Going north-south in Stamford is easy; going east-west can be difficult or convoluted
4. North-south there are a couple of main throroughfares (from west to east):
- West Broad turns north and becomes Westover Road
- Atlantic becomes Bedford St. (runs one-way NORTH only), then forks at “Bulls
Head” into Long or High Ridge Roads; paralleling Bedford, Summer St. runs one-
way SOUTH to Bull’s Head as well.
- Washington Blvd., which splits into Y-forks at what’s called “Bull’s Head” and
becomes Long Ridge Road and High Ridge Road, both of which run northward
all the way into New York. Use Washington Blvd to bypass Mid City traffic.
- Atlantic Ave. running north becomes Prospect St., which turns into Newfield Ave.
- Glenbrook and Lafayette become Hope St., which runs north and turns into
Ponus Ave. then Ponus Ridge in New Canaan
- Glenbrook also runs north and forks over to Hoyt St.
5. It’s the east-west routes you just have to remember, since they are few and far
between the main north-south streets. Learn these “shortcuts” early on—they’ll save
you driving all the way north (to Merritt Pkwy) or south (I-95) to go east-west. The east-
west connector routes from south to north:
- West Main (West to East) becomes Tresser Blvd., then Main St. (not the
orphaned Main St. a few blocks away). Main Street is also Highway 1 to
Greenwich or Darien.
- Between Westover and Long Ridge, use Roxbury; or used West Hill to Roxbury.
- Between Long Ridge and High Ridge, Cross/McClean/Terrace, or use Wire Mill
Road or Wire Mill to Cedar Heights
- Between Long Ridge Road and Strawberry Hill/Newfield, use Oaklawn or Vine Rd.
- Between Newfield Avenue and Hope St., use Weed Hilla
6. In North Stamford, no streets really run east to west. Rock Rimmon Rd. becomes
Mayapple Rd. connecting Long Ridge to High Ridge. Chestnut to Scoffieldtown
connects Long Ridge to High Ridge. North Stamford to Cascade.
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