It does seem like there should be a crosswalk across Alden here. I walk that way with my kids to school as do many others. Also, there's a bus stop at that corner. There are indeed many inconsistencies like this on in the neighborhood and all over the city. The Complete Streets initiatives will hopefully address these in the near future.

Stop signs are moot in this area because people generally don't care about stop signs. I see people blow them everywhere in Westville - I think because we have too many of them around. While it would be great to add more, people have become immune to them. We need another solution. Maybe making all streets parallel to West Rock stop-free and all perpendicular streets have stop signs. This may help get people to actually stop at them instead of blowing threw them completely. Speeding is a problem everywhere. I think the only way to get people to slow down is to get cops out here to do their job - ticket people.

Another option when you have a nice grid like Westville’s is to make every other intersection a stop sign (i.e. alternating two-way stops). I spent a ridiculous amount of time using Excel to make a diagram of what I’m talking about. I hope it’s helpful.

LOL Brian. Its a nicer idea then what we currently have and will save gas on cars to boot. SOMETHING has to be done. All of these stops are a killer on cars for those that DO make the stops and dangerous for all by the cars that blow them.

very cool Brian

brian i am going to buy you a copy of photoshop :)
nicely done

Illustrator and AutoCAD would be nice too as long as you're at it. :)

Alden and Woodbridge Ave. is indeed a city bus stop. Buses would have to stop more often if we leave our cars home and take the bus.If the city can't help fix the traffic problems ,then hey sell the cars, buy a bus pass and don't pay car taxes.The new buses even have bike racks and that really slows things down when you use them.Bikes are also great for slowing down traffic because not all streets have bike lanes.by the way, what happened to those volunteer pace cars the city thought up to help with traffic calming?

Alden Avenue, as well as all other residential side streets throughout New Haven, should be posted at 15 or 20 miles per hour. Within residential sections of other Connecticut towns and cities, posted speeds of 15 or 20, and sometimes even 10, are common. Speeds of more than 15 or 20 are unacceptable in residential areas because they create noise and lead to numerous pedestrian injuries, and sometimes fatalities of young children. Are New Haven's children worth less than the children of other towns and cities in the state?

In the longer-term, I think that narrowing the street down by deploying changes to the physical condition and/or the visual perception of it, would be even more effective at creating a more "livable" street than traffic stops, stop signs, speed bumps or posting slower speed limits.

There are dozens of options for doing this, ranging from more costly to less costly:

-New curbs, bump outs, chicanes, physically narrow streets
-Raised crosswalks at intersections, like the one shown here
-Alternative Painting and striping techniques, additional speed limit indications
-Many types of so-called "temporary" (in reality, semi-permanent) traffic calming measures that the city has largely ignored up to this date, even though they cost almost nothing to install and are extremely effective.

Have you considered working with your local Aldermen & neighbors to submit a "Complete Streets Request Form"? They are available at http://www.cityofnewhaven.com/Engineering/completestreets.asp.

New Haven's Complete Streets manual has been widely recognized as one of the best in the country, but requires ongoing public pressure -- I believe that getting these types of public requests on the official record, alongside similar requests from the many other neighborhoods within New Haven, will help provide an impetus for the city improve the safety of roadways over time. The requests will be documented in annual reports and implementation (or lack of) can be tracked each year.

If you need help completing the form itself you may want to contact your local alderperson, some of the folks at New Haven Safe Streets at newhavensafestreets at gmail.com or folks at Elm City Cycling, a bike/pedestrian advocacy group at elmcitycycling.org.

Good luck!

Is anyone interested in working together to put a form together for Alden Avenue?

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