Connecticut Truck Bans & Hazmat Routes

Where Connecticut keeps trucks out

Route 15 is the trap. The Merritt and Wilbur Cross parkways ban commercial plates, trailers, buses, and anything over 24 ft long, 7 ft 6 in wide, or 8 ft high (Conn. Gen. Stat. §13a-26; regs §14-298-249). A personal-use U-Haul is illegal too, driver aside. Signs read 'No Commercial Vehicles,' and the stone arches are low. A first commercial-vehicle ticket is $500 and a repeat is $1,000 (§13a-26b), billed to the owner or the lessee.

Key restrictions

• Route 15 (Merritt/Wilbur Cross): no commercial plates, no trailers, no buses.
• Any vehicle over 24 ft long, 7 ft 6 in wide, or 8 ft high is banned, load included.
• Rental box trucks (U-Haul, Penske, Budget, Ryder) are banned regardless of driver.
• Low stone arches on the Merritt; a car GPS will route you under them.

• Parkway / road ban: Route 15 is off-limits to trucks: the Merritt Parkway (Greenwich to Milford), the Wilbur Cross Parkway (Milford to Meriden), and the Milford Parkway link. Banned are commercial-registered vehicles, trailers and towed vehicles, buses, combination registrations over 7,500 lb, and any vehicle whose dimensions including load exceed 24 ft long, 7 ft 6 in wide, or 8 ft high. Rental trucks are banned no matter who drives.
• Hazmat: No notable state tunnel or bridge hazmat ban. Placarded loads default to the Interstate and follow any state-designated or preferred route under 49 CFR 397 and the FMCSA National Hazardous Materials Route Registry.
• Through-truck routes: The parkway ban is the headline. Off Route 15, towns post local truck routes and weight-limited streets; a through truck stays on the arterial network and a local delivery leaves it only for the direct path to its stop.
• Fine: $500 for a first violation and $1,000 for every one after, for any commercial motor vehicle on a parkway (Conn. Gen. Stat. §13a-26b, added by P.A. 23-135). The fine is assessed against the owner when the owner or an employee is driving, and against the lessee on a rented or leased truck. Strike a Merritt Parkway arch and you own the damage on top of it.

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