Town Seeks South Avenue Crosswalk at Methodist Church

Town officials are asking the Connecticut Department of Transportation for a crosswalk between the United Methodist Church and New Canaan Police Department.

The move is designed to help steer overflow parking at the police department—temporary home during renovations to Town Hall to the first selectman’s office as well as finance and public works departments—to the church’s lot, officials say.

Right now, many of those coming into the police department are parking at the Schoolhouse Apartments, which they’re not supposed to.

The idea for the crosswalk came from town employees, according to Jim Cole, chair of the Police Commission. The commission hears requests for traffic-calming from residents.  

“I think a midblock crosswalk is absolutely necessary,” Cole said.

Though many motorists will stop for a pedestrian seeking to cross South Avenue at the church, coming from or going to the police department, it would be safer to have a crosswalk there.

“It can be a bit of a challenge,” Cole said.

It isn’t clear how quickly the state will act on the request. Very recently, ConnDOT put in a marked crosswalk further down South Avenue, past the Farm Road intersection and near the YMCA. An article about that crosswalk—designed to help people who park at the Y and use the trails in Waveny Park—generated some safety concerns in a comments thread here on Patch.