Government

Netflix To Film Christmas Movie on Main Street in June 

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New Canaan’s local traffic authority this week approved a request to close part of Main Street overnight on a Sunday into Monday next month so that Netflix can shoot scenes for a Christmas movie. “The Noel Diary” starring Justin Hartley, Bonnie Bedeilia and Treat Williams should come out next year, the movie’s location manager, Michael Fucci, told members of the Police Commission at their regular meeting Wednesday. A film crew will shoot some scenes at a Wydendown Road home later this month and then will return for June 27 and 28, Fucci said during the meeting, held via videoconference. “We have one or two scenes that we’d like to shoot around 6 p.m. on Elm Street, which we are still trying to fine-tune that,” he said. “But the bigger scene wants to take place in front of Town Hall on Main Street, between Locust Avenue and East Avenue.

Government

Plan To Widen Sidewalks on Elm Street Includes Six New 15-Minute Spaces

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A proposal to widen some sidewalks on Elm Street now includes converting six spaces to 15-minutes in order to accommodate retailers, restaurants and shoppers making quick pick-ups, officials say. Town officials heard from business owners after a proposal to “bump out” some of the sidewalks on Elm between South Avenue and the Playhouse became known earlier this year, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. The 15-minute parking limit “would allow for your quick drop in for either a quick cup of coffee or for a store, to get in for retail to pick something up you had ordered,” Mann told members of the Police Commission at their April 21 meeting, held via videoconference. “And it would actually help a little bit with turnover on the street itself,” Mann said. Two 15-minute spaces would be located on Elm just east of the intersection with South Avenue, in front of Dunkin Donuts and midblock between the Playhouse crosswalk and Park Street, he said.

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Police: Route 123 Closure Has Tripled Traffic on Canoe Hill Road

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Traffic volume on Canoe Hill Road has tripled from 500 to 1,500 cars daily due to the state’s temporary closure of Route 123 due to a culvert replacement, police said last week. Officials also are finding that a “significant amount” of motorists are not using the Department of Transportation’s designated detour route on the east side of 123, and are instead using Parade Hill Road, Oenoke Ridge, Lambert Road and Country Club Road on the west side, according to New Canaan Police Deputy Chief John DiFederico. “That’s not the designated detour route but it’s kind of a de facto one, especially with people who are familiar with downtown and know how to get through and around the construction site,” DiFederico told members of the Police Commission during their regular meeting, held April 21 via videoconference. “So they did put a few more signs in those locations to assist with motorists. I have put out speed counters and we have seen, obviously, an uptick in traffic volume.”

The comments came during an update to the Commission on road construction.

Government

Town Seeks Review of ‘Sidewalk Bump-Out Plan’ on Elm Street

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Town officials say they’ve hired a traffic engineer to review a plan to bump out sidewalks on Elm Street. Michael Galante, director of traffic at Norwalk-based Hardesty & Hanover LLC, has been hired “to come out and take a look at Elm Street, review a bump-out plan for us, a sidewalk bump-out plan,” according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. “He is going to be doing a little bit of traffic study and a little bit of speed study on Elm Street, the main business section,” Mann told members of the Police Commission during their regular meeting, held March 17 via videoconference. “There was a request to have the speed limit dropped there, and then we’d like him to take a look at that. So he will be out there in the next couple of weeks to look at that and then we are hoping to come back to you in April with some findings.”

The Commission’s next regular meeting is scheduled for April 21. 

It wasn’t clear what portions of Elm Street sidewalks would be “bumped out” under the town’s plan, what businesses would benefit, whether the plan would result in loss of parking spaces or whether the town will solicit public input on the changes.

Government

Town Plans Additional Pedestrian-Activated ‘Flashing Beacons’ at Crosswalks in New Canaan

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Town officials say they’re hoping the state will consider funding installation of three pedestrian-activated flashing beacons at busy crosswalks in New Canaan. The three pedestrian crosswalks in question—at South Avenue and the YMCA, Old Stamford Road and Gower Road, and Oenoke Ridge and the Nature Center—do not meet state Department of Transportation criteria for speed limits and traffic volume, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. Yet the state may still cover the $16,000 cost for installing each “Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon” or “RRFB” if the town resubmits the locations as “honorable mentions,” Mann told members of the Police Commission at their most recent regular meeting. “We don’t have any that meet the criteria right now but we can at least put them on the list and, if you are amenable, go forward at that point,” Mann told the appointed body during its March 17 meeting, held via videoconference. “Each one of these that is requested has been requested by the residents or by our engineering staff, based on what we are looking at and the proposed sidewalk extensions that we are looking at doing throughout town.”

Mann added, “If we can’t get approval from the state, we are planning to extend the sidewalk on Oenoke Ridge to Parade Hill [Road] this year, once we get a DOT permit, and I would like to be able to install that one with town funds if I can’t get DOT funds for it.