News

Neighbors Voice Concerns about Safety of Intersection at Lukes Wood and Michigan Roads

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Town officials said Tuesday that they’ll study the speeds of cars traveling southbound on Lukes Wood Road after hearing concerns from neighborhood residents that limited sight lines make it difficult for motorists at the Michigan Road intersection to see approaching vehicles. Police Capt. John DiFederico said he also will seek not only speeds but measurements on line-of-site distance for motorists waiting at the end of Michigan Road to turn onto Lukes Wood Road. Part of what makes it difficult for Michigan Road motorists is a bend in Lukes Wood Road just before the intersection, DiFederico said at a meeting of the Traffic Calming Work Group. The administrative team includes members of the Police, Fire, Emergency Management and Public Works departments. It fields residents’ requests for traffic calming, making recommendations to the Police Commission.

Government

Town Approves Purchase of Pedestrian-Activated ‘Flashing Beacons’ Alerting Motorists to Foot Traffic at Weed and Elm

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Motorists traveling northbound on Weed Street soon will need to pay attention to a flashing beacon indicating that pedestrians have entered a crosswalk leading to a heavily used new sidewalk at the Elm Street intersection. Town officials last week approved the $16,600 purchase of new pedestrian-activated push-button beacons to alert motorists when people have entered the soon-to-be-striped crosswalks on foot. The funds are coming from a state grant that New Canaan put in for and received, which also paid for the new sidewalk along the west side of Weed, from Elm to Irwin Park, according to Joe Zagarenski, senior engineer in the Department of Public Works. “I understand this has the support of Traffic Calming and the Police Commission,” Zagarenski told members of the Board of Selectmen during their July 25 meeting, held at Town Hall. “These also have a 90 percent adherence rate, so they are very effective,” he said.

News

‘Fish in a Barrel’: NCPD Distracted Driving Stops Up 73 Percent

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New Canaan Police have made 159 stops for distracted driving since June 1, officials said Tuesday—up from 92 such stops in the same timeframe last year, a 73 percent increase. Officers are using unmarked cars in some cases and though “the summer months are a bit lighter, people are away,” distracted drivers are very active, according to Police Capt. John DiFederico. “And we are getting cars pretty consistently,” DiFederico told members of the Police Commission during their regular meeting, held at the New Canaan Police Department. When Commissioner Paul Foley asked whether it was “pretty easy” to spot motorists using smartphones, Police Chief Leon Krolikowski responded: “Fish in a barrel.”

The update to the commission comes as police focus enforcement efforts on streets with histories of accidents as well as complaints. Krolikowski has referred to distracted driving as the number one, major motor vehicle threat facing New Canaan. Here’s a column from the chief that details what constitutes distracted driving and the consequences of such under state law.

News

Board of Ed Voices Support for Proposed Emergency Communications Antenna at West School

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Board of Education members on Monday night voiced support for a proposal from the New Canaan Police Department to install an approximately 10-foot radio communications antenna on a 5-foot “monopole” atop the roof of the West School gymnasium. Assured that the pole poses no health hazards—in fact, there are two existing, similar set-ups already at West School, used by the bus company and district itself, according to Police Capt. John DiFederico—Board of Ed members stopped short of a formal vote. The new one would serve public safety needs, he said. School board member Sheri West said: “It seems very straightforward to me that we would be supporting” the installation. DiFederico described the proposed antenna as an initial step toward improving portable radio communications for police, fire and public works officials as well as EMTs and members of the Community Emergency Response Team or ‘CERT.’

“The problem is that portable radios in the western side of town have a real difficult time reaching our base so that is what a receive-only antenna does—it captures the radio signals in the air and sends them back to the police department or the fire house or the public works facilities,” DiFederico said at the meeting, held in the Wagner Room at New Canaan High School.

News

Chief: New Canaan Police Increase Distracted Driving Enforcement on Downtown, Major Roads

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New Canaan Police are boosting distracted driving enforcement this summer, concentrating on roads that see a high number of accidents and complaints, officials said. Those include South Avenue, Oenoke Ridge Road, Route 123 and Silvermine Road but center mainly on downtown New Canaan, “where we are concerned about people being distracted where pedestrians are crossing the road,” according to Police Chief Leon Krolikowski. Asked about the prevalence of distracted driving in New Canaan, Krolikowski said “it’s gotten better over a few years, but it’s nowhere near where it should be.”

On Thursday morning, police in a short period of time stopped nearly 20 distracted motorists using cellphones and smartphones, many of whom received infraction summonses, he said. The comments come after a recent Police Commission meeting where Capt. John DiFederico reported that police could dedicate scores of officers to distracted driving enforcement and “do it all day long, it’s sad but they would have more violations than they could stop.”

DiFederico said he planned to study whether distracted driving enforcement has an impact on accidents, with an aim of achieving voluntary compliance at the same rate—91 percent—that New Canaan sees in seatbelt use. Krolikowski has referred to distracted driving as the number one, major motor vehicle threat facing New Canaan.