Description
because of the set up between Whitney Ave and Audubon Street, there pedestrians are constantly dashing across Whitney Avenue - frequently while holding small children. We need a crosswalk!
Anmälare
because of the set up between Whitney Ave and Audubon Street, there pedestrians are constantly dashing across Whitney Avenue - frequently while holding small children. We need a crosswalk!
45 Comments
Michael Dunlap (Guest)
Transportation, Traffic & Parking Dept. (Guest)
Michael Dunlap (Guest)
Ben (Guest)
Resident (Guest)
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.
David Streever (Registered User)
(I was there when the consultant stated that it was "legally" a crosswalk)
David Streever (Registered User)
David Streever (Registered User)
what about in-road paint--"CROSSWALK AHEAD" just before the grade change?
Resident (Guest)
Community Neighbor (Gäst)
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/
Resident (Guest)
Koffee Regular (Guest)
Kevin (Guest)
Ben (Guest)
Resident (Guest)
David Streever (Registered User)
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?
Resident (Guest)
frequent patron of businesses on Whitney (Guest)
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.
CT Livable Streets Campaign (Registered User)
SLP (Guest)
DMH (Guest)
Erin (Guest)
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.
Anonymous (Guest)
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?
Godkänd Department of Transportation, Traffic and Parking (Registered User)
CT Livable Streets Campaign (Registered User)
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.
Anonymous (Guest)
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?
Anonymous (Guest)
CT Livable Streets Campaign (Registered User)
Anonymous (Guest)
Doug Hausladen (Registered User)
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
CT Livable Streets Campaign (Registered User)
RevKev (Registered User)
Doug Hausladen (Registered User)
janna (Guest)
Erin Gustafson (Registered User)
CT Livable Streets Campaign (Registered User)
CT Livable Streets Campaign (Registered User)
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.
Doug Hausladen (Registered User)
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
anon (Guest)
Erin Gustafson (Registered User)
Doug Hausladen (Registered User)
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
Doug Hausladen (Registered User)
Doug Hausladen (Registered User)
Date: Mon, 26 Aug 2013 09:38:31 -0400
Subject: Unveiling of plans for Audobon and Whitney makeover today at 1:30 at Whitney and Audobon
(New Haven, CT) The Whitney Avenue and Audubon Street
intersection—situated in the heart of New Haven’s busy east side
dining and shopping district and bordering Yale University and the
Audubon Arts District—is getting a complete make-over.
The City of New Haven, utilizing the professional design services of
CDM Smith, has redesigned the entire intersection using ‘Complete
Streets’ principles in response to the traffic safety concerns of New
Haven residents. The City of New Haven has one of the mostly densely
populated downtowns in New England and thousands of visitors to downtown
each day. This redesign will make the area safer and more attractive and
appealing for pedestrians, motorists and bicyclists. It will also creat
a sense of place.
WHAT: PRESENTATION OF AUDUBON AND WHITNEY REDESIGN PLANS
WHO: MAYOR JOHN DESTEFANO, JR. AND DIRECTOR OF TRAFFIC, TRANSPORTATION
AND PARKING JIM TRAVERS
WHEN: TODAY,MONDAY, AUGUST 26th AT 1:30PM
WHERE: INTERSECTION OF WHITNEY AVENUE AND AUDUBON STREET
###
Kam Lasater (Registered User)
A project to address this was announced yesterday at a press conference in the middle of the street.
http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/crosswalk_plans_unveiled/
Attaching a photo of the planned improvements as well.
Erin Gustafson (Registered User)