Safe Routes to School

The New Canaan Schools Transportation Department reports that for the 2007-08 school year there were about 100 middle and high school students who lived on or between the east side of Main Street and the south side of East Avenue.  These students were eligible to ride the school bus.

Students who live between the west side of Main Street and South Avenue can already walk up their local side street and down the South Avenue sidewalks.  Some have even discovered convenient shortcuts along neighborhood side roads and through backyards.

If we want to provide additional, walkable, “safe routes to school” for students, why is the Town planning to put a sidewalk on the west side of Main Street? Wouldn’t it make more sense to put it on the east side? Or will we watch in horror as students who live on the east side dash across Main Street to get to the sidewalk on the other side?

East Side West Side

Improved safety is probably the most compelling reason for locating any Main Street sidewalk on the east side of the street, but there are others. (The roadway is too narrow along several sections to accommodate the addition of sidewalks on both sides.)

A web search turned up the Town Transportation Plan, which discusses the location of proposed sidewalks (page 4), along with priorities for developing and maintaining them (page 8). The search also found a map of New Canaan showing the proposed Pedestrian/ Bicycle/ Transit Plan.

Siting a sidewalk on the east side of Main Street would create a safe pedestrian path for the large, densely populated area between Main Street and East Avenue, and provide a “Walk to School” opportunity for middle and high school students living in that area. We are concerned about the alternative prospect: students dashing across Main Street to get to a sidewalk on the west side.

Residents of the area between Main Street and South Avenue already have easy access to the South Avenue sidewalks. With the simple addition of a crosswalk at Farm Road, a sidewalk on the east side of Main Street would still create a “loop” bordered by Main, Farm, South and the Center of Town

A sidewalk along the east side of Main Street would also provide walking access to the cemetery.

And then there are the basic construction efficiencies: among these, that the east side is flatter. There are 4 times as many banks along the west side that would need to be excavated as there are on the east side.

The east side is mostly free of utility poles; a primary electric power/ telephone/ cable route into downtown is strung on poles located along the west side of Main Street. A sidewalk on the east side wouldn’t have poles dotting the middle of it, impeding pedestrian passageway.

Safe Sidewalks vs. the Dangerous Outside Curve

Last week’s Indianpolis 500 race reminded us of the “outside curve” rule – when drivers go too fast around a curve it’s the outside wall they crash into.

There’s an “outside curve” on the west side of Main Street between Down River Road and Woodland Road that is tricky to navigate, and it often catches drivers by surprise. Coming off a slight downhill stretch, they approach the curve too quickly. Most drivers just swing wide, but we have seen vehicles hit the telephone pole or crash into the bank there. A child on a sidewalk would be at risk.

Engineers who have seen aerial shots of this curve advise that, for reasons of safety, the sidewalk belongs on the other (east) side of Main Street.

New Sidewalks Planned from Oak Street to Farm Road

The Town of New Canaan is proposing to build new sidewalks:

• along the West side of Main Street from Oak Street to Farm Road,
• along the East side of South Avenue from Surrey Road to Farm Road, and
• along the West side of Weed Street from Elm Street to Irwin Park.

Several owners of properties abutting these new sidewalk routes first became aware of this plan when the agenda was published for the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting on May 20, 2008.  The sidewalks are included in a $5 million appropriation and bond issuance enabling the Public Works Department to repave lower Main Street and other roads in town as Phase III of the Town’s road renovation project. (Phase I was completed in 2004 and 2005; Phase II was completed in 2006 and 2007).

The $5 million appropriation and bond issuance were approved by the Board of Selectmen at their regular meeting on March 4, 2008, by the Board of Finance at a subsequent meeting, and by the Town Council at a special meeting on March 10, 2008. Published minutes of the Board of Selectmen meeting indicate that “Residents of lower Main Street expressed their pleasure over the prospect of a freshly repaved road and new sidewalks.” The published agenda for that meeting did not indicate that the construction of new sidewalks would be included in the appropriation or that sidewalks would be discussed. Media coverage of these meetings did not mention the plan to construct new sidewalks.

At the P&Z meeting on May 20, the chairman was careful to point out that the commission’s role was to make sure that the proposal fit in with the Town Plan. The commission approved the project with one dissent.

The sidewalk project, as presented by Public Works Senior Engineer Tiger Mann, would include a 5-foot-wide concrete walk with granite curbs. The width would be achieved by a combination of

• narrowing portions of the roadway on Main Street and
• excavating portions of land abutting the road.

Trees would be removed, as needed.

No retaining walls are planned.

P&Z members inquired about the possibility of burying electric lines along the route and were advised that the cost was high. Building officials agreed to look into the cost. P&Z members also inquired about brick or other aethetic improvements.

Several property owners present at the meeting were permitted to speak.  Those with properties abutting the proposed sidewalk expressed varying concerns, including concerns about the number of embankments that will be excavated, safety, responsibility for maintenance, upkeep and repairs, and possible risk exposure and liability.