Police: 96 Pedestrians Cross Main Street Mid-Block in Two-Hour Window

New Canaan police on a recent weekday counted 96 pedestrians in a 2-hour window crossing Main Street between East and Locust Avenues mid-block, bolstering the town’s effort to get state approval for a crosswalk there.

Here's a look down Main Street from about the spot where a crosswalk would be installed, if town officials receive state approval. Credit: Michael Dinan

The Connecticut Department of Transportation must approve the crosswalk because that stretch of Main is also Route 124, a state road. Hartford has denied New Canaan’s request for the crosswalk that would cross Main from the south side of the Town Hall driveway.

Police Chief Leon Krolikowski said at the most recent meeting of the Police Commission that New Canaan will appeal that decision.

Said Capt. Vincent DeMaio at the Wednesday meeting, held at department headquarters: “I think we have backed that up with a number of people crossing midblock that have I observed, and I could stick a couple of guys out there and count people all day long.”

The need is expected to increase when Town Hall reopens in its renovated space—pegged for next Spring—and construction finally gets underway at the Locust Avenue parking lot, where a new parking deck will be installed that creates half again as many spaces there.

Interestingly, police said some of the foot and motor vehicle traffic problems New Canaan is seeing at Main Street and East Avenue, thought to be caused by the recently relocated post office, are a symptom of habitual downtown flow itself.

“It’s just part and parcel of the limited amount of parking that’s on Main Street,” DeMaio said. “It’s the additional loss of space with Town Hall construction and just the overall adjustment period of everyone getting used to the post office being on Main Street as opposed to Pine Street.”