Members of the New Canaan Parking Commission at their most recent meeting said they are opposed to a traffic consultant’s recommendation that Morse Court be double-yellow-lined, so as to eliminate “wrong way” parking on the north side of the road, which is used for access to the Morse Court Lot.
The traffic consultant had first made the recommendation during a meeting of the Police Commission several weeks ago—when possible changes to parking and crosswalks on Main Street were discussed—and it was reported by NewCanaanite.
However, during the Nov. 7 meeting at Town Hall, Parking Commissioner Pamela Crum wanted to make it clear to the public that the appointed body is not in favor of this recommendation and, furthermore, that the road falls under the purview of the Parking Commission and not the Police Commission.
“[This matter] results from an article in New Canaanite about a consultant that the police had hired who had suggested putting a double yellow line through Morse Court, so there would be a street, so you could put one-way parking down one side,” Crum explained.
She added that if the road was double-yellow-lined, it would “change its designation to a street” and thus would prohibit people from parking opposite the flow of traffic (which currently happens frequently among patrons of the shops on that side of the road).
“I don’t like that idea at all,” Chairman Keith Richey said. “Personally, I’d like to be able to [park] in either direction on that street – and I think it is an important artery for New Canaan. Particularly for when we have the pop-up park again.”
“I think our stance is we want to leave it alone… let it be both ways,” Richey added.
Crum said the decision “is not a Police Commission matter” because the road “is part of Morse Court … which is parking.” She said she mainly wanted to clarify that the matter “is not part of the Police Commission’s purview … it just came in under their meeting.” She said she felt compelled to bring the matter up because “there was a lot of commentary about it” and she wanted to address it publicly “before it balloons.”
Commissioner Chris Hering added that “traffic studies show that if you put a double yellow line down a road, it actually accelerates people’s speeds.”
Richey said he would talk with Chief of Police Leon Krolikowski about the matter during an upcoming meeting.