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.

Government

Selectmen Approve $33,000 Contract To Make 106-Carter-Canoe Hill Intersection Safer

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Town officials this week approved a $33,000 contract with a traffic consultant in order to design a new, safer plan for a harrowing intersection in New Canaan. The Board of Selectmen voted 3-0 during its regular meeting Tuesday to approve the contract with New Haven-based Hardesty & Hanover to create a long-term solution for the intersection of Route 106, Carter Street and Canoe Hill Road. The solution is expected to “provide us with better sight lines and safe turning lanes,” Public Works Director Tiger Mann told the selectmen during the meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. Documents provided in the public packet for the meeting show that motorists traveling toward Route 106 on Carter Street would have an option to turn more squarely to the state road in order to gain a better sight line to enter the traffic flow and get into position to turn left onto Canoe Hill. “So as you’re coming up to Carter and Canoe, you would turn, have an area of refuge, and then be able to make the [left] turn [onto Canoe Hill],” Mann said.

News

Town Hires Turner Construction for Dunning Stadium Projects

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The town last month approved a $38,500 contract to hire a Shelton-based company as construction manager on a multi-part project to improve Dunning Stadium. The Board of Selectmen voted 3-0 in favor of the contract with Turner Construction, which also will provide a guaranteed maximum price or “GMP” under the agreement, with both the town and New Canaan Athletic Foundation. “That was one of the concerns or one of the recommendations or requests from the Board of Finance and the Town Council when we went forward for the funding itself,” Public Works Director Tiger Mann told the selectmen during their Aug. 15 special meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “We have mirrored exactly what happened at the Police Department,” Mann said.

Government

Selectmen OK Restaurant’s Use of Alleyway by Playhouse

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The Board of Selectmen at its most recent meeting approved a license that will allow a new restaurant planned for Elm Street to use a town-owned alleyway that runs along the western side of the movie theater. The owners of Blackbird restaurant are seeking “a secondary means of egress out of the building” at 105 Elm St., according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. “We’re currently analyzing whether or not this will affect what we’re doing with the Playhouse,” Mann told the selectmen at their Aug. 15 meeting, held at Town Hall and via videoconference. “We don’t think that it necessarily will come into play, but we finalized where we’re coming out into the alleyway and where they’re coming out to the alleyway.