Police say they’re working toward solving a longstanding traffic problem in downtown New Canaan.
The town has hired a traffic engineer to find a way to keep vehicles moving at Cherry and Main Streets, where motorists seeking to turn left often are held up for multiple light cycles, according to New Canaan Police Deputy Chief John DiFederico.
“If you travel through during the daytime, if you’re on Cherry Street turning left in either direction onto Main Street, it’s quite likely you’ll get caught in several cycles of the light,” DiFederico told members of the Police Commission during their regular meeting, held Oct. 20 at NCPD headquarters and via videoconference.
“And so the timing is off. There’s no quick resolution because a lot of that traffic delay is due to pedestrian traffic. Someone comes along, pushes the button, it goes four-way red and then traffic backs up. And that intersection and then South and Cherry are two heavily traveled intersections. You can’t go through one or two cycles without having a pedestrian come by.”
The comments came during a general update on traffic matters to the Commission.
DiFederico said he “might have a solution” to the problem, but did not provide details. The town is commissioning a study from Michael Galante, director of traffic at Norwalk-based Hardesty & Hanover, LLC, he said.
The intersection includes state Routes 124 and 106, which run concurrently starting at South Avenue and Bank Street, and diverge again downtown. State Department of Transportation approval is needed to changes such as to traffic light sequencing.
The town three years ago identified Cherry and Main as one of six high-incidence accident locations in New Canaan. In January 2020, just before the onset of the pandemic, Police Chief Leon Krolikowski said he’d asked the state about putting in a ‘left-turn only’ light there, though no change came out of those talks.
Pedestrian and motor vehicle at the intersection could further change as a result of New Canaan Library’s widely anticipated building project. A “green” is planned for the northeast corner of the library’s lot. In approving a Special Permit for the library in July, the Planning & Zoning Commission issued 20-plus conditions, including this:
Due to COVID and the global pandemic, the traffic counts for the library may not accurately reflect future usage and need. Therefore as noted in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Town, a year after the Certificate of Occupancy, Temporary Certificate of Occupancy or Partial Certificate of Occupancy, whichever first occurs, is issued to the library and it is functioning to its full capacity, new traffic counts and parking studies shall be completed at the library’s expense. Said traffic studies should determine actual traffic levels during both a weekday afternoon peak hour, as well as on a Saturday midday. The Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA) shall be conducted by a licensed PE and said report shall be submitted to the Planning and Zoning Commission for review and approval.
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