Traffic officials are discussing a plan that would change the way Carter Street and Canoe Hill Road feed into Route 106, saying there’s a problem at the intersection with limited sightlines onto the state road.
Specifically, officials are seeking to increase the “skew angles” of the two town roads, so that instead of shooting straight across 106 (Silvermine Raod), motorists coming from Carter would make a right onto 106 and then queue up to make a left onto Canoe Hill.
“That’s been a bad problem for a while as far as cars coming across from Carter to Canoe Hill,” said Tiger Mann, assistant director of the New Canaan Department of Public Works and a member of the Traffic-Calming Work Group. “The thought is to try and open up the intersection a little bit more so that a car would come out from Carter and then basically take a right-hand turn and queue up to make a left-hand turn.”
New Canaan Police Capt. David Bender, a member of the work group, said at its most recent meeting that there are almost no accidents at the intersection, “probably because people are being so careful.”
Police Commission Chair Jim Cole, also a work group member, said the intersection clearly is not ideal as it is.
Though state officials have said they support the plan (Route 106 is a state road), the work group said it wants to make sure the change would create no additional traffic issues. For that, a traffic engineering study must be done, and it’s possible that monies would be freed up in the new fiscal year, starting July 1, to create that study.
