News

Police Urge DOT to Reverse Denial of Main Street Crosswalk at Town Hall

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Seeking to accommodate what long has been established as pedestrian behavior downtown, New Canaan Police are urging state officials to reverse a recent decision a request for a crosswalk at the Town Hall driveway off of Main Street. Permission is needed from the Connecticut Department of Transportation to designate a pedestrian walkway across Main, because it’s a state road along that stretch (Route 124). There’s no denying that New Canaanites cross the road just there, rather than hiking up toward Vine Cottage or down in front of Varnum’s Pharmacy—on a weekday last month, police saw 96 pedestrians cross mid-block in a 2-hour period. Yet the DOT has said it has safety concerns about the crosswalk. Police have responded with a letter that says, in part: “We do not concur with the preliminary recommendation to deny the request.

Government

New Canaan Seeks State Approval for Main Street Crosswalk

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New Canaan is seeking state approval for a crosswalk that would run across Main Street from beside the driveway to the Town Hall parking lot. Designed to ease foot traffic and improve safety near a hairy downtown intersection, officials are hoping the proposed crosswalk gets a nod from the Connecticut Department of Transportation prior to the newly renovated Town Hall’s reopening next Spring. Michael Pastore, director of the New Canaan Department of Public Works, said most people cross Main just at that section anyway. “Most people going to the restaurants and shops cross there, and that [proposed crosswalk] is up in the air, the DOT is having a hard time with it,” he said. The state likely requires a fuller traffic plan for the entire area to green light the proposed crosswalk—which would run cross Main from the south side of the Town Hall driveway, Pastore said.

Government

New Canaan Schools, Town Hall Delay Openings Thursday

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With temperatures dropping to the mid-teens overnight following a day of heavy snow and freezing rain that coated New Canaan in ice, Public Schools are on a 90-minute delay this morning. New Canaan High School and Saxe (7th & 8th Grade) will open at 9am. 5th and 6th Graders at Saxe will start at 9:50 am, while South School will open at 9:45.  East and West will open at 10:35am. Town officials are also delaying the opening of Town Hall (that is, the offices at the police department, Irwin Park and over by Walter Stewart’s) to 9:30 a.m. Thursday.