New Canaan Drivers Invent Merge at Train Station

What happens at New Canaan's train station is this: Motorists blow through the stop sign at the end of the lot, moving out into the intersection at Park and Elm Streets and then cutting into and across the drivers obeying the light.  

Really?

Really. The video above is a small sample of what could be seen in the wake of the arrivals of the 5:57 p.m., 6:13 p.m. and 6:33 p.m. trains from Grand Central Terminal on Wednesday.

What we see in this video is a mix of motor vehicle violations that—I’m told by the town resident who recommended this phenomenon for our regular “Really?” feature here on New Canaan Patch—occur every day as commuters return home.

Mainly, we see three types of bad behavior from the train lot motorists. First, nearly every vehicle completely ignores the stop sign. Second, if the light is green, these motorists roll right into the intersection here to make a left across the traffic on Elm, or a right onto Park. Finally, if the light is red, they pull out in front of the waiting traffic, idling in the intersection after cutting ahead of a far longer line of motorists behind them.

It's not as though they're doing this because the Elm Street drivers wave them in—for example, in the last part of the clip above you see a black SUV that pulls directly in front of a car that's also trying to turn left toward Oenoke. 

One obvious question is this: Why are motorists coming out of the train lot even allowed to make that left? They’ll never get the light at rush hour, ever.

Is it so painful to turn right and get the light at Park and Pine? That light, by the Post Office, is a bear if you’re traveling toward town, but from this side you get the left indicator first and you can either make a left and take Cherry around toward Oenoke or else just make a couple of right-hand turns to get back to the train station so you can make that left toward God’s Acre. 

One quick note: You can comment below in this thread, you can post your Opinion on this (or anything else) by clicking “Post Now” just to the right of this in our Boards section, or you can kickstart a blog. 

Here are some past installments of “Really?” (below). If you have an idea for this feature, shoot me an email: michaeld@patch.com … Thanks:

• Mercedes a Hazard on Main Street?
  
• Pedestrian Halts Main Street Traffic
  
• Hey Thanks a Lot, Next Time Leave a Can Opener
  
• Incredibly Slow Trucker Disrupts Morning Commute