Selectmen Approve Traffic-Calming Work at Conrad and Whiffle Tree

The Board of Selectmen last week approved an approximately $87,000 contract with a New Canaan-based company to further improve a closely watched and historically problematic intersection in the “South of the Y” neighborhood.

The town had several stops and starts since it began focusing on relieving high-volume traffic and speeding at the intersection of Conrad Road and Whiffle Tree Lane, including a proposal to install a “mini-roundabout” and a short-lived experiment involving a barricade that drew criticism from residents.

Last year, town officials striped the intersection into a three-way stop, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann.

“That was after multiple discussions with the residents and the Police Commission,” Mann told members of the Board of Selectmen during their April 15 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

He continued: “We turned it into a three-way stop with temporary striping to show everyone the delineation of where these—I’ll call it a ‘bumpout’—but it’s basically bringing the intersection in, honing it down to make it a true three-way intersection and not allow you to cut the corners on the tangents. So in order to do so, we’ve got to install some drainage on each corner of each bumpout.”

First Selectman Dionna Carlson and Selectmen Steve Karl and Amy Murphy Carroll voted 3-0 in favor of the $86,767.50 contract with Peter Lanni Inc. to complete the work.

Commuting westbound motorists, including those using navigation apps such as Waze, have routinely cut through on Conrad Road to avoid a long backup at the Gerdes Road traffic light at South Avenue. A traffic engineer determined that the town faced two major problems: the timing of the signal at Gerdes and South, and malfunctioning sensors. Those problems have been addressed.

Karl noted during the meeting that balancing the signal timing at Gerdes and South helped alleviate the backup and aggressive driving—a safety issue for pedestrians.

“Everything that has taken place over the past couple years really improved it,” he said, adding that hopefully the matter has been effectively addressed.

Mann described the three legs of the intersection as meeting in a “peace sign” configuration.

“The adherence has been [going] quite well from what we understand from the residents,” Mann said. “There are a couple of Ring cameras on the intersection itself. So they notify us if someone’s not stopping.”

The work to be done will see some of the “striped-out” pavement converted to a grass verge.

“We’ll be putting the drainage in and then taking the pavement out and placing grass and the intersection will now flow,” Mann said. “And hopefully we’ll get a little bit more frontage and a little bit more greenery in the area. And then help calm the traffic as well, since we’ll be ‘necking down’ the intersection. Right now it’s quite wide.”