New Canaan motorists may not know it, but they have a committee of professionals and residents like Richard Reifers looking out for their highway safety.
Reifers is a member of the town's Traffic Calming Committee. The retired president of Diamond International, Reifers thinks of himself as a problem solver. "I consider myself an analyst, and I'm an inventor. I know something about making solutions to problems."
His mission as a member of the Traffic Calming Committee is to find ways to make traffic flow more safely in New Canaan.
The committee -- Reifers has been a member for three years -- is comprised of residents and employees from several town departments, including public works and the police department.
Reifers said the panel has discussed adding a rotary at the intersection of South Avenue and Farm Road, close to New Canaan High School, Saxe Middle School and South School. But the town currently doesn't have the money for the project, and it could take years for it to be built. "Schoolchildren have to be brought to school safely, and the roads around the schools are a primary group," he said.
Reifers also wants to see improvement of the intersection at Oenoke Ridge and St. Johns Place near God's Acre so drivers coming onto Oenoke Ridge are more visible. He also wants curbing restored there.
Reifers said it's good that police have stepped up enforcement of the ban on drivers using cell phones. However, he does not approve of confiscating the phones of drivers who violate the law, an action First Selectman Jeb Walker has said the town will review. "I think that's unreasonable," he said. "Without a cell phone, some people could be out of business."
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