As part of the Nelson/Nygaard Downtown Bike/Ped Study, the consultants recommended against placing a marked crosswalk there mainly due to the change in grade along Whitney Ave.

@TTPD: whether the consultant recommended against crosswalks or not, the reality of the intersection is that it gets a LOT of foot traffic, including parents with little children. It can be a dangerous crossing, what with cars speeding and delivery trucks blocking lanes (and vision.) Surely there is something that can be done to make it safer for pedestrians here.

Agree that this would be really dangerous with the current grade. What about adding a crosswalk on the hip of the road?

I agree with Michael and Ben. More needs to be done. A crosswalk is needed, even if it means redesigning the road itself in a significant way, or moving the crossing to the crest of the road. When the Farmington Canal Trail exit is built here, won't there technically be a legal crosswalk at or near the crown as well?

This situation is unacceptable and must be fixed before more people are killed here.

I don't think the consultants had adequate data to make that determination--and would probably modify their determination if they saw figures on how frequently it is used for walking.
(I was there when the consultant stated that it was "legally" a crosswalk)

Let's do a sweet crosswalk here--raised--textured--etc--like any other major city.

Sorry--
what about in-road paint--"CROSSWALK AHEAD" just before the grade change?

Those are great ideas, Streever. This xwalk should be an urgent priority. Should we get the Town Green District involved?

The downtown wooster-square community management team has also been asked to get involved and weigh in on the issue.

Their monthly meeting meets tomorrow night (6pm at City Hall) and can provide another useful avenue for advocacy on issues such as this.

http://groups.google.com/group/DWSCMT/

That's great, DWSCMT!

Whether or not there is a crosswalk, many many people cross Whitney Ave here, so the Consultant's point is completely moot. Might as well give pedestrians at lease *some* protection rather than none at all (as it is right now)!!!

I crossed here Friday and a car almost hit me. I even looked both ways before crossing and didn't see a car. A UPS truck was blocking one lane and a car was parking in the other. The car that almost hit me sped between them. SOMETHING needs to be done before we have a fatality there.

What about an in road sign warning of a crosswalk in 50 feet on the hip and then a crosswalk at Audubon.

I like Ben's idea too. Ben and Streever, you guys should take over the city's engineering department. The casual delays at getting things accomplished when they've been complained about for years are really unacceptable.

Thanks Resident! Although I fear the issue is higher than Engineering: Engineering has a very limited budget due to a decision that this type of work is not important. 110k could have painted a lot of crosswalks in New Haven.
Quote from Jerry concerning Front St that I think is applicable here--
"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."

"If you don't like our idea what is your idea"--fair question to ask of the City. If the answer is "No idea" then the question still stands. What will the city do to improve crossing here?

Obama's famous words: "Make me do it." If the city can't or won't act, we need to have a protest or something.

It is deeply ironic that Audubon Street was so beautifully reconstructed to be pedestrian friendly but you can't get there safely on foot from the west, where most of the people are!
No wonder that so few of the storefronts on Audubon are occupied.
I can't believe that there is not a solution to this problem. When do we throw up our hands and give up on vehicle access? Never.
It's time to prioritize pedestrian movements in this city.

I agree with the above comment.

Yes, I agree wholeheartedly with "frequent patron" and would add that it is equally difficult and dangerous to access that block Audubon from the east, across Orange St. For a street that is a big child and student magnet given the presence of CAW, NMS, and ECA, the lack of safe, structured pedestrian access is a very foolish gamble.

Agree with the need for a safer way to cross here and also that the grade of the road makes it difficult for a typical cross walk to work. I wonder if when redoing the greenway trail that runs below Whitney right near this point, maybe they can provide easy access to the trail from both sides of Whitney so that pedestrians could go under Whitney. The same should be done at the Trumbull/Prospect intersection. Almost like the walkways in London at major intersections.

That's an interesting suggestion about the greenway, but I would like to see that be in addition to street grade improvements. I'd be interested in knowing the change in the street width between Grove and Audubon on Whitney. It seems that the street narrows right at the greenway crossing. Cars gun it from the Grove intersection and launch over that hill right where the street narrows and most pedestrians are trying to pass. ( just stood there with 10 other people for a good minute waiting for a break in the cars).
It seems to me that narrowing the street toward the Grove end and creating a slow point before the hump would lower the speeds enough to put in a crosswalk at Audubon.
Another great solution would be to return Whitney to a two way street. It is well understood that cars travel at higher speeds on one-way streets.

I like Erin's suggestion of significantly narrowing the lanes. Could be done by simply painting a buffer zone, striped, next to both sides of parked cars. A few SLOW and XWALK AHEAD or SCHOOL AHEAD - 15 MPH markings on the roadway itself would do wonders and cost very little.

Can the city go ahead and go out and do this next week, or should residents take it into their own hands before YET MORE pedestrians are seriously injured here?

Acknowledged By the Transportation, Traffic and Parking Department.

Has there been any attempt to study and remedy this situation?

I see school children cross here daily, and given several crashes have already occurred here it's only a matter of time before another person is injured here.

I still don't see this fixed. My baby and me nearly got hit by a car turning into Audubon a few days ago. We couldn't see each other because some idiot had parked his SUV right up against the corner, and she was going faster than common sense should ever allow for entering any intersection, let alone an intersection where your visibility is totally blocked.

Don't we have police in this city? It feels like there's so much illegal driving in this city that the fines could pay the salaries of cops who do nothing but enforce driving laws.

And why is it even possible to get a license without even knowing who has right of way in a crosswalk, or that bikes belong on the road, not the sidewalk?

The whole of Whitney from Grove to Trumbull would benefit from wider sidewalks and slower traffic. For a retail district with school and afterschool services, it is remarkably inhospitable to pedestrians.

I agree with the above. Is the city reviewing this situation more closely?

I still don't see any City action. Let's have a pedestrians' critical mass.

with the phase 4 of the canal greenway being designed, i hope any structural problems to this intersection is addressed -

if it needs a mid-block signal, so be it i say

How do we go about organizing a pedestrians' critical mass?

Flash Mob!!! Let's just show up and do it.

i think a protest is in order

I'm in! Can we also do this at Court and Olive? I say we choose: Dynamite by Taio Cruz! "I'm gonna celebrate and lift my life..."

I'm in too! Just tell me when/where to be. Mornings are bad, as are lunchtimes and evenings are even worse now that it's dark again.

Has there been any progress on this? I have sent certified letters to the City about this crosswalk, but not heard anything back.

NH Independent Coverage, 5/3/11, includes some great interviews about the need for a crosswalk at this location.

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/guerrilla_crosswalk_appears_on_whitney/

Also, the director of one of the city's largest business districts wrote this note to me, after we discussed the most pressing pedestrian issues in New Haven:

"I think the intersection of Audubon at Whitney ought to be focused on. I understand it is a challenging place to put a crosswalk because of the rise in the roadway (the same factor that makes it dangerous to cross here) , but I'm also sure there is some creative solution that can be devised. There is a broad swath of the community that crosses Whitney at Audubon - Yale folks, workers and shoppers in the neighborhood, ECA students, NMS students, families with young children, and more - and it is currently unnecessarily dangerous for all of them. Let's work on fixing this BEFORE someone really gets hurt or worse."

Please see http://seeclickfix.blogspot.com/2011/05/crosswalk-conundrum.html for a roundup & links to all the issues reported here.

Dear all - Erin Gustafson and myself have submitted a project request form for the crosswalk. Please find it linked here: http://bit.ly/ward7crosswalk

We will be collecting signatures of supports at our DWSCMT general membership meeting tonight at 6pm - City Hall meeting rooms -

Best,

Doug Hausladen
Chairman
Downtown-Wooster Square CMT
dwscmt@gmail.com

Is there any update from the department on the progress?

Crosswalk needed more than ever! A pedestrian was hit today. Thankfully injuries appeared not to be life threatening but I hope we can see results before we have another accident!

An update from City Hall:

The Engineering Department has a surveyor preparing the topographical and right-a-way survey of the area so that proper Complete Streets methods can be designed and applied. A consultant team will propose Complete Streets design solutions and then the TT&P/Engineering departments will work on the budget of the project and timing.

The main reason for the project being started in a few months is due to the large sewer project by the WPCA. The road has been ripped up many times in the past month. That project is ongoing and will last through 2013 - though the area around this intersection will likely be completed much earlier.

http://www.gnhwpca.com/construction_alerts_4.aspx

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/pedestrian_hit_at_whitney_and_aubudon/