good point, Ben

Plate 192 new haven police department parked in crosswalk 9/19

Maybe one of you civic minded citizens should go into the police station and tell them about the issue. I'm sure they'd be more than happy to help.

seems like this is 24/7 to me

I'll go see how this is going today

The crosswalks here need to be restriped. Also, parking regs need to be enforced so that the crosswalk is always unobstructed and visible. Permanent barriers should be placed in the areas where drivers currently park, illegally, blocking visibility of pedestrians and also endangering themselves.

If the crosswalk areas are not made more visible, both through good international style xwalk striping (zebra) as well as through daylighting, it is only a matter of time before a serious crash occurs.

I agree with Ben that something should be done soon. This is a very dangerous situation. The city should investigate the use of temporary traffic calming/curb extension structures, like those used in many other cities, if it doesn't have the funds to place a permanent system of barriers.

The cars that illegally parked - do we know if they are the personal vehicles of cops? That's what I've always assumed because they've never been ticketed or towed...

What about the cars illegally parked on the East side of Union Avenue? Those never seem to get ticketed either.

Hi Mark,
The reason there is not ticketing is because our police department started harassing and threatening the parking enforcement people for ticketing their vehicles. As such the parking enforcement people were told not to touch the area by union station.

People should feel free to park on the sidewalks, the police station lawn, the crosswalks and anywhere else they please.

Police van unmarked vehicle blocking crosswalk. Still no response from Dept. Or city.

Illegal parking in crosswalk

Illegal parking

Illegal parking by police officer

Police reg for vehicle blocking crosswalk

I was yelled at by a Police Officer for photographing the vehicles blocking the crosswalk yesterday. Badge 19. She told me I could not post them on the Internet. Is this true? Does anybody know if this is true.

She continued to yell at me and told me it was the City's fault and she had to put lives in danger because there was not enough parking for them.

Ben, this needs to change immediately. It is creating a very dangerous situation.

The best way to stop it is to fill in the areas that are being used for parking with bump outs and bollards, similar to what the City of New Haven did at the corner of Temple and Chapel. This would improve pedestrian and driver visibility, and permanently prevent vehicles from being illegally parked.

As to the parking on the east side of Union Avenue, there is no need for two northbound travel lanes there. The plus side of the illegal parking is that traffic speeds are slower, however: The parking there should be made permanent, with parking meters, and combined with a buffered bicycle lane, narrower travel lane, and chicane or bump out systems.

What are the next steps to take on this issue? Would anyone be interested in co-signing an open petition or letter to the Board of Aldermen?

Example of a curb extension (bump out) and bollard system that prevents illegal parking. As an additional plus, the crossing distance is ten feet, making the area far safer and more attractive for walking.

If money is not available to install this permanently, a temporary system may be used until funding is found. Can we get this in by the end of December?

Hey Mark,
What would the petition be for specifically? It seems that this should never have to be a petition.
These are the people that are supposed to protect us. They need to just stop. Maybe just print out the photos and walk them into the Mayor's office.

I've contacted the city again on this and will post any replies I receive. I do think that simply issuing a few parking tickets is probably not an adequate solution to this.

In the meantime, if other folks write in to detail their concerns that would be helpful too.

Still happening see photo

Off duty police vehicle. Embarassing.

Bail bondsmen blocking crosswalk

I was told about 5 months ago that there was a "working group" working on a solution, so just checking to see if they have made any progress. Does anyone know?

I have not seen this problem recently? Feel free to reopen if I'm wrong.

this is all day, every day i walk past.

blocking a bus stop.

also

this car is illegally parked here every day i walk to the train station.

...and was parked there ALL day.

well after the NO STANDING ANYTIME sign

as well as this one.

if i happened to be in a wheelchair, i would not have been able to get to the police station yesterday.

i walked inside and showed them this photo and they said they'd 'take care of it' whatever that means. i LOST COUNT AT TWELVE cars blocking crosswalks and the bus stop in the immediate area of the police department.

traffic and parking: please send enforcement.

Does anyone know if the "working group" that was supposedly being set up on this issue has made any progress on this? If not, we need more people to talk with the City administration about it.

Assuming that no progress has been made, does anyone want to request a meeting with the Mayor to discuss this? Email newhavensafestreets (at) gmail dot com if that's the way to move forward.

After three years of negotiations, the City and Tower One/Tower East have agreed to a parking swap that will add 25-30 secure parking spots near the police station for officers' personal vehicle use. Combined with re-ordering around the station, we hope this will significantly improve the parking situation in the area. Police command staff intend to enforce against vehicles blocking cross-walks, parked in handicapped spaces, etc.

I am closing this issue now. The parking situation is improved, but not perfect, so there might still be issues. I encourage people to report any that occur on SCF as a new issue, but I am closing issues that pre-date these changes so we will be able to identify any problem correctly.

- Rob Smuts, Chief Administrative Officer

Thank you, Rob. II there is a new parking scheme I agree that it makes sense to re-open issues when the crosswalks are blocked. These will remain archived for anyone to refer to.