Government

Police Commission Weighs Teacher-Student Parking Spot Swap at New Canaan High School

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Town officials say the best way for New Canaan High School to ensure the safety of students who now must cross a bustling main access road through the campus in the mornings might be to have the teens and teachers swap parking areas. As it is now, most students park in the long lot that runs up alongside the track, then cross the accessway to get into the school, while teachers who have arrived earlier are parking in lots closer to the building itself, according to members of the Police Commission. Based on a suggestion from a working group that oversees traffic calming in New Canaan, the Police Commission on Wednesday opened the possibility of recommending that the district try out the swap. “I like the idea of swapping, because if teachers are coming at 7 o’clock and the kids are coming at 7:30, get the teachers out by the track and let them walk,” Commissioner Paul Foley said during the group’s meeting, held in the Training Room at the New Canaan Police Department. Ultimately it will be the school’s own decision how to address what Police Chief Leon Krolikowski flagged as a pedestrian safety hazard at the high school.

Government

Officials Ponder Safe Pedestrian Route to Main Street Sidewalk from Down River Road

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Town officials are trying to figure out a safe way for residents on Down River Road to hook up with the Main Street sidewalk, providing a route to the village center. The first step, according to Tiger Mann, assistant director of the New Canaan Department of Public Works, is to see if there’s a way to get those pedestrians at least as far as the treatment plant driveway—just halfway to a crosswalk at Harrison but at least clear of the blind curve north of Woodland. Michael Stayman of 36 Down River Road, one of nine homes on the street, told Mann and other members of the Traffic Calming Work Group at their most recent meeting that as of now, residents are taking their lives into their hands by running across to the sidewalk on the west side of Main right at Down River Road. “We don’t have any other way because the road is on the opposite side of Main Street from the sidewalk,” Stayman said at the meeting, held Oct. 14 in the training room at the New Canaan Police Department.

News

Citing Danger, New Canaan Seeks to Get Rid of Passing Zones on Smith, Oenoke Ridge Roads

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Saying a pair of passing zones on state roads through cut through New Canaan are dangerous and encourage nothing but speeding, town officials are asking the Connecticut Department of Transportation to do away with one on Smith Ridge Road and another on Oenoke. The Police Commission on Wednesday voted 3-0 in favor of putting forward a formal request to do away with the passing zones along straightaways on both state Route 123 (Smith Ridge) and 124 (Oenoke Ridge). Police Capt. John DiFederico said the passing zones rarely serve their purpose—instead of allowing people traveling within the speed limit to pass very slow motorists, they create potential for a head-on. “I haven’t been getting any emails of people driving too slowly,” DiFederico said during the commission’s meeting, held in the training room at the New Canaan Police Department. “All I get are emails of people driving too fast and there is really no need for it, and actually there is a grave potential for a serious accident, if you live up there and you are in your driveway, if your way is clear to proceed but then you pull out and another car is passing, you could have a very tragic situation.”

The request had been backed up Tuesday by a team of police, fire, emergency management and DPW officials known as the Traffic Calming Work Group.

Government

New Crosswalk Behind Kiwanis Could Extend Walk-Able Access to Downtown New Canaan

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Seeking another way to help New Canaanites walk safely from residential neighborhoods to the downtown, officials are eyeing a plan to install a new crosswalk on Old Norwalk Road, up the hill and behind Kiwanis Park. The crosswalk, at Old Kings Highway, would connect on the west side of the road to a footpath that runs through the woods down to Kiwanis (see map below). And that park soon is expected to connect, by way of a new sidewalk running up to Main Street, to the downtown. Proposed by a town resident, the new crosswalk would, in theory, make it safe for people to walk across Old Norwalk Road from Old Kings Highway. Department of Public Works Assistant Director Tiger Mann said, pending his review, a recommendation to create that mid-block crosswalk would go to the Police Commission, which has final say.

Around Town

After Resident Petition, Town Eyes Traffic-Calming on Parade Hill Road

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Town officials are collecting data on cars’ speeds on Parade Hill Road and plan to enforce selectively the 25 mph limit there after residents said that pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers are at risk because trucks and other motorists travel and take blind turns too fast. Parade Hill is a popular cut-through between Routes 124 (Oenoke Ridge Road) and 123, including for commercial traffic on Interstate 95. Residents this spring petitioned the town to slow down the vehicles that use it. On Tuesday, members of the Traffic Calming Work Group agreed to put up speed sentries and, with hard data in hand, selectively enforce the 25 mph speed limit there. Parade Hill Road resident Mary Maechling said vehicular traffic seems to be getting increasingly fast, especially on weekdays, and that she sees many near-misses up near a blind curve toward the top of the road.