Government

Police Commission Takes No Action Following Sight Line Concern at Farm and Main

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Saying the intersection works as-is, members of New Canaan’s local traffic authority will take no action in response to residents’ call for changes at the Main-Old Norwalk-White Oak Shade-Farm Road four-way. The Police Commission in December received at least two letters from residents voicing concerns about a picket fence recently installed atop a stone wall on the south side of Old Norwalk Road, at the intersection. Obtained by NewCanaanite.com through a public records request, the letters note that the fence appears to violate two sections of the New Canaan Zoning Regulations (see pages 154 and 161 here). In a Dec. 6 letter to the Commission, Peter Cooley notes that the fence atop the rock wall is taller than allowed and also in a public right-of-way.

Around Town

Diverting Cut-Through Traffic, Town Installs Barricade on Conrad Road

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The town on Wednesday temporarily closed a heavily trafficked cut-through road near Exit 37 of the Merritt Parkway, as officials try to figure out how to control motor vehicle volume and speeds there. The Police Commission discussed the possibility during its Oct. 18 meeting of closing Conrad Road so that motorists cannot use it to quickly access South Avenue and the Merritt. The appointed body did not vote on the measure. Nevertheless, the town has put up barricades on Conrad where it juts west toward South Avenue (before Whiffle Tree Lane), and they will remain in place for five weeks, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann.

Government

Town Pursuing Traffic-Calming Measures on Conrad Road

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Responding to traffic and safety concerns from the neighborhood, town officials say they’re asking the state for permission to make changes in the area of Conrad Road. Officials are asking the state Department of Transportation whether Conrad—a cut-through between Gerdes Road and South Avenue for motor vehicles seeking to get onto the Merritt Parkway at Exit 37—could be designated as a “no thru traffic” street, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. The town also can ask the state whether the timing of the light at Gerdes Road and South Avenue could be adjusted in order to release more motor vehicles from Gerdes onto the Merritt, Mann said, though that “would be very difficult to enforce.”

“We would just be shifting it back to Gerdes one way or another,” Mann said during the Police Commission’s July 19 meeting, held at police headquarters and via videoconference. The DOT’s Office of State Traffic Administration or OSTA “might not have a problem because it would be intra-town not inter-town, but it might be a problem with enforcement,” he added. In addition, the state’s “primary concern all the time is traffic on their road,” Route 124/South Avenue, Mann said.

Government

Police Commission Approves New Traffic-Calming Measures for Silvermine Road

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The NewCanaanite.com Summer Internship Program is sponsored by Carriage Barn Arts Center. Town officials this month approved several new traffic-calming measures in Silvermine. During its July 19 meeting, members of the Police Commission voted in favor of striping on the side of Silvermine Road—reducing the amount of drivable space, forcing drivers to slow down—a new crosswalk near the Mill Road intersection and a solar-powered “speed sentry,” a speed monitoring device. Police Deputy Chief Andrew Walsh recommended that the striping on Silvermine run from the “intersection at Valley Road to the intersection at Comstock Hill Road.” 

Walsh said police have observed large amounts of foot traffic near the intersection at Mill Road. “It’s definitely highly traversed as a pedestrian, we think it would be safe to have that,” he said during the meeting, held at police headquarters and via videoconference.

Arthur Conley

Silvermine Residents Call for New Traffic-Calming Measures

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The NewCanaanite.com Summer Internship Program is sponsored by Carriage Barn Arts Center. Residents of Silvermine said last week that additional traffic-calming measures are needed in their neighborhood, as frequent speeding in the area creates a public safety issue. In 2017, the speed limit on Silvermine Road was reduced from 30 to 25 mph. However, residents such as Mark Thorsheim say it is not enforced frequently enough. Motorists speed and even pass each other on the narrow roadway, creating a hazard for the area’s many pedestrians, Thorsheim told members of the Police Commission at their June 21 meeting.