Government

Town Redoing ‘Splitter Island’ at Mead Park Exit As Part of Sidewalk Project

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The Board of Selectmen at its most recent meeting approved an approximately $13,000 contract with an East Otis, Mass.-based company to acquire granite curbing for a new “splitter island” in Mead Park, among other projects. The selectmen voted 3-0 in favor of the $13,469.86 contract with Williams Stone during the elected body’s Sept. 19 meeting. The traffic island where the access road through Mead Park exits onto Richmond Hill Road divides motor vehicles turning left or right at that point and the granite curbing for an improved island “need to be specifically made for that piece,” according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. The splitter island is “very small with basically two signs in it that say ‘one-way’ or what have you,” Mann told the selectmen at the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference.

Government

Major Paving Project To Start Next Week

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The town is poised to start a major paving project next week, encompassing many of the roads along the South Avenue-Main Street corridor. Public Works Director told members of the Board of Selectmen during their most recent meeting that he’s hoping the approximately $1.6 million paving project starts Oct. 1 so that it’s wrapped up well ahead of Thanksgiving. The town is to be reimbursed by utility companies for paving that will include Farm Road, South Avenue, Brooks Road, Crystal Street, Elm Place, Grace Street, Hawthorne Road, Kelly Green, Leslie Lane, Meadow Lane, Orchard Lane, Park Place, Selleck Place, Whitney Avenue, Woodland Road, Autumn Lane, Douglas Road, Fairty Drive, Orchard Drive, Southwood Drive, Tommy’s Lane, Green Avenue, Maple Street, Oak Street, Locust Avenue and Grove Street. The town is hiring Norwalk-based FGB Construction to do the work, and will be reimbursed by Eversource and Aquarion, Mann said.

Government

‘It’s a Scary Proposition’: Pedestrian Safety Issue Emerges Near Saxe Middle School

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Farm Road motorists are blowing through a crosswalk with a pedestrian-activated flashing beacon near Saxe Middle School, raising serious safety concerns for the town, officials say. The crosswalk at Farm Road between Field Crest Road and Village Drive already has a “Rapid Rectangular Flashing Beacon” or “RRFB,” according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. 

Though the overall motorist “adherence rate” to the devices (there are six in New Canaan) is about 92 percent—a high figure—“we are having a little bit of a problem with the one at Saxe,” Mann told the Board of Selectmen at its most recent meeting. “People were running through it,” Mann said at the meeting, held Sept. 5 in Town Hall and via videoconference. “Kids will press the button and people are still running through it because they want to get through South Avenue and then through South and Farm and then get onward towards the Merritt or wherever else they need to go.

Government

Selectmen Approve $17,000 Contract for ADA-Compliant Rails at ‘9/11 Memorial Plaza’ Downtown

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The Board of Selectmen at its most recent meeting approved a $16,780 contract with a Norwalk company to install guardrails and handrails at a 9/11 memorial plaza at the train station. The town installed a new sidewalk recently, above the Elm Street 911 Memorial Plaza, and in that work “they kind of stripped all the landscaping away,” according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. “We’re working with the Beautification League on replanting that area,” he told the selectmen at their Sept. 5 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “They’re paying for the plantings and they’ll replant that area,” he said.

Government

Town To Install ‘Mini-Roundabout’ at Conrad and Whiffle Tree

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Facing traffic safety concerns, officials last week approved a $22,000 with a New Haven-based traffic consultant to design a “mini-roundabout” in the “South of the Y” neighborhood. The Board of Selectmen voted 3-0 during its Sept. 5 meeting to approve the contract with Hardesty & Hanover to design the traffic-calming measure at the intersection of Conrad Road and Whiffle Tree Lane. 

The town has been “reviewing this area for quite some time,” Public Works Director Tiger Mann told the selectmen at their regular meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. 

“We have increased volume coming through, especially when the Merritt Parkway is closed,” Mann said. 

He continued, “And then we have people that Waze will tell them that if they stay on Gerdes, it’ll take them a minute longer. So they’ll shoot down Conrad, try to come up and beat the light at South and Gerdes. Subsequent to that, we have another proposal from Hardesty & Hanover to look at the South and Gerdes light, since we’ve asked the DOT [Connecticut Department of Transportation] probably four or five times to look at it, and they say that there’s no problem with the timing.