Oh yes, the crosswalk was put in late last week and the yield sign for pedestrians came on Tuesday. Wait a minute, that was a dream I had! No, no crosswalk. I watched a mother last night run across the street not realizing that her (young) kid was left on this side of the street. Traffic did not stop or slow for her. She went back and carried him across. The Waucoma gets it all on tape, so accident reconstruction will be easy. It really is not a healthy situation, all blogging aside.

The city has very limited funds for restriping and would like to focus crosswalk restriping on areas of high pedestrian traffic.

Technically, every intersection is already legally a crosswalk, whether or not one is striped on the road. If drivers are not yielding the right of way, it is most likely not out of any maliciousness. Even at striped crosswalks, it takes a second to register the fact that there is a pedestrian standing at the corner (I know because I've kicked myself numerous times for blowing past pedestrians at street corners on my bicycle). I've found that it's often worth just waving to drivers to try to get their attention. It's possible that they still won't notice you or simply won't care, but it's always worth a shot.

If speeds are simply too fast for this to work, let me know and we'll have to try figure out something else.

Basically, it's hard to know what to do because it would be completely impractical to ask the city to paint crosswalks at every single intersection like this. And frankly, a lot of people are skeptical that slapping more paint on the ground is the most cost-effective way to improve safety.

This is an area of high pedestrian traffic, namely children and families crossing at a point in the street coming out of a blind curve. A visual cue is needed to alert drivers of the active driveway and pedestrian gate. That cue is one of those cute "yield" to pedestrians signs. This sign cannot be placed unless the walk is striped. The sign needs to be placed. The community will fund the sign if the city will do its part. I'm not clear as to what part of family oriented club does not designate high pedestrian traffic. Although ped traffic here is seasonal, so are schools.

BTW, this very section of fence has been hit three times in the last 6 months facilitating a need for TOTAL REPLACEMENT of the fence by the club, including the electronic gate. Each time, speed was a factor in the accidents. Each time, the driver was uninsured.

Brian,
Do you live in this neighborhood? Just wondering because this is an intersection that is in heavy use by the Waucoma Yacht Club members, families, and the parties they rent the space out to. This is not just any intersection. And as far as the city having limited funds..we're talking PAINT. To me this is a no brainer.

Point taken.

I'll try again to convince the traffic engineer here. I think he's frustrated because there are more crosswalks already striped in the city than the budget will allow us to repaint.

Nevertheless, I think you are right. If there's any way you can think of to provide evidence of high ped traffic (a petition? SCF comments?a good photograph can speak volumes.) that might help convince Bruce that it's not just this one person on Front St who won't stop complaining.

As a last resort, you can always go to your Alderperson and have them lean on the department until you get what you want. I would prefer that it not come to that, as that's how a whole lot of unnecessary stop signs and centerlines have been put in over the years.

Brian,
The community just finished a walk through the neighborhood with Mayor and after stopping in at the Yacht Club and hearing about the 6 times their gates have been crashed into because of traffic issues, he fully understood our issues. I hope Bruce talks to the Mayor regarding this, but if we need to petition we will.

I'm working on video of the buses. Why the buses? Because they are big, shake our houses, and have the same name emblazoned on each bus, and come by with such ferocity and regularity that you can set your watch to it, or watch the seismic wave activity go to work you cup of coffee, fish bowl, toilet bowl...you get the picture.

Really? OK. I'll email this to Bruce and maybe he'll come around.

(my last comment was in response to Heather's responses. As to the buses, you'll have to take that up with First Student, or whoever opperates the buses).

Very dangerous for kids and adults. Crosswalk is needed now.

JD

A crosswalk would be great in this location. I live almost across the street from this area and the speeding traffic is unbelievable. Folks you would have to see it to believe it!!! I have seen cars hit the curb and come up on the sidewalk because they take the corner so fast. Occasionally someone will lose an oil pan but pretty typically they continue driving as long as their car still drives. I fear for my child every time he rides his scooter/bike on the sidewalk. I usually wear bright colors and stand almost in the street hoping people will at least see me, slow down and wonder why I'm practically standing in the road. We need crosswalks and the pedestrian signs that are popping up on State Street. I hope the city doesn't wait for a tragedy to occur, let's PLEASE be proactive and not reactive on this one.

A crosswalk and other progressive road designs would be helpful at making this street more welcoming to residents of all ages and abilities.

The city's in-street pedestrian signs are not just used on State Street -- there are dozens now in place in the Dixwell, Downtown, East Rock, Hill, Westville, West Rock and other neighborhoods. Having more in Fair Haven would be great.

Bruce's response when I asked him about putting in a crosswalk and an in-street crosswalk sign at Front and Pine: "I don't think so."

You might want to ask your alderperson (and the mayor) to start leaning on the department to override Bruce's analysis.

Hold on. Bruce has decided to elaborate to me on his argument, so please refrain from contacting your elected officials until you can hear all of what he has to say (then you can decide after that).

First off, Bruce points to this study:
http://www.tfhrc.gov/safety/pubs/04100/index.htm
conducted in 2005 by the Federal Highway Administration. After conducting robust statistical analysis of 1000 marked and 1000 matched unmarked crosswalks in 30 cities across the U.S., the researchers were able to determine that "on two-lane roads, the presence of a marked crosswalk alone at an uncontrolled location was associated with no difference in pedestrian crash rate, compared to an unmarked crosswalk."

Secondly, Bruce reemphasized the fact that the city has only allocated funds to restripe 30 crosswalks this year. If Pine and Front were to get a crosswalk, an existing (presumably more heavily used) faded crosswalk would not be repainted.

Third, Bruce points out that there are no curb ramps on the east side of Front St. He does not want to stripe a crosswalk to a curb with no ADA ramps. Until someone puts up the money for curb ramps, a new crosswalk at Pine St would be in his view unwise and contrary to the spirit of the American's with Disabilities Act.

The speed of drivers and recklessness is rampant on front and other streets in our neighborhood! A cross walk is a great start to help with this ongoing issue.

I think Bruce's point is that a crosswalk alone will do nothing to reduce the unsafe behavior of drivers. He feels there is a moral hazard to painting a crosswalk where it is not in fact safe to cross.

Brian and Bruce,
Does this mean we need to wait for one of us or God forbid one of our children to become disabled by a speeder to get some paint in the road??? Nice excuse Bruce! The Waucoma driveway doesn't count as a "ramp"? it is street level. They city won't put sidewalks in on the other side of the street and because of that we can't get a crosswalk because of no ramp access. This is a lose/lose situation for residents. Thanks for nothing once again!!!

Bruce's point is that paint alone won't do anything to make the road safer.

Seriously. Why have local graffiti artist not jumped in a striped a crosswalk or two? They could even add their own twist to it.

Also, it is my understanding that in most situations the installation and maintenance of sidewalks is the responsibility of the developer or landowner, not the city.

Brian--
Then how has the city basically shut down Chapel Street for sidewalk renovation? I think the city must maintain sidewalks for aesthetic consistency, as well.

I understand the point that you and Bruce are making, but the homeowners in Fair Haven need some alternative to make that street safer. It was never intended to be the through-street it has become, linking Middletown Ave./Foxon and Grand Ave./Chapel St.

I have been confused about this as well.
The city puts in new sidewalks but the property owner is responsible for their maintenance including cracked sidewalk etc unless it is damaged by a city tree?

Brian,
Who is Bruce and why are you answering for him? He needs to talk to the Mayor or to us.

No one is denying this is an unsafe place to cross. That is exactly why we need a crosswalk here!!!! People WILL slow down if they see something in the middle of the road.

And Bruce is concerned about a "moral hazard"??? The moral hazard is that we can't get the City to do one thing to help us...not even a freaking crosswalk!! SOMEONE WILL DIE. Plain and simple without the City taking some measures. The road should NOT have a double yellow line. We SHOULD have more crosswalks with the median signs. I have seen virtually NONE of these in my neighborhood...WHY BRUCE WHY???

I think we should go and get some paint people...whose with me?!

Oh...
And we do in fact have ADA ramps on Pine Street so that's one excuse that doesn't hold up.

Its helpful to actually know the places you are discussing.

You should start by chalking it in then maybe some nice person will come along and make it permanent.

Dear City Authorities,

Let me see if I have this right. Painted cross walks don't work. Why have you put so many of them around the city? And isn't there a state law about painted crosswalks and pedestrians having the right of way? There's no curb cut for ADA purposes. Hmmm... Did you forget the government separated the sewers on this part of Front St...and put in the current sidewalks without a curb cut?

If you don't like our idea what are yours? In the past few years there have been at least 8 accidents in this block of Front St. There was one death. It's a very narrow street and has become more dangerous since the re-paving (following the sewer work) and speeding and reckless driving are out of hand. There are also 7 young kids on this one block and the extra traffic from two marinas. Would you like us to simply shut up? Or do you prefer engaged citizens who let you know about serious issues in their neighborhoods?

Jerry

Bruce is the city's Traffic Operations Engineer. His job is to keep traffic in New Haven flowing as smoothly as possible.

Bruce has a responsibility to be accountable to the taxpayers and ensure that investments in pedestrian safety are made where they are most desperately needed.

Personally, you have convinced me that Front St is as desperately in need of traffic calming as anywhere else in the city.

As Bruce was quick to point out when I told him that, Front St is already narrow and windy, so curb extensions and chicanes won't do any good. Bruce is convinced that speed humps and roundabouts just cause people to speed even more between the measures.

In my opinion, a crosswalk with an in-street crosswalk sign is a reasonable ask. While pedestrian volumes are not as great as in other cases around the city, the safety risk to pedestrians necessitates some form of traffic calming or speed enforcement. While painting a crosswalk alone is not an effective traffic calming measure, the addition of an in-street crosswalk sign may provide the needed traffic calming effect. To my knowledge, New Haven is the first city in the country to deploy them on a large scale, so we have no data to justify their implementation. Still, the cost of installation (a few hundred dollars) is literally two orders of magnitude less than a half closure (my back-up suggestion if the sign doesn't solve the problem). In conclusion, although painting a crosswalk alone would not be appropriate at this intersection, you have convinced me that a crosswalk, combined with an in-street crosswalk sign would be an appropriate measure.

I'll take this up with Bruce one more time, and then bring your arguments to the Department Director. If anyone could take photographs of the curb ramps, that would be helpful. If it turns out that Jerry is right and curb cuts were put in when the sewer was, that is a shame. Curb work, like that currently going on on Chapel Street, must be conducted as part of a project (to my knowledge, there are no regular city funds allocated toward adding curb ramps). According to the Independent, the Chapel Street work is being done as part of the River Street Municipal Development Plan. In other words, putting in the curb ramp is definitely doable, but it's expensive enough that it will take time to secure the money for it.

Finally, please ask your alderperson to advocate for more money for restriping crosswalks next year, because the department was only given money to restripe 30 crosswalks this year (and there are a lot more than 30 crosswalks in this town).

typo. insert "not" between "were" and "put" in sentence 3 of paragraph 6 of my last comment.

That was a really important word to leave out

important word to have left out, that is

amazing how writing something in the wrong tense can dramatically change the possible meaning.

Hey, I think Bruce is starting to come around.

Apparently he thought I was talking about those flashers embedded in the pavement when he told me he didn't "think so."

I'll hold off for awhile and see if Bruce continues to warm to the crosswalk+sign idea. In the mean time I'll try to bring it up with the Department Director next time I see him.

Brian,
Please remind Bruce that not all of Front Street is "narrow and windy". This stretch is wide enough for cars to park on the street and a straight road. People easily hit 60mph and a sign in the road would make people slow down! I think Bruce needs to get out a bit more and see how wide and straight this stretch is, the "windy" part is at the other end. Quite honestly the windy part doesn't slow cars down they just drive into the oncoming lane. Come down and take a look at the section between Chatham and Pine, even up to Lewis Street.
Front Street Raceway.
Hey neighbors, maybe we can start selling tickets to the "car races" and make enough $ to buy our own signs and paint!

Absolutely. One is also needed at Lewis and Front. People race through the stop sign (ask the New Haven police - they've been ticketing there the last couple of months) and then curve around not knowing what/who they could be hitting. It is very dangerous .as well.

Forgive me but I've just returned from a whirlwind round trip to New Hampshire. I'm glad the clicket has renewed vigor, and Bruce, from these posts, is beginning to look like the omnipotent OZ behind the curtain. Brian, Bruce, et al, this street is a wreck. I personally invite you for a latte, espresso or a cocktail to our home to see it in real action. AM 9-9:30 starts the matinee, afternoons after 1:30 starts the melee. As explained to the three alders representing both sides of the river and the Mayor last night on our walk down Front Street, the street is plopped down on beach. Yes, really. Sand. Shells. Hear the screech of the gulls. This street was river bank and the houses on it had cottage industries where oysters were shucked in the basements and left on the bank for collection. A hole 6 ft deep at our foundation edge has tidal water filling its bottom at high tide. Why do I drone on? The street is placed on the equivalent of tidal jello, or maybe a fine mousse. EVERY vehicle that passes causes vibration, the larger the vehicle, the greater the vibration. The faster the vehicle hits pot holes, manholes, storm drains, etc...the louder and greater the seismic activity. Watch the cup of coffee yourself if you want to stop by. This is just speed I'm getting at. The safety issue is another ball of wax. This is an active club in the middle of what has become a dangerous stretch of road. It was redesigned during sewer separation with a nice straightaway and a double yellow line. I'm the idiot with the sacrificial Volvo parked (legally) on Front as a form of bump out. At least when I'm parked there traffic is choked to one lane and must yield the vehicle. Otherwise it's a free for all. I'm thinking of rigging an A Rod bobble head on my dash to act as a seismometer.

Bruce's analysis is overly simplistic. Crosswalks have a variety of purposes. Their sole purpose is not to reduce the accident rate between pedestrians and vehicles, and the study that was cited is extremely limited in terms of what conclusions you can draw about the safety impacts of such improvements in the long-term.

Bruce's sentiments are noble, however - I know he honestly believes that our streets are currently completely inadequate when it comes to promoting the social, economic and healthy growth of the City of New Haven and its residents. A crosswalk can help but a road can be even better when combined with pedestrian refuge medians and progressive road geometry (see Chapter 2 of http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/about/streetdesignmanual.shtml for examples). I hope Bruce realizes that there are many citizens willing to support him on these goals.

DEZ also has a point that, given the history of the street, much more drastic measures may be needed here. How about making a street that people want to walk, bike, stroll, chat and play outside on, instead of one that functions as a super highway?

photo of Front and Pine. taken from Pine St.

• Move
• Close

Hey everyone,

I took a visit to Front St this morning and filmed a video as I tried to cross at Pine. I was waving at the drivers to try to get their attention to see if they would yield the right of way. Instead this guy pulls over thinking that I crashed my bicycle and needed a lift. Needless to say that was an awkward situation...

Check out the video. I also included a photo of the view of the intersection from Front St.

Out of curiosity, have you all considered doing an "intersection repair." I think that actually might make more sense at this location than a conventional crosswalk.
http://cityrepair.org/
http://www.streetfilms.org/archives/intersection-repair/

Intersection repair is a great way to demonstrate "ownership" of the streets and prove that a crosswalk is needed. Anyone want to organize one in the neighborhood?

There will be an "intersection repair" at a busy intersection right in front of Yale New Haven Hospital, this July. It might be good for some of you guys to scope it out and see if it would be a good thing to do here.

Signs that say "this is a crosswalk" could be helpful to install at the corner, even if the city is too cash strapped to paint or install one.

Brian,
I've watched the video and appreciate that you took the time to come see the area. What time of day did you come by? It looks like mid-morning by the way traffic was... not busy.
Oh, and do you think think the city would be into "squishy speed bumps"? We can't even get a pedestrian crossing sign in the road. I can't imagine they would spring for anything that fancy.
Thanks again.

“Cedar-York Intersection Project this Sunday.

Come paint the intersection!! This Sunday, July 19th from 10 am – 2 pm we'll be turning the intersection at Cedar and York Streets in New Haven into a beautiful community space. We'll be painting an elm leaf design right in the middle of the intersection. There will be food & music and no artistic talent is required! Rain date: Sunday, July 26 (10 am – 2pm).”

You are all invited.

"If you don't like our idea what are yours? In the past few years there have been at least 8 accidents in this block of Front St. There was one death. It's a very narrow street and has become more dangerous since the re-paving (following the sewer work) and speeding and reckless driving are out of hand."

Wow. What a great comment from Jerry.

I want to see this copy & pasted everytime we find a legitimately dangerous intersection and the city simply says NO.

(DestefaNO? oh I crack myself up)

I agree with Streever. That's a great comment. If the city can't or won't act, we need to take matters into our own hands!

Streever, you kill me...Destefa NO! I love it. What we really want is that cool little "stop for pedestrians" in the crosswalk sign. Why? Because it makes a physical statement that people cross over to the club constantly and must physically be yielded to. We can't get the cute sign without the paint.

Can we do what they did at Cedar and York ourselves? What are the steps that need to be gone through to get City approval? Do we have to get City approval? Can we just be crosswalk guerrillas, come up with a design, seek consensus from our neighbors, and start painting? :) Seriously, just to be on the up and up, I would prefer to follow whatever rules are in place for this sort of thing...I would love to do the same thing at the intersection of Lewis and Front. People take that corner far too quickly coming from both directions on Front, and far too many folks blow both Front Street stop signs, as well as the Lewis Street stop sign. Can we just get DEZ a really loud whistle, a bright orange pinafore, and a jaunty cap and have him split his time between these two intersections? ;) Dude, I totally have faith in your ability to handle this situation! :)

Regarding the painted intersection in front of YNHH... I love this idea and it looked really super but it's already worn off. It is such a shame that so much effort lasted 4 days (it was worn off yesterday). :( Can anything more permanent be done??? It would look fabulous at Front and Pine!

Hi Julia, Libby, DEZ, and everyone else,

A bunch of us are going to meet at Cedar and York at 5:30 next Thursday evening to figure out where to go from here. If you'd like to, you are all welcome to tag along and learn about the logistics of putting this on.

Intersection repair is about a lot more than putting a mural down on the road; it's about bringing together the community and creating a sense of place.

(Of course, we are trying to figure out how much it would cost/whether it would be feasible to use high-grade traffic paint to do something that will last more than four days. Even if it turns out we can't repaint it, though, the event was still a great success in that it brought all of us together and got the ball rolling toward figuring out how to really improve Cedar and York as a public space.)

You all already have a great start with the Lewis St Park and the Chatham Square group. You can build off of that, and slowly, but surely I'm positive that you will be able to figure out a way to work with the City to calm traffic on Front St. It will probably involve some grant writing, some frustration, and an inordinate amount of patience, but anything is possible if you are able to spend the time to understand the issue from all angles.

Front Street is much narrower than the typical street in need of traffic calming. It will take some creativity, some prudence, and some research, but you'll figure something out.

Just to make sure everyone's on the same page, if you haven't taken a look at this document, or weren't around when it was put together, please take a look. It presents a good long-term vision and some decent ideas to work off of.
http://www.cityofnewhaven.com/TrafficParking/pdfs/FairHavenTrafficCalming0608.pdf

we should all hang out.
that traffic calming PDF is amazing. 207 pages of suggestions.

I hope the City can start issuing timelines & working towards the vision presented there.

I think the City would have to hire someone to assist with grant writing to do that. Perhaps the position could serve under the Complete Streets Committee in coordination with the Transportation, Traffic and Parking Department, the City Plan Department, and the Office of Sustainability? This position could coordinate projects to improve mobility, increase locational efficiency (through economic development, including transit-oriented development), and address public health issues such as obesity and traffic-related air pollution. Such coordination could position the city for federal, state, and regional assistance, and would help move forward projects such as the New Haven Bicycle Master Plan and the Fair Haven Traffic Calming Plan, as well as improvements to local public transportation infrastructure, the expansion of CT Transit bus service, etc.

I would love to get intersections painted all over New Haven! I was talking to someone recently about the painted intersection at York and Cedar, especially regarding the fact that it has already chipped away to nothing and actually looks pretty rough right now. I think there are specific paints that bond to the asphalt...has anyone looked that up? I think we need to do some research to make sure the designs stick in addition to figuring out City logistics.

Well, that's pretty much what our meeting next Thursday is going to be about. We were initially hesitant to use traffic paint because we don't want it to be reflective and because traffic paint only comes in white and yellow. We're currently looking into the possibility of tinting white traffic paint, but there's no guarantee that will work. We'll have to do some additional research and testing beforehand to make sure we are acting prudently.

A car traveling north on Front St. at an excessive speed hit the curb at the Waucoma 2 days ago while I was standing in front of my house having a conversation with a neighbor. No one was trying to cross the street at that time. The car drove off rattling at such speed that all I could get for a description was 1. car, 2. brown. I'll add 3. Tired.

a possibly relevant scientific paper (I'm not 100% the url will work, but give it a try, and just leave a comment if it doesn't):

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=GatewayURL&_method=citationSearch&_uoikey=B6V5S-4MX4VY7-1&_origin=SDEMFRHTML&_version=1&md5=140c255d41166544daf21e44de1559a8

actually, upon taking a second look, that paper is not at all relevant. Sorry.

Nothing has been done - is it time for some guerilla traffic calming led by residents?

That's the only way traffic calming ever got done in many other cities around the world, maybe it's time for it in New Haven?

No wonder every one is up in arms about the volume of traffic on Front Street. You supported to have a marina double its size by almost 40 extra docks, that means 40 extra cars on the street if they invite a friend for a boat ride another 20 or 30 more cars traveling Front Street. Also an 8 seat deli on the same property flowing in and out this is not seasonal. More traffic! More docks are being put in next to the Old Barge, again to enlarge the Marina. For every dock there will be a car.(do the math) When does that stop?
It is time that all residents take a good hard and long look at what changes are being made to your community on both sides of the river if you think you are being a good neighbor in reality you keep giving your space away and allowing this to happen. If you want to curtail the traffic curtail what adds to the traffic.
Paint the street after reading the threads to this article it looks like no one is paying attention anyway.
Everyone wants to build along the river, just know that all you allow to happen will end up pushing you out; space and safety are real issues, So I ask what drew you settle in this community.
Is it working?

TO Martha

The people that live on Front street and Lewis Street want it both ways. They want the there area improved so that there land value will go up, but they complain when the traffic starts coming into the area.

They wanted the splash pad at Lewis Street park and then when they got it they started complaining about the mud from the park all over the area.

I'm glad to see that they take pride in there community but these people are never happy in the end. They forget that thing are tought for the city right now and they keep asking for more and more.

There is no need for the nastiness.

The people at Front & Lewis have put in a lot of time & energy to improve their neighborhood.

To read you two, one would think that a denser neighborhood means faster traffic--not at all. A dense, walkable, community is what these residents are working extraordinarily hard for, and instead of sniping from the bushes, perhaps you could get involved or at least voice support.

TO: Steever

I'm sorry if I can across as nasty to you or anyone in the community. My point is I'm always see the people of Front & Lewis street saying that want this and that done, but right now we live in a city that is being hit hard by the bad times. I don't see how all of these request help the whole community out and not just your little space in the community. I live 4 blocks away from Front street and we too are face with traffic problems. No one here is asking of the street to be redesigned. What we would like to see is a bigger police presents in the Whole community not just our street.

I understand you want for a dense, walkable, community. But where are the people going to park there car's at ? Has anyone address that issue or are you going to wait till you have that dense, walkable, community and people are parking on your neighbors front lawns. This is just like the splash pad that was put in a Lewis st. parks then the complaint started about the mud all over.

You people have a vision but not a complete plan in place.

Wowie. So many people with all sorts of ideas. Lets take a few of the more noteworthy ones to start. For all the snarks who just can't leave Lewis St Park alone, here is the dirt: The park is used FAR and WIDE as a meeting place for community and local children. The splash pad, FOR THE LAST TIME, was initiated by LOWES. Can you read that? LOWES. One more time? That big box store called LOWES as part of its employee initiative the "LOWES HEROES PROGRAM". If you are bitter about this, I suggest you move your tush "Lowes-ward" and discuss it with them. The city only came on-board AFTER the fact. Do you know what AFTER means? Am I being obtuse? The mud situation came from the water flow being too strong/fast. The city is rectifying this, and a see-click-fix was opened to address the issue accordingly. We weren't complaining, we were addressing issues of our community that I suggest others take a look in the mirror and do the same. Parking? There is parking on the even side of Front St. for most of its length. Plenty of parking for the marina's and any commercial that would open on our neck of Front St. We are working, read that, WORKING, with each other, the city and our elected officials from many fronts to see these issues of a walkable, livable community resolved. I also take umbrage to those of you who think "we" are something special here. I'm sorry your self esteem is so low, but take note: most of us bought our homes at "fire sale" prices because nobody else had vision for our village. You could have done it too, but chose not to. Not my issue. If you don't like what you see when you walk out of YOUR door, pick up a rake, shovel, the phone, the trash and do something about it. Blogging your sorrows away just makes you pitiful. As for a complete plan for our neighborhood, I went to college to be a scientist. I leave planning to the city who pays their employees dearly for just this thing. My voice is to tell those employees what works presently and what doesn't, because I and my family are the end users of their design.

What's the latest on the status of the crosswalk request here?

Crosswalk still needed. Have watched people dodge traffic to cross for social events held at the club. The club rents space for these functions, but people have to park outside the club lot. The last function, last weekend, appeared to be a shower. Women and little kids galore crossing Front Street at a dangerous section. Pathetic.

The next step is citizens take control and get the paint to do it on our own. I personally am tired of hearing the excuses from the city regarding funding. WE ARE TALKING ABOUT PAINT!!!

Neighbors, we are our own.

This is such a great, great part of FH and NH, but I am afraid to take a nice stroll here. this waterfront area is screaming to be traffic-calmed. the quality of life here, and the possibility of this place as a destination would skyrocket if it were safer to walk here.

Folks interested in traffic calming in the Lewis St. Park area:

Check out the speed bumps installed by the city on Chapel St. between James and the bridge over the Mill River. If you think speed bumps like this will slow cars approaching the Front and Lewis St. intersection let the City know.

Lee,
We've been on rooftops yelling this as loud and collectively as possible to the City...they are not listening.

Also, do be sure to take a look at this document from the summer of ‘08:
http://www.cityofnewhaven.com/TrafficParking/pdfs/FairHavenTrafficCalming0608.pdf

I know the City traffic engineer doesn’t think to highly of it, and I’m certainly not arguing that it should somehow be implemented overnight as-is (which was never the point of the exercise in the first place anyway). But it does provide a starting point to move the conversation forward in a positive manner (which was the point).

This document (above) suggests mini traffic circles for the intersection of Front and Lewis and the intersection of Front and Chatham. Mini traffic circles are essentially a cross between a roundabout and a two-way stop. Unlike roundabouts, they are small enough that they do not require any modification to the existing intersection geometry.

I’m a big fan of the idea of replacing the existing all-way stop at Lewis and Front with something a little less obnoxious. Mark and I were leading some Yale freshmen on a tour of New Haven going north on Front just before Lewis and we were being trailed by a cop car who was trying to pass us. I was a little worried that the cop was going to give us a hard time for rolling through the Lewis St stop sign. Instead, he passed us as we slowed down for the intersection and sailed right through the intersection himself. What can I say? It’s a terrible place for a stop sign. A mini circle or a raised median, or some variation on the above would be much better.

Keep posting here. Get more people to vote on this issue. Go out and spray paint some XWalks at night, or put an old couch in the middle of the road, and take photos the next day showing how much of a difference it made. Talk to local cops about your concern. Meet with your state legislators who represent this district. Forward this issue to the media.

I've read plenty of case studies on how change happened on other streets around the world.

Given the number of people concerned here, it really shouldn't take that much more "shouting" before you start seeing some real change!

As someone who lives directly across from Lewis Street Park, I think we need something MORE obnoxious than the existing three stop signs at the intersection of Lewis and Front.

I have observed people's behavior in the traffic circles (I'm not sure if that's the appropriate term) at the East Shore Park entrances, and I'm not convinced that it's a viable solution. People continue to whiz through them and not give pedestrians or other cars the right of way.

I would like to see speed bumps on Lewis; it might discourage people from blowing down the hill and blowing through the stop sign.

I'm not sure what might work on Front, but there must be something. It's a really dangerous intersection, and Front Street itself encourages drivers to drive well above the speed limit, largely because, I think, there are no stop signs or other signals to slow down for the entire stretch.

I think we would appreciate and graciously accept any help the City can offer.

Fair enough.

I think the argument against stop signs (and even speed humps, to some extent) is that there is a big difference between arbitrarily slowing traffic and actually calming traffic.

The diagram on slide #76 from the Fair Haven traffic calming charrette presentation makes the argument much more effectively than I can:
http://www.cityofnewhaven.com/TrafficParking/pdfs/FairHavenTrafficCalming0608.pdf

(diagram also attached to this comment).

That said, nobody really can figure out why people drive so fast on Front. According to all of the road design manuals, it should be the ideal calmed street as-is: it’s narrow; it has curves; it’s not as if it is a huge, long, straightway like River Street, Long Wharf, and Woodward all used to be. Honestly, I think the City finds it somewhat mystifying as to why people still drive fast there. It defies what the textbook says should happen and so they are left without a plan.

Clearly, one possibility is the lack of visual cues to drivers that this is someplace where it is not OK to drive “like it’s the Daytona 500.” Behavioral economists talk about signals all the time (the fact that you are selling your new car 2 weeks after you bought it signals to me that it is a lemon; the fact that the tax preparer has a nifty business card and a clean office signals to be that he has lots of business and therefore must do a good job; a nice tree canopy in a neighborhood signals to potential home-buyers that this is a well-kept neighborhood and not a neglected part of town, thereby increasing home values). However, our understanding of signals has only really matured over the past 5–10 years. Guess what, most traffic engineers have not cracked a textbook since the 1970s and aren’t likely to go back to school anytime soon. As a result, most traffic engineers have no idea how far our understanding of human decision-making has evolved and progressed over the past few years.

Some dude tried to address this by writing a book called “How we drive,” but unfortunately a traffic engineer who has been doing their job for over a generation is not likely to pay any attention to that sort of thing.

Libby, I have a feeling you were probably referring to the other kind of “signal” (of the red, yellow, and green variety) in your comment, but in an indirect sort of way, you called attention to what I think is the root problem, which is the lack of visual cues to drivers—what my economics textbook calls “signals”—that this is someplace where they need to slow down and drive extra-slow. Somebody famous once famously said “If you want people to drive like they are in a village, then make your street look like it is in a village.”

I think painting a nice, eye-catching design in the intersection of Pine and Front would be a great place to start. This spring, those of us who worked on the intersection painting at Cedar and York on the Med School campus are hopefully going to try to have a second go at it, this time with traffic paint after our initial try wore off after just a few days. If this spring’s painting is a success, Pine and Front would be one logical next step.

Striping the parking stalls might also be something you could convince the City to do within the next year.

Long term, I continue to think that mini traffic circles at Lewis and at Chatham would be ideal. Those intersections are at the two ends of the most problematic stretch and would provide drivers with and strong visual (and physical) cue that this is someplace where they need to drive slow.

Unlike roundabouts, mini traffic circles operate under the same rules as a two-way stop; i.e. traffic on Front would not be expected to yield to anyone (but would still have to slow down due to the fact that there is a circular planter in the middle of the road), while traffic on Lewis and on Chatham would be presented with a stop sign.

Personally, I wouldn't even stop for stop signs or traffic signals if more were added down the length of Front, so I don't think we can expect the average New Have driver to obey them when they really don't make sense.

Dearest Community, we're all animals, some of us are just more evolved. I look at the anamalistic behavior on Front St, from East Pearl to Middletown avenue, and can only come up with barrier types of traffic calming as ways to slow people down.

I've physically witnessed cars slow for: a parked car, a baby carriage, an elderly person, a loose dog, a disabled person in an electric wheelchair, and a transvestite prostitute walking the double yellow line singing Donna Summer songs.

What do these things have in common? They are physical, real, and are in the line of traffic, so they may scratch your paint should you hit them. Traffic engineering on Front will FAIL unless there is a physical elements such as a median, speed humps, chicanes, circles, see Dan Burdens presentation for other ideas. We can talk till the rapture, but it's not going to change folks.

We can't teach all animals to say please, and thank you, but we can force them into a situation where they need to make a conscious choice in terms of whether or not they are going to drive like an animal and risk scratching their rims, or conceeding to slow down for 3/4 of a mile, in a residential neighborhood.

I agree with DEZ - it is a simple design matter.

Brian's suggestion of painting the intersections could also help, at least in the short term.

It's best to get a city permit for this but if anyone has paint and just wants to go out and do it, please post here - sure others would join in.

Don't the existing guard rails, yacht club fences, and gigantic yellow “left curve” signs also scratch the paint off of cars? Surely the car that smashed into the side of Erin’s house sustained SOME damage. Yet all this doesn't seem to deter reckless driving all that much. There must be something other than the risk of car damage that induces drivers to take their foot off the gas.

Brian, frankly I'm laughing! Fences? Guardrails? Do you know the physics of a sluice? Ever panned for gold? These things are not barriers in the road, such as a boulder in a river that must be yeilded to, but are physical elements roadside, like the walls of a sluice, which give tunnelvision on which these animalistic drivers cross double yellow line (yet another visual "sluice") and hit speeds greater than 50mph. Do you watch bobsledding or luge in the Olympics? Front Street simply needs physical measures on which to calm traffic. Any idiot, when arguing with their companion, is bound to jump the curb and hit a house REGARDLESS of the street. Poor example, dude.

I saw an ad on our site for rubber speed bumps.
I clicked through (hopefully google does not bust me for click fraud :-))
They were only 180.00:
http://www.safestparkingproducts.com/cart/product_info.php?cPath=1&products_id=11&osCsid=0jp6cpb1ppohh6ag80cdnodcg1

I never thought I'd repost one of the ads on our site as a solution. Well done google :-)

I live on Front and for YEARS I have begged for speed bumps. They have them on Perkins, and now River Street, and now Chapel by the bridge. We also need them along Front Street NOT just at the Lewis intersection. I live in the long and straight stretch closer to Grand and it is a raceway.

We are tired of asking. Just do it! Someone is going to be killed on this street.

I would consider this to be one of the rare instances where speed humps would actually be an appropriate measure in my book. From what I can tell, speed humps are most effective when used on collectors and local streets. Currently, the City’s functional classification map defines Front Street as a local street. Even if its functional classification were revised to “collector” to reflect the (true) fact that Front Street is used by some through traffic, it would still lie within the range of functional classifications where speed humps can be effective.

I encourage you to continue to push for speed humps and crosswalks in the short term and mini traffic circles at Front and Lewis and at Front and Chatham in the long term. These measures are all appropriate on collectors and local streets. The City’s existing functional classification map currently indicates that most through traffic should use Ferry to get between Grand and Middletown. While I do think that the small but significant amount of through traffic on Front makes it more of a collector than a local street given current traffic patterns, I do not believe that current traffic patterns would give any reason to classify it as a minor arterial or principle arterial. Thus, I am fairly confident that speed humps on Front St would not have a significant negative impact on neighborhood traffic flow, emergency response times, or bus routing.

Given the consistent history of unsafe speeds on this stretch of road, if a substantial majority of residents support speed humps, I think they would be an appropriate medium-term measure on this street.

(Photo from NH Independent: http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2009/09/out_with_the_ch.php)

Acknowledged by CTLS. Thank you for reporting stop sign violations and other safety issues at this intersection.

We are tracking similar issues statewide so please report them here when you see them.

Woohoo! We're acknowledged! What does that mean? We're not crazy? We already acknowledged the issue 5 months ago. Did we hit some critical benchmark for movement on the issue? Win a set of cookware? A giant Toblerone? Tax abatement for a year?

Happy to donate a Toblerone to neighbors for working so hard on the issue. Email ctlivablestreets at gmail.com to arrange a pickup!

That's really awesome that advertisements are part of a solution Ben

The neighborhood can create history maybe (first time ads ever were part of a solution?) if we actually install some

Agreed!
Maybe someone should ask the company to donate :-)

We also need to have the city address the double-yellow line down Front. Erin, our soon-to-be former alderwoman, REALLY has tried to move the city on this. Not only does it encourage speeding, but we are at risk. How? For those of you who back out of your driveways, crossing the double-yellow line with the rear of your car, puts you at risk. If someone hit you, even if the person was speeding, you would be at fault. Ask Erin. Her father-in-law was sued b/c a speeding car hit him while he backed out of his driveway, crossing the double-yellow line. Should we make this another strand?

Erin’s father-in-law was sued for crossing a double-yellow line while backing out of his driveway‽

That’s an outrage!

WOW you people just keep fueling each other. Keep up the good work.

(Erin’s father-in-law was sued for crossing a double-yellow line while backing out of his driveway‽)

Why didn't his Auto Insurance cover him? Did he have any?

Brian,
Is that Photoshop? Did they really put a traffic circle in there?

That's Photoshop. It's from the 2008 Fair Haven Traffic Calming Charette where neighbors were invited to help lay out a long-term traffic calming vision for east Fair Haven. I referred to the document (w/ links) numerous times in my previous commentary. I believe the Photoshopping was done by Dan Burden and his associates.

The New Haven Park and Rec dept put a crosswalk in east rock park on a blind corner. It is on farnum Drive after east rock road going north. I will call the city on this because it is VERY dangerous to encourage people to cross the road after a blind corner.

Instead of having this one put in, why could they not put one here in Fair Haven?

East Rock is more important than Fair Haven, concerned.

What east rocker?? Really?? Please explain yourself.

I think there was sarcasm there but I could be wrong. :-)

Ben,
I certainly hope so!! But again, you never know!

concerned:
the speed limit there is low enough that the visibility between the crosswalk & the curve is sufficient. (This was OK'd by City Engineering)

If you are speeding you might not have sufficient time to brake, but otherwise, I encourage you to measure the distance yourself. I approximated it at 35 feet.

While I think crosswalks are important all over town, this one was placed due to hundreds of neighbors asking for it directly to parks, plus a really active SCF clicket, plus the aldermanic hopeful Justin Elicker's incredible work on getting it in.

I want to see that Photoshopped thingy. Anyone have planters to spare? Let's do it this Saturday.

How To Get a Crosswalk for Your Neighborhood In 6-ish weeks (from GOOD Magazine):
http://www.good.is/post/how-to-get-a-crosswalk-for-your-neighborhood-in-6-ish-weeks

It looks like the next step on their list of things to do is to get your alderwoman onboard:
http://www.cityofnewhaven.com/aldermen/index.asp