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The Connecticut Department of Transportation is planning to install more “rumble strips” on roads in New Canaan.
A remote public hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday for the the rumble strips planned for Route 123/Smith Ridge Road from North Wilton Road to the town line, and Route 124/Oenoke Ridge from Country Club Road to Luke’s Woods Road, according to Director of Public Works Tiger Mann.
The state Department of Transportation notified the town in March of its intention, saying in a letter that “[c]enterline rumble strips are a cost-effective, proven safety countermeasure that substantially reduce the risks of head-on, sideswipe opposite direction and roadway departure crashes.”
“The grooves produce sound and vibration inside the vehicle intended to alert distracted or drowsy drivers that they have unintentionally crossed the centerline,” according to the letter from Matthew Blume, division chief of traffic engineering in ConnDOT’s Bureau of Engineering and Construction.
The centerline rumble strips are being installed because the roads have been repaved, Mann said.
The hearing has been scheduled because “the town requested it in response to the DOT’s proposed installation of rumble strips,” Mann said.
“On Route 124, the houses are closer to the road than they are on Rte. 123,” Mann said during a Board of Selectmen meeting on July 8. “That’s the reason we want to have the public information meeting.”
First Selectman Dionna Carlson voiced concerns at the meeting that some houses on Oenoke Ridge are located closer to the road than on Route 123, which already has the strips in places, and are going to be bothered by the noise of the rumble strips.
Residents may the hearing by registering using this link.