See the following webpages:

A raised intersection in Portland: http://streetswiki.wikispaces.com/Raised+In
Some other effective traffic calming measures: http://www.pps.org/livememtraffic/

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The road should be made wider to fit the population and usage increase from the time it was built. Also Opening Lake street to through traffic would also help greatly. It was never as bad when Lake street was open.

Hi business man, I think widening the road would only make it worse. People already drive way over the speed limit here because it feels and looks like a highway. People drive the way a road makes them feel like driving- fast when it's open and wide, and slow when it's narrow and busy with lots of things to see.

Narrowing down from four to two lanes would make people slow down to the posted speed limit (just like the on street parking on Whitney Ave further down in New Haven forces people to slow down). It might also bring them in for more business, if they have time to look where they're going and see lots of other people walking around this area and frequenting the shops.

If this thread is about wanting less crashes then widening the road and opening Lake street will make it safer with less crashes. As for bringing in more business, doing what whitney food did "IS" the right answer. They made the place look better and more inviting along with having first rate food! (yes it is expensive, but your getting your moneys worth) Now the book store needs to do the same thing! As for parking on Whitney, we already have a town parking lot right their, lets use it! Time to join the 21 century in Whitneyville, not the 1800s.

I agree wholeheartedly that making the businesses look more attractive from the outside and selling quality products inside makes a difference.

At the same time, I do disagree that adding more lanes improves traffic flow. Studies show that it actually makes things worse, is only a short term solution, and is disproportionately expensive. In fact, adding lanes really is the "old-fashioned" way of doing things. The US Dept of Transportation is now purposely reducing lanes on congested highways. Take a look at these links on the topic:

http://bicycleuniverse.info/transpo/roadbuilding-futility.html
http://www.sierraclub.org/sprawl/transportation/seven.asp
http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/east_king/iss/news/92098184.html

BTW- I'm not necessarily proposing more on-street parking in Whitneyville, although it may also work, but rather finding a way to slow down the cars with some sort of traffic calming measures. They have some really good solutions for this in Europe as well as in some of the more progressive areas of the States. I'll add another picture as an example.

http://www.internetigloo.com/wildwood/calming.htm

Face it you're on a busy road. Whitney Avenue is a major thoroughfare. You new that when you moved there-whining about it won't change anything.

Hi longtime Whitneyville resident. I think it's important to keep in mind that improving the quality of life for everyone benefits everyone. Making Whitney avenue safer is an excellent idea. At this very point in the road, many families bring young children to the preschool across the street, and lots of elderly folks frequent the grocery store.

It's not at all unreasonable to want to improve things in our neighborhood. It's the neighborhoods with people who are afraid to speak out or don't feel empowered to improve things that have serious problems that only get worse.

Fantastic photographs! I agree that those things would be awesome to see and help build a sense of community in the area. Lower speeds would also significantly reduce noise, making the area more pleasant.

Thanks, Mark! Now that the CT DOT is more interested in these sorts of things, we may start to see some progress: http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/editorials/hc-ed-dot-makes-room-for-bikes-1212-20101212,0,6190915.story

I think it is long over due to add turn lanes to both sides of the Putnam & Whitney intersection. The state of CT needes to do a study to verify the need. I have already writen the latter asking for the study. I think others should do the same.

How does increasing ones commute time help improve their quality of life?

what are you Amish? how about speed bumps or spike strips?

I have sent letters to Hartford asking for a study to be done to show the need of installing turn lanes on Putnam and Whitney Ave. It is now time to move on it. We need to widen the road at the corner for the safety of all. This is a state road and the state will pay the bill, not Hamden. This would not be necessary if Lake road was used as it used to be. But that is water under the bridge. Time for the next step in modernization.

Perhaps the frequent crashes have something to do with the frequent number of drivers I see visibly texting while they drive in this area during rush hour. Just a hypothesis.

i saw a crash at the cemetery wall here a couple of weeks back.

someone didn't notice traffic slowed for the light, and tried to pass stopped cars on the right, and ran the red light, only to lose control of his car and crash into the wall.

And that crash had little to NOTHING to do with a need for traffic calming in Whitneyville. It happened a full 1/4 mile away from the corner of Putnam and Whitney. We still need to have a turn lane for cars and truck turning into Putnam Ave because of the closure of Lake street.

businessman: i mentioned it because high travel speeds on whitney make it dangerous for everyone.

Have there been any proposals to address this area?

Has there been any "proof" of more crashes then there have ever been in the past? Did the amout of crashes grow more than the population? We now have many more traffic lights than in the past in Whitneyville. The car speed now is "MUCH" slower near the Whitney barn then it ever was in the past. Cars are stop all the time for no cars and no people crossing the street all day and night long just so we can help people 2 or 3 hours out of 24. You already have your traffic calming and it is burning gas for no good reason at all. This is not a green solutioin to the problem "AS YOU SEE IT"

Yes Mark I would like to propose that we remove the traffic light in front of the Whitney barn and open Lake street to through traffic. Both would help the traffic in Whitneyville as it was in the past. Newer is not better when it comes to traffic in Whitneyville.

Whatever the solution, the State is required to make this a "complete street." It currently isn't. Has anyone talked with ConnDOT and their State Representatives about applying for CMAQ or other routine state transportation funding (e.g., the source recently used to re-do traffic signal infrastructure in most of CT's large cities) in order to address this issue?