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NEW CANAAN, Conn. Marc Harrison sees it and hears it all the time.
Vehicle accidents occur frequently near his home off Bank Street in New Canaan. Its like we have an accident once a week, Harrison said as he did yard work Tuesday. Many of the wrecks, he said, occur as travelers heading east on Park Street are hit from behind as they stop for traffic at Old Stamford Road and Bank Street. Its a risky intersection, he said.
His wife, Michelle, says she has seen similar crashes and cars moving fast as they drive east on Old Stamford Road and then north onto Park Street. You cant go from here to Mead Park without it being treacherous, she said.
Town officials are hoping to slow traffic and make it safer by adding a refuge island at the three-way intersection. The town Department of Public Works and New Canaan Police have been working with the Connecticut Department of Transportation to improve the intersection of Old Stamford Road and Park and Bank streets. (Click here to see the proposed blueprints.)
The island would force drivers going from Old Stamford Road to Park Street to make a wider turn and pass over paving bricks. The raised island would also more clearly divide the section for Park Street drivers heading to Bank Street and Old Stamford Road. Its a different traffic control measure, said Assistant Public Works Director Tiger Mann. Its been in the works for weeks.
Mann said the project would likely cost about $175,000 in town funds. The plan also needs approval from DOT because Old Stamford Road is also State Route 106. Final approval of the concept is expected in a few weeks, Mann said.
Frank Booth, 84, said there are not as many accidents at the intersection as there were 30 to 40 years ago, but maybe the island might be a good idea, he said.
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