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Traffic Engineer Recommends Safety Improvements around Sharp Curve on Route 106

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The town and state could improve safety at a sharp curve on Old Stamford Road/Route 106 by installing roadside radar speed signs and “rumble strips” along the double-yellow centerline, according to a traffic engineer hired to review the area. The town also should paint hatched pavement lines in the wide paved shoulder of the curve near 93 Old Stamford Road, according to Michael Galante, director of traffic at Norwalk-based Hardesty & Hanover. “This section of Old Stamford Road is not illuminated with street lights and, therefore, further reduces the visibility of a motorist traveling through this curve,” Gallante added in a Nov. 8 report obtained by NewCanaanite.com through a public records request. 

“The accident study indicated that 67 percent of the accents occurred at night, as well as all three fixed object accidents occurred at night. Therefore, it is recommended that the Town work with the Utility Company to install light fixtures on existing poles, located on the easterly side of Old Stamford Road, north of Old Studio Road (northerly intersection) and the vicinity of the [Bristow] Park.”

The recommendations come as town officials say they’re working on a plan to improve safety at a dangerous curve on state Route 106 where serious crashes involving teenage drivers occurred in September. 

The town hired Gallante to review the area of the sharp curve between the northern intersection of 106 and Old Studio Road and Bristow Bird Sanctuary—to see “if any improvements can be made,” according to New Canaan Police Deputy Chief John DiFederico.

Billy MacLeod

‘Something Is Not Adding Up’: Owner of New Canaan Valet Seeks Clear Answer on Forest Street Proposal

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The Police Commission at its most recent meeting put off a yes-or-no vote on a proposal from a New Canaan business owner seeking to operate a valet stand on Forest Street on weekend nights for a trial run, saying there could be legal reasons for denying the request. 

Commission Chair Paul Foley during the appointed body’s Oct. 20 meeting that he’s uncomfortable with the idea of “giving up public parking spaces to a private company.”

“I can’t go along with this, because I cannot give up public parking spaces on our street to a private business,” Foley said during the meeting, held at police headquarters and via videoconference. “I think it works great at a Roger Sherman Inn. I think it works great at a private party, and I think it works great in a parking lot where you have a restaurant and a private parking lot, if you will, at a mall or something where you pull up, you get out of your car and they valet your car. Or you pull up to a hotel, they valet your car.

Government

Police Commission Chair Vows To Support Homeowner Seeking Wider Curb Cut for Driveway

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The chair of the Police Commission said last week that he would sign a letter to the state supporting a New Canaan homeowner’s bid to widen their curb cut along Route 123 by about 30%. 

As it is, the driveway at 507 Smith Ridge Road is 26 feet wide at the curb cut, or four feet wider than what the state Department of Transportation would normally allow, a representative of the homeowner told members of the Police Commission at their Oct. 20 meeting. Saying that traffic on the busy north-south artery often exceeds the posted speed limit, the homeowner is seeking to widen the driveway by eight feet more, to 34 feet total, landscape architect Allan Broadbent said during the meeting, held at New Canaan Police Department headquarters as well as via videoconference. 

Broadbent said his client purchased the property earlier this year “and within several weeks had a few near-misses of almost getting rear-ended.”

“You all know how it is to drive on Smith Ridge,” Broadbent said. “Traffic flies, and so you have to really slam on your brakes to get into the driveway. So I was hired as landscape architect to investigate if we could make that safer.

Amy Murphy Carroll

Committee Member: Moynihan Group Looking To Site New Police Station on School Grounds

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NewCanaanite · Missing section, Police Department Building Committee Meeting—Aug. 12, 2021
A group of town workers meeting out of the public eye is expected to propose building a new police station somewhere on New Canaan Public Schools grounds, according to a member of a separate committee that also is working on options for a future police facility. The volunteer Police Department Building Committee has met publicly since last December to study renovation or rebuilding options for a new facility at the current South Avenue site. At the same time, a group of town employees at First Selectman Kevin Moynihan’s behest has been reviewing alternate locations for a future police station in New Canaan. Under state sunshine laws, groups of employees are not required to hold public meetings, and it’s in recent months the secrecy surrounding their findings has emerged as a source of frustration for some Committee members.

News

Chief: Stolen Vehicles in New Canaan on Pace to Nearly Double in 2021

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New Canaan is on pace to see about 50 stolen vehicles this year, according to Police Chief Leon Krolikowski, a figure that would nearly double the total of 27 from 2020. The chief told members of the Police Commission at their regular meeting last week the he’s “hoping that levels off.”

“And we are working with some of our state legislators and the state itself, there are some promises of money to create a task force to go after these folks that are stealing the vehicles,” Krolikowski said during the meeting, held July 26 via videoconference. “I have been speaking with our state’s attorney to see what legally we can do, specifically with respect to investigations,” he continued. “And it’s challenging because if someone steals a car and dumps the car somewhere, merely because their DNA or a fingerprint is found in the car, does not necessarily equate to a crime being committed, so it’s challenging in that regard. And we are not sure yet whether our lab is going to process these presumably hundreds of vehicles that get stolen across Connecticut, if they are going to process the evidence related to that, meaning DNA or fingerprints.