Politics & Government

Selectmen Consider Policy on New Sidewalks

Members of the Darien Board of Selectmen are considering a formal policy on how to decide when to build new sidewalks around town, even as they move forward with plans to build one at the north end of Hoyt Street.

A proposed sidewalk on the northern end of Hoyt Street to help commuters walk to Talmadge Hill Railroad Station came a small step closer to reality in a recent discussion by the Darien Board of Selectmen.

Board members on Aug. 6 said they supported First Selectmen Jayme Stevenson's efforts to get an endorsement of the idea from both the New Canaan Board of Selectmen and the state Department of Transportation, then to go forward with a design for the sidewalk.

Selectmen in New Canaan are not really interested in paying for construction of a sidewalk on Hoyt Street north from the Darien border to the train station, a short distance away, Stevenson said. The New Canaan board didn't seem to be opposed to having sidewalks, however, if that town didn't have to finance them.

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In previous discussions with the New Canaan board, Darien selectmen said, they were told that town would support Darien's bid for a state grant to pay for the sidewalk.

But the Darien selectmen said the town should still plan to build a sidewalk—perhaps Darien would pay for the short stretch in New Canaan, or possibly neighborhood residents or commuters would raise funds for it if the state didn't pick up the entire bill, Selectman John Lundeen said.

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Stevenson plans on talking with state officials about Darien's idea for a sidewalk, then getting the New Canaan Board of Selectmen's formal endorsement of the idea. The town will need to survey and plan a sidewalk in New Canaan, and then apply to the state for a construction grant, she said.

Design costs for a sidewalk would be in the area of $40,000 to $50,000, Public Works Director Bob Steeger said. Surveying a stretch of the street in New Canaan would cost another $2,000 to $3,000, he said.

"I'm ready to proceed with the Darien portion and work toward some sort of solution of the New Canaan part, as well," Selectman David Bayne said. Even if the Darien sidewalk gets built without the New Canaan one, it would still be helpful to residents to be able to walk in safety along busy Route 106 (Hoyt Street) to and from the train station, he said.

Selectman Gerald Nielsen said he preferred to get New Canaan's approval of the sidewalk in that town before approving the project, because he was concerned about pedestrian safety if the sidewalk dumps them out onto the narrow street in New Canaan.

"It's all about safety," Nielsen said. "I just don't think it's safe to ahve people walking on that road—it's like a highway."

Bayne and Lundeen said Darien has plenty of sidewalks that abruptly end, and they wanted the Hoyt Street sidewalk whether or not it could be extended all the way to the train station.

Nielsen said this situation is worse than most sidewalks that end abruptly because pedestrians would need to walk on the busy roadway to their main destination, not just at the less-trafficked end of the sidewalk.

"We have people walking that street, now," Bayne replied. The sidewalk would be an improvement over the current condition, even if the proposed footpath is only useful for part of the distance.

Selectmen also discussed a draft of a proposed town policy on how town officials should decide requests for new sidewalks in the future.

The draft, written by Town Administrative Officer Karl Kilduff, asks the town Public Works Department to come up with a points system to various factors for proposed sidewalks—such as how many people would be expected to use them, whether the sidewalks led to public facilities such as schools, and whether or not the sidewalks would connect to other sidewalks.

Using the list of criteria, the town Public Works Department would use a points system to prioritize sidewalk proposals. Once reviewing the recommendation, the Board of Selectmen would then be free to approe or reject the priorities.

Kilduff will continue to work on the draft proposal and submit it for review at a future meeting.


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