Public Works To Extend Setback for Problematic Parking Space at Main and Maple

Town officials are extending the setback between a parking space and corner downtown, in hopes that it improves sightlines for motorists. Flagged recently by the Parking Commission, cars approaching Main Street from Maple Street often have an obstructed view of northbound traffic. 

As a result, Parking Manager Stacy Miltenberg recently asked Public Works officials to review the area, she told members of the Commission during an update at their Sept. 6 meeting. “They did find that the setback was only 15 feet instead of the 25 foot setback that it should be, so they are going out and they will make it a 25-foot setback,” Miltenberg said at the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “We will unfortunately lose a parking spot,” Miltenberg continued.

The car pictured here

Town Voids $30 Ticket Issued to Local Man Who Parked in No-Parking Zone

Saying the space wasn’t sufficiently marked, parking officials this month voided a $30 ticket issued to a New Canaan man who’d pulled into a no-parking zone downtown. Members of the Parking Commission during their Aug. 2 meeting voted 4-0 to void a ticket that had been issued to Edward Neugeboren for pulling into a space in front of the Mobil station on South Avenue that had been a legal spot in the past. During his appeal hearing, held at Town Hall and via videoconference, Neugeboren said he’s lived in town for 25 years and didn’t realize that the striping had changed in the spot between the South Avenue curb cuts to the gas station. “There was no sign and I’ve been parking in that spot obviously previously for upwards of 25 years,” he told the Commission.

Safety Concerns Prompt Town To Move Large Trucks Out of Parking Space at Main and Maple

Town officials say they’re monitoring use of a parking space at an increasingly busy intersection downtown, following safety concerns about blocked sight lines. 

Motorists approaching Maple and Main Streets, near the new main entrance to New Canaan Library, often are prevented from seeing northbound traffic on Main due to large vehicles parking in a spot on the southwest corner of the intersection, according to Parking Commissioner Marley Thackray. Thackray said during the Parking Commission’s most recent meeting that residents have spoken to her personally about the safety concern—one that she shares as someone who travels through the area multiple times per day—and that it came up on New Canaan Moms in June.  

“This comes on the heels of how nobody wants to lose any more parking space, but I literally say a Hail Mary every time I go through this intersection, because I can’t see anything,” Thackray said during the Commission’s Aug. 2 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. Parking Manager Stacy Miltenberg said she did reach out to those parking large trucks in the space to ensure they try to leave it for regularly sized vehicles and continue to abide by the two-hour limit.

Town Upholds $150 Ticket Issued to Woman Who Parked in Disabled Space [UPDATE]

Town officials this month upheld a $150 ticket issued to a Bedford, N.Y. woman who parked in a disabled space while running into a store downtown. During her Aug. 2 appeal hearing before the Parking Commission, [the woman] said she’d circled for about 25 minutes before finally pulling into a disabled space on Elm Street in order to return an item to the WAVE store on behalf of her daughter. “The only spot that was there was right in front of the store and it was a handicapped parking spot,” [the woman] said during the hearing, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “I pulled in, turned my hazards on, left my car on and told my daughter to wait for me as I ran in.

Town: Metro-North Rail Service ‘On Track’ for Labor Day; Changes to Train Frequency Under Discussion

State officials are weighing a change to the fall schedule for train service on the New Canaan branch and other Metro-North Railroad lines, according to the head of the town Parking Bureau. The Connecticut Department of Transportation “might be adjusting the fall schedule to reflect the current ridership patterns, meaning that certain midweek there’s more people commuting than maybe at the end of the week on Fridays,” according to Parking Director Stacy Miltenberg. “So they’re looking at some adjustments,” she said during an update to members of the Parking Commission at their Aug. 2 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “It will not only affect the New Canaan branch line—they’re looking at it for the New Haven line, as well as the shoreline east,” Miltenberg continued.