There is a bike and running trail set up just for your enjoyment. It has no cars and is totally safe. It has been improved time and again with taxpayer dollars. 750. thousand dollars were spent to create the tunnel under Skiff Street. And you think you should still use the open street with cars?

The timing on lights in the city is atrocious. I think you would literally need to be pushing your car through the city in order to hit every green. That's probably why people are speeding because they don't want to get stuck at a red light at every single intersection.

Neighbor - the existence of a trail is completely besides the point. The complaint is that motorists speed on Whitney and drive unsafely. The complaint is NOT that there is nowhere safe to go jogging.

I have to agree with the sentiment that the timing on lights on Whitney is not well-thought-out. You have to either go like a bat out of [its cave] or very very slowly. Can we possibly get the outbound Whitney lights timed as well as they are from Westville into downtown via Whalley?

neighbor: cyclists have just as much a right to the road as motorists, and are afforded all of the same rights to do so. bringing up a bike trail is completely unrelated to the issue at hand. just because taxpayer dollars have been spent on a recreational trail (which is utilized by not only cyclists but runners, skaters, baby strollers, etc), it doesn't mean motorists have a right to break traffic laws and endanger the lives of pedestrians and cyclists.

and i think the excuse of light timing is weak. having to stop at a light or two does not significantly alter your travel time. if you are that stressed about getting caught at a few lights, and are willing to put peoples lives at risk to prevent getting caught at one, you didn't allow enough time for your commute. how many minutes does society deem perfectly acceptable to sit in front of a TV waiting for ten commercials? if you find driving your vehicle lawfully to be inconvenient, maybe you should find an alternate form of transportation i.e. not relying so heavily on single-occupant driving trips.

As a runner biker and walker my life is threatened by the actions of drivers. I am replying to Barbaras statment. There is no need for her to be threatened if she uses the trail we all paid for a very great taxpayer expence.

neighbor, again, i am confused. you sound like you are suggesting that because there is a bike trail, that is the only place cyclists should ride, just to justify the taxpayer expense you keep referring to. (this is especially frustrating considering the tiny fraction that is spent on walking and cycling infrastructure improvements despite the huge percentage of trips made on bike or foot in new haven.)

back to the original issue at hand, though-- speeding and red light running is a huge issue in new haven, especially on streets like whitney, and we should not have to accept life-threatening situations just because people are in a rush.

While light-timing is not a cause of speeding, it could be a solution. Timing optimized to regulate the flow of traffic as it does on Whalley seems well worth looking into. Would that be something New Haven Safe Streets could help with?

Juli we can't guilt trip problems into going away, unless you want to put that on a placard and stand over on Whitney for the rest of eternity so people can read it as they speed by... although that might make things worse. My comment about the poor timing of the lights was trying to address WHY people are speeding. If you can fix the source of a problem you fix it permanently; if you just treat the symptoms you'll be doing it forever.

"How many minutes does society deem perfectly acceptable to sit in front of a TV waiting for ten commercials?" : I don't know but for me it's zero. I won't watch live TV, only DVR and I don't drive in New Haven except when absolutely necessary for exactly this reason. I would rather roll through town over a trail of broken glass naked in January that drive around in that city. Some might think that's all fine and dandy and people should walk or bike or w/e, however the businesses that lose out because the city is such a pain to navigate probably don't like it, the drivers who have to drive around in town don't like it, and the pedestrians/bikers who have to deal with cars trying to speed their way out of this place dont' like it either.

So fix the timing on the lights and everyone will be happy :)

Barbara, it seems logical that we can't put an end to speeding or illegally turning on red. Posting on SeeClickFix probably won't spur the police into leaving a murder scene to go after drivers on Whitney to protect you from certain doom. Maybe use the sidewalk and look both ways before crossing the street. Wearing a helmet might help too. And to those silly bikers, get out of my way I'm in a hurry!

Please, there must bw a way we can find middle ground. Give it a chance.....

I still feel like this is a major problem, but I am tired of not having anything done about it and getting annoying emails to close this issue.