Government

‘Perfect Storm’ Brewing at Locust Avenue Parking Lot

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Problems of overuse at what long had been New Canaan’s least busy parking lot are expected very soon to worsen, and town officials are trying to figure out how to get out ahead of what some are calling “a perfect storm.”

The past six weeks has seen a dramatic rise in the number of motorists parking in the Locust Avenue lot. In addition to longtime regulars—including people who work on that side of town—“new” users include some personnel and construction workers at the Fire Department (where interior and exterior capital projects are underway), construction workers at the Town Hall renovation site and in-town shoppers, diners and post office visitors who, under normal circumstances, would park behind Town Hall itself or in one of the lots that rise behind it (toward Park Street). Starting in August, demolition and construction work is expected to start just down the hill on Forest Street, where a 3-story residential-and-retail complex is going up. “There is a perfect storm that is exploding over there,” Parking Bureau Superintendent Karen Miller said at the group’s May 1 meeting. “And I won’t lie to you: It’s very bad.

Government

New Canaan Seeks State Approval for Main Street Crosswalk

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New Canaan is seeking state approval for a crosswalk that would run across Main Street from beside the driveway to the Town Hall parking lot. Designed to ease foot traffic and improve safety near a hairy downtown intersection, officials are hoping the proposed crosswalk gets a nod from the Connecticut Department of Transportation prior to the newly renovated Town Hall’s reopening next Spring. Michael Pastore, director of the New Canaan Department of Public Works, said most people cross Main just at that section anyway. “Most people going to the restaurants and shops cross there, and that [proposed crosswalk] is up in the air, the DOT is having a hard time with it,” he said. The state likely requires a fuller traffic plan for the entire area to green light the proposed crosswalk—which would run cross Main from the south side of the Town Hall driveway, Pastore said.