Town officials want to install some type of traffic control measure in Mead Park—signage or possibly painting the road—to help motorists navigate the hugely confusing island near the pond.
People drive all kinds of ways around the un-signed traffic island at Waveny. Credit: Michael Dinan
A ‘Keep Right’ sign should be installed on the traffic island, and ‘Slow’ or ‘15 mph’ should be painted on the road through Mead, according to members of the Park & Recreation Commission subcommittee that helps oversee the popular spot.
“I’m not sure what the traffic flow is supposed to be, and I’m pretty sure nobody else does, either,” commissioner Katie Owsley said during the group’s May 11 meeting, held at Lapham Community Center.
Owsley said she observed numerous cars negotiating the traffic island differently during a recent visit.
An aerial view of Mead Park.
According to Recreation Director Steve Benko, Mead allowed for two-way traffic up until about 25 years ago, when the town made it one way.
“You come in from Park Street and exit on Richmond Hill,” Benko said. “The island has always been there. There used to be a water fountain on it.”
There also used to be a ‘Keep Right’ sign on the island, but it went missing.
“I don’t know what happened to it,” Benko said.
Commissioner Jason Miligan quipped: “It’s in somebody’s dorm room.”
Another sign that went missing instructed motorists coming up from the Apple Cart food lodge and little league fields to ‘Exit’ on Richmond Hill Road.
John Howe, parks superintendent with the Department of Public Works, said many motorists still exit Mead Park through its entrance.
Commissioner Francesca Segalas, who serves on the subcommittee with Owsley, suggested installing a speed limit sign just inside the Park’s entrance.
But it’s difficult to install any signage near the large archway “because people go down the hill so quick that they don’t see it,” Benko said.
“There really is no place to put a ‘Slow’ or a 15 mph sign along the baseball field because it just opens up to a wide area. So it’s kind of tough. You can put it up by the tennis courts as you come toward Richmond Hill but that’s kind of after-the-fact.”
To the suggestion that the town consider painting the speed limit on the road through Mead, commissioner Laura Costigan said she hadn’t heard of many problems at the park in the 21 years she’s lived nearby.
“I’ve been living right behind there, and I go to the park all the time and I’ve parked in the park, and I’ve never seen a fender-bender or an accident,” Costigan said. “I’ve just never seen a problem. Have there been that many problems?”
Noting that no motor vehicle traffic ever should travel to the left of the island on approach from Park Street, Milligan suggested that the town consider closing off the area between the traffic island and large baseball field, effectively forcing everyone to the right, and create more parking there.
On Howe’s suggestion, the commission agreed to tap DPW Assistant Director Tiger Mann for his input, as he helps to oversee traffic calming and signage in New Canaan.
I think the “keep right” sign can be replaced and leave it at that. I have also lived here many years, I’ve been at Mead for baseball games and never seen an issue. Let’s keep it simple! And “keeping right” is a pretty basic driving tenet.