Town officials last week agreed to allow the state design a project that could see new signage and pavement markings installed at curves on 18 roads in New Canaan.
The New Canaan Police Commission will still have the ability to accept or reject a state-funded traffic safety project that is to come from the the Connecticut Department of Transportation.
The first step is for New Canaan to “give them a list of our worst curves in town,” according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann.
“They will come out and take a look and then devise a project associated with it, and come back to us for approval, and then implement it and pay for it. ” Mann told members of the Commission at their regular meeting, held March 17 via videoconference. “They did something similar on some of our mid-block crosswalks. They came in and increased the signage, put in some additional pavement markings, and things like that, for each of our mid block crosswalks, about 12 of them in town, about a year ago. So we put together a list of 18 roads, 29 separate curves in town and I think you have that list, and we would like to forward that to the DOT for their consideration.”
It wasn’t immediately clear what roads or curves on the list. It was not provided to meeting attendees.
Commission Chair Paul Foley, Secretary Jim McLaughlin and member Shekaiba Bennett voted 3-0 in favor of forwarding the list to the state and hearing a future proposal.
Foley expressed some reservations.
“I really don’t like Hartford coming in here and telling us to slow down people on our curves,” he said. “It’s just silly.”
Mann said the project was “more a safety measure.”
“It’s a systemic look,” he said. “But I agree. If we don’t like the extent of what they’re proposing. We can say thank you but no thank you at that time. The main thought was that I went through our existing signage list on our roads, detailed it down to the signs that in essence were chevron signs or curve signs that might have a reduced speed marking on it, an advisory speed warning plaque on it, took those and said OK, those are the ones we want to look at or have you look at. I didn’t go to every curve. It was those specific 18 separate roads and several locations on each road.”
The state may come back with recommendations to change the locator of signage or types of pavement markings, Mann said. The project is a relatively low-cost way to reduce the number of car crashes, he said.
“It’s an interesting approach,” Mann said. “Usually they push off everything to the municipality.”
We are nearing sign pollution in New Canaan; perhaps we’re already into sign pollution. Marking a crosswalk with painted white stripes on the pavement AND with a CROSSWALK bright yellow sign is enough. We don’t need a CROSSWALK COMING UP sign before each crosswalk. Each additional sign in town dilutes the effectiveness of all the signs — an unnecessary sign moves the needle slightly toward one’s tuning out all signs. A driver should be watching the road and other vehicles, bicyclists and pedestrians rather than reading all the signs.