Description
Many times I walk down to the Derby Greenway from my home in Ansonia near the police station. There is only a sidewalk on one side of the bridge. When you reach the end of the sidewalk and want to cross Division St to the greenway you have to run in between the traffic. Can someone please put in a button to stop the light and put cross walk lights in to tell us it's safe to cross the street?
17 Comments
Marc Weissman (Guest)
ron (Guest)
Citizen (Guest)
Planner (Guest)
Marc Weissman (Guest)
Second, I'd love to know if you went to any town meetings or discussions on the proposal. Maybe others could learn/help from what you already know.
And third, thanks to Planner for providing more details on the project. What sort of communication is going on with Derby and other cities like Hamden that already have a Riverwalk/Greenway? This would be very good to know...Thanks!
Citizen (Guest)
Rich (Guest)
Planner (Guest)
When Derby designed its Greenway, it explicitly designed so that a connection could be made under the bridge so that no pedestrians would have to cross traffic (if you've noticed, Derby has designed its entire trail this way). When Ansonia got it's grant for their Riverwalk, they hired a different designer. They claim that DEP permitting would preclude such a crossing, so they designed a crosswalk.
"Pedestrian Phase" refers to a regularly recurring part of the intersection cycle giving pedestrians the exclusive right to cross. (you don't have to push a button)
I agree that it would be preferable to cross under the bridge but, the only reason you would need an ambulance is if an impatient biker or pedestrian refused to wait for their phase of the cycle.
Exercise a little patience and the whole world would be a safer place.
Citizen (Guest)
Lisa (Guest)
Marc Weissman (Registered User)
jb (Guest)
Planner (Guest)
As an example, Derby's existing phase cost over $2 million and the next phase which will only build a crossing of the Naugatuck River from the existing trail at Hog Island to the riverbank behind Crystal Cleaners with a federal grant of $1.3 million. The balance of Derby's trail to 2-Mile Brook at the Orange town line will cost about $2.4 million and is not yet funded. Shelton's Riverwalk and current extension will cost almost $2 million per mile!
Given the clamor for expansion of these facilities and the requirement that the towns pay 20% of the costs, Ansonia made the practical decision to proceed with the crosswalk alternative.
It's an imperfect solution in an imperfect world, but we as a community can always petition our federal representatives to provide additional funding to design and build the "under the bridge" crossing which can be added at any time after the currently-planned Ansonia Trail is constructed. No investment in either existing trail would go to waste and there should be a pedestrian-activated signal on the surface anyway.
Planner (Guest)
The Ansonia designer is the same as the Shelton designer though.
Planner (Guest)
The Ansonia project to be bid does NOT include a pedestrian bridge to Target. The Pedestrian bridge will cross over the railroad (like the one in Derby) to get out to Pershing Drive near Bridge Street.
Anonymous (Guest)
State law requires cars to stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk. The park is closed at night when visibility might be a consideration. If you're really scared for your safety, go to the Taco Bell corner and cross from there, avoiding the left turners.
The crosswalk law applies at intersections, even if there is no painted crosswalk. Painted crosswalks are only needed to protect crossings in the middle of a block.
Closed Rich (Guest)