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Politics & Government

New Sidewalks: An East Side Story

New Canaan's Department of Public Works recommends that the new sidewalks should be installed on the east side of lower Main St.

Department of Assistant Director Tiger Mann was at the meeting Wednesday, July 20, to make a presentation and recommendation concerning roadway improvements and sidewalk installation on lower Main St. It turned out to be an east side story.

After pouring over extensive studies on safety, property encroachment, speed limit issues and costs, the DPW recommends that the sidewalks along lower Main Street be installed on the east side of the road.

Mann said he did five different cost analyis studies examining everything from the installation of sidewalks using granite or concrete curbing, and determined that it would cost approximately $100,000 less to have the sidewalks installed on the east side of the street rather than the west side. 

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Chris DeAngelis, a professional engineer from Cabezas DeAngelis, an engineering and surveyors company base in Bridgeport, was the point man for the DPW during the bulk of the Wednesday night presentation. 

DeAngelis recommended the roadways from Lakeview and Oak Streets down to Old Norwalk Road be expanded to 28 feet, which would encompass two 12-foot-wide lanes and built-in shoulders of two feet. The plan calls for a five-foot sidewalk on the east side of the road. 

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DeAngelis pointed to a number of factors that led to the decision that installing a sidewalk on the east side of the road was best for the town. He told the council that after , it would be safer for drivers and fire truck operators if the sidewalks were on the east side of the street.  

Having the sidewalks on the east side would allow drivers to pull over so the fire trucks wouldn't have to cross the center line to pass them.

In addition, DeAngelis said, there are fewer potential conflicts if the sidewalk is installed on the east side of the street. Fewer utility poles, catch basins, and fire hydrants would have to relocated and only four retaining walls spanning 250 feet would have to be constructed.  If the  sidewalks were installed on the west side of the street eight retaining walls spanning 600 feet would have to be installed. 

DeAngelis reiterated that the goal of the Department of Public Works was the installation of the sidewalk and not roadway improvements. To try to bring lower Main street up to current Connecticut Department of Transportation standards would be difficult and costly, he said.

New Canaan Police Commissioner Jim Cole told the Town Council that he is making a recommendation to the state and department of transportation that the speed limit on lower Main street be reduced to 25 miles per hour. Vehicles now travel in excess of 35 miles per hour on that section of the street. 

 The Town Council will hold a public hearing about the sidewalk installation on July 27 for the Town Council to make a recommendation upon whether the bidding documents should be requested for the east or the west side of Main Street for the sidewalk project. 

Copies of the engineers' preliminary plans can be found on the Town website.

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