Government

Town To Make Temporary Repair at Downgraded Ponus Ridge Bridge

By |

A bridge in western New Canaan recently was downgraded due to new state regulations and fire vehicles are prohibited from traversing it, officials say. New Canaan Fire Department vehicles now must go around the bridge on Ponus Bridge near Collins Pond, according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann. 

“It’s not adding much to their time but it’s still sensitive in that area since that services Dan’s Highway—they already had a structure fire there—[and] certain other areas,” Mann said during a Dec. 11 meeting of the Selectmen’s Advisory Committee on Buildings and Infrastructure, held at Town Hall. 

He referred to a Nov. 16 fire that rendered a Dan’s Highway house uninhabitable, opening a discussion about installing more dry hydrants in New Canaan’s outlying areas. As a temporary fix, Mann said, the town will install a shear slab over the top of the road “that should take care of almost every single one of their vehicles.”

And a consultant is analyzing what’s required under new Connecticut Department of Transportation regulations, he said.

Government

Public Works: Praise for New Traffic Island at Laurel and Canoe Hill After Signage, Striping Went In 

By |

Complaints about the reconfigured traffic island at Canoe Hill and Laurel Roads have stopped since the town put in new signage and striping, officials said Wednesday. Town officials had grappled for years with ways to improve the intersection, where motorists sometimes ignored instructions to keep right around an existing traffic island. Last fall, the Police Commission green-lighted a plan to push the island itself deeper into Laurel Road, no longer requiring westbound Canoe Hill traffic to drive wide around it. According to Public Works Director Tiger Mann, residents used to lodge complaints with the town about “people going the wrong way around it.”

“Specifically box trucks, FedEx trucks, landscaping vehicles, things like that,” Mann said during a meeting of the Selectmen’s Advisory Committee on Buildings and Infrastructure, held at Town Hall. “If you’re going the wrong way and somebody doesn’t notice you’re going the wrong way, that’s a bad accident waiting to occur.”

Construction of the newly configured traffic island “lagged a little bit,” Mann said, and “while it was being installed, people were unhappy with it, because they didn’t understand how they were supposed to travel.”

“I’m still uncertain as to why that was true, because it’s pretty self-explanatory to me, but we put the signage in, we striped it, and I have gotten nothing but compliments since that time,” he said.

Advisory Committee on Buildings and Infrastructure

First Selectman Moynihan Proposes Standing Committee To Advise on Town Building and Infrastructure Projects

By |

New Canaan’s highest elected official on Tuesday proposed creation a committee that would advise the Board of Selectmen on town building and infrastructure projects. Composed of five or seven members, the committee would advise the Board of Selectman on projects including major roadway renovation, bridges, school roofs and solar installations, according to First Selectman Kevin Moynihan. Though for major capital projects a dedicated building committee still would be formed, a standing committee that includes one representative from each of the Town Council, Board of Finance and Board of Education, as well as specialists such as contractors and architects, could meet monthly to review projects that now are handled on an ad hoc basis, Moynihan said during the selectmen’s regular meeting. “There have been a couple of recent examples where a project has come out and we said, ‘Oh, have we thought about maybe if we oversaw that more or reviewed it more,’ ” Moynihan said during the meeting, held at Town Hall. 

“A project is proposed and funded, and then the oversight of the execution of that project is something we sometimes have been a little surprised by. Do we have enough public input?

Board of Selectmen

‘A Dump Within a Dump’: Selectman Williams Calls for Improved Animal Shelter

By |

The town’s Animal Control shelter—which occupies about 800 square feet in a non-insulated former incinerator building at the dump—is not suitable to house dogs and other animals, Selectman Nick Williams said Tuesday. Given that the shelter soon will need a new roof, which officials estimate will cost $75,000 to $80,000, New Canaan should plan for an improved future facility or to outsource the care of lost or dumped animals, Williams said during the Board of Selectmen’s regular meeting. “To be clear, we are talking about maybe 50, 60, 70 animals a year going in there—it’s not high usage but it’s also not a great place to keep animals,” Williams said. The building’s “only use is as an animal shelter, which is a dump,” he said. “A dump within a dump—I’m sorry, a dump within a ‘Transfer Station,’ ” Williams said.

Footer Featured Widget

Officials Vote 3-0 To Install Flashing Stop Sign at for Michigan Road Motorists at Route 123

By |

The Police Commission voted 3-0 last week to install a stop sign with flashing lights at Michigan and Smith Ridge Roads to alert westbound traffic seeking to cross or turn onto Route 123 of the dangerous intersection. The move is one measure town officials are taking while they wait for the state to address concerns raised months ago regarding the intersection, site of “multiple serious accidents,” Police Chief Leon Krolikowski said during the Commission’s Oct. 16 meeting, held at police headquarters. 

“We just had another one,” Krolikowski said. He referred to an Oct. 15 crash in the area.