Planning Officials Raise Questions about Proposed Motorist-Bicyclist Signs

Asked to weigh in on whether New Canaan should place signs around town instructing motorists to give a legally required 3-foot berth to cyclists, planning officials on Tuesday raised questions about the proposed sign itself, how it’s mounted, just what streets would get one and the timing of its possible installment. Planning & Zoning Commissioner Claire Tiscornia said she’s all for safety but that the specific sign developed by the Sound Cyclists Bicycle Club could confuse passing motorists. “To me that looks like a school bus sign—the sign with the bus and the little light,” Tiscornia said at P&Z’s regular meeting, held in the Sturgess Room at the New Canaan Nature Center. “For me, if I was driving down the road, I would think, ‘Why is that school bus sign there?’ And I think it’s a little small. I’m not sure if I was driving by that I would think ‘Share the road.’ I would look at the bike sign and then either it’s too small for me to read or I would just go right past it.