Simple solution: use orange street and stop complaining.

State St Res, I cycle every morning down State Street and back up it every evening. "Use Orange St and stop complaining" is not very reasonable or feasible in my opinion. My experience is that many sections of Orange are quite narrow and even less safe that State Street. Keeping a road unsafe and suggesting that cyclists just find a different road to use is not a solution at all. Pretty sure if motorists were told that there would be a ton of outrage, and justifiably so. Asking that a road be made safe for all users is not unreasonable at all. No one should even have to ask that of authorities.

FairHavenRes your viewpoint is incredibly selfish. You have viable safer options just one block over. What you are proposing sounds incredibly expensive. You don't pay taxes or fees for your bike so you're really asking motorists to pay for your convenience.

I'm selfish because I want a safe street? Wow. My point is simply that ALL streets need to be safe for all users of said street. This includes motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians. Orange St is not safer for cyclists due to the narrow, 1 lane areas. But even if it were, we should not ignore the unsafe nature of certain streets; all streets should be brought up to livable standards. And I do pay taxes for my motor vehicle, both property taxes and taxes on the fuel it consumes. If we're going by that logic, perhaps I should get a credit every time I ride my bike, then, since I'm saving the City and State money? The bottom line is that all streets need to be made safe for everyone.

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I'm sorry you're so bitter about suggestions for change, especially when it's beneficial for all. Making city streets livable for all will actually improve the economy, not cause a city to go bankrupt. There are examples here in the U.S. and even more abroad; you don't need an urban planning degree to read all the research, fortunately.

@fairhavenres

i am totally with you on this.

state st res obviously has never biked on orange street before. the lane disappears exactly at the highway access point with the most aggressive traffic.

It's only dangerous if you don't obey laws or go with the flow of traffic. People don't see you if you're doing things the wouldn't expect, life sneaking to the front of the line at lights or blowing through lights.

Think about what you just said. You're saying that it's only dangerous based on my conduct alone? Not based on, say, less than livable street designs or even on motorist behavior? That cannot possibly be true. I can be the most well-lit cyclist, I can stay behind in traffic (not filter up) and it's still dangerous; have you ever cycled on the sections of Orange where there's no room for a bike lane?

bike friendly,

blaming cyclists for the dangers they face is blaming the conveniently most vulnerable low-hanging fruit.

What I was trying to convey is as cyclists we're responsible for our own safety and the decisions we make. I see cyclists making dumb and careless decisions every day. If any area is overwhelming for you take extra caution or look for a safer route like the other poster suggested. The cost of the project he is proposing would be very high. The city is broke so its not realistic.
This Us v. Them mentality needs to stop. Its one community. Change starts with you.

BF: I get what you're trying to convey and I absolutely, absolutely agree that bicyclists MUST be responsible for their own safety and must bike smart; you'll get no argument from me there. The same must also apply to motorists, and even more so. When I'm driving my minivan I'm propelling a heavy hunk of metal along the road that has the ability to kill someone, even many people, if I'm not very careful and paying attention the entire time I'm driving. It's a huge responsibility and my experience in New Haven both as a motorist and a bicyclist has shown me that people do not take this responsibility very seriously at all. Add to that the fact that many of our more well traveled roads are not designed very well, and it's simply not a safe situation. Asking me to take a different route is not acceptable; we would never dream of telling motorists to take a different route if a road was unsafe; we would fix it. I don't think we need a bike lane the entire length of State St, and I'm not even 100% convinced that bike lanes are a viable solution in general, at least how they're installed in New Haven. But we do need some safety issues resolved with how traffic is funneled in the highway intersection areas. At the very least.

By your own comments it sounds like you're never going to be comfortable biking in this area of new haven. There won't be as many bike lanes as there are regular traffic lanes until the bike traffic volume is similar to that of cars. By then it would likely have driven some cultural change anyway.

It is acceptable to suggest you use an alternate safer route. You chose where you live an work . You choose to ride a bike. You have the right to make those choices and since you are an adult you must accept the responsibility/ liability of those choices. If its too much for you then make other choices.

It is unacceptable to demand that the taxpayers of a cash strapped city invest millions of dollars so that you have a more pleasant ride into work on the days you elect to bike instead of drive your minivan.

Stricter traffic law enforcement could be a reasonable solution.

Why is it "unacceptable to 'demand' the taxpayers" provide safe, well designed infrastructure? I pay $8,000 property tax, [not including car tax] and I seldom drive, so who are you to speak for "the taxpayers". If the streets are not safe, for all users, then the streets need a redesign.

I guess next year your taxes will be $12,000. That money has to come from somewhere. Good luck with that.

@bike friendly,

"There won't be as many bike lanes as there are regular traffic lanes until the bike traffic volume is similar to that of cars."

there won't be bike traffic volume similar to that of cars until it doesn't require taking one's life into one's hands every time we ride, and more people feel safe doing so.

you'd do well to look into the economic benefits of bike and pedestrian infrastructure with a simple internet search before such a car-centric, negative diatribe.

Car-centric diatribe??

I'm a cyclist who doesn't share your viewpoint. That must make me ignorant (and you intolerant). So sorry to have challenged you.

For the record, I support expanding bike infrastructure with cost effective improvements. I oppose doing it in the most expensive way possible, which is what has been proposed here.

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This is a conversation from 2014. Please close.

Reopening this as the issue is primarily around the 91 on ramp at Trumbull and State.

This intersection has become more dangerous as it is more traveled by cyclists and crossed more frequently by pedestrians visiting the restaurants.

When the apartment complex opens next year this safety issue will only become more dangerous.

While a lane down State to the train station from Bradley most definitely makes sense in the context of modern road design, I would ask the City to think seriously about first addressing cycling and pedestrian safety at the on ramp and work down to the train station from there.

In personal opinion the brewery and the extra
Parking lot should never have been approved without more accommodating infrastructure.

Yes, State Street needs better bicycle infrastructure. It is especially difficult, heading north from Chapel to Trumbull. The entrance to I-91 is extremely dangerous; many drivers in anticipation of entering the highway, start accelerating at the last light on State before the entrance. Add to that State merges from 2 lanes to one, leaves a bicyclist exposed.
With a number of parking lots along that stretch, widening the street or creating a separate path for bicycles through the lot might be possible solutions.

We are trying to delineate issues that are current and need the city's attention to resolve and as a result a number of historical issues are being closed. If your issue remains and needs to be addressed by the city, please open as a new See Click Fix issue with updated information and details. Thank you.