Thanks Mark!

This guard rail is new in the past 5 years or so. I knoe there were isuues with cars cutting through.

Also, are there any plans/talk in creating a bike lane that connects new haven and west haven? It's a fairly safe route along the harbor, but more signage and a difinitive bike lane would help out.

Chris,

This is actually the designated route of the East Coast Greenway, an "urban appalachian trail" for walking and cycling connecting Florida to Maine. Check out their website - it is very cool.

Incidentally, the ECG has recently become a priority issue within the Obama administration.

It's definitely on the city's radar screen and I would encourage more people to get involved in helping to promote it at the local, state or federal level.

Mark

I posted about the difficulty of riding over this bridge and the near uselessness of this section of 'greenway' about a year ago. Can we please get on with it, local, state, and regional agencies and elected officials?

Please:

1. Pave the dirt path running between the east side of the bridge and the southern of Howard Avenue.
2. Install lighting so it doesn't feel quite so seedy.
3. Widen the opening in the guardrail, as requested here.
4. Reduce the roadway width of the bridge and re-build the raised sidewalk on the eastbound side to create a safe and useful multi-use path.
5. Mark the west end of this path for cyclists. One idea is to add a 'bike signal' to the intersection of Elm St. and Pent Rd. so that westbound cyclists can come across the bridge on the multi-use path and cross Elm St. safely to continue on the proper side of the road.

These are easy and inexpensive fixes. They are ideas whose time has come; in fact, there time is standing out in the rain pounding on the door to be let in. Can we get this for the asking or do we have to have an interminable round of meetings, public hearings, petition drives, comment sessions, expensive consultants, etc. etc. etc.?

Let's pauce and thank all the volunteers,government agencies, elected officials, East Coast Greenway Board/Staff and trail users for all they have done over the 18 years to bring the ECG to the "Tipping Point".
Noting and fixing this and many other impediments to safe and enjoyable trail use is on going. This one sounds like a quick fix. Just do it.

Hope to see a big turnout at the Oct 22 bike/ped summit on UCONN'S Stamford campus.
This meeting is focused on taking steps to introduce hiking and bicycling in the 37 mile Merrit Parkway corridor. (Part of the East Coast Greenway--Canada to Key West 3,000 miles--200 miles in Connecticut )
This use was planned alomost 70 years ago and is now at the "tipping point". Let's do it.

Happy trails

Bill O'Neill
Chairman of the Connectiut Greenways Council
Chairman of the Connecticut Committee of the East Coast Greenway

Thanks for commenting here Bill.
We're in good Company.

We are hoping to get all of the East Coast Greenway trails imported into SeeclickFix as watch areas so that your riders can follow them and report issues to ECG and eachother.

Hopefully we can help you build an army of stewards for the trails along the East Coast.

Here's our Hero in action. Personally I think 1 foot would do, but 2 would be nice. Fixing this would awsome

Thanks for the pic zac. I think it's going to need to be bigger now that you'll be cycling with 3. Start welding that family trailer now!
A nice arched gate that allows two bike trailers to pass would be ideal. The bridge (Kimberly Ave) from west haven needs to be reconfigured to accommodate cyclist. At the very least we need to have signs and lanes for cyclist. This is a great opportunity to create a bike friendly corridor linking these two communities at one of the closets spots on the Harbor. Future plans can be a small park along the banks of the West River. It's a very popular fishing spot, but it needs cleaning up and design to provide for those who use the shoreline for a multitude of activities. For now, it would be great to just open the guard rail so i can cycle with my family into new haven and avoiding the major intersection at Ella T Grasso Boulevard. How can we get this to the right people in new haven? What can I do on my end here in West Haven?

Thanks for keeping this at the forefront. It's absurd that there's no viable connection between two of the largest cities in our state.

A "fix" has been looked at in the past, and promised as part of the reconstruction of that interchange, but it's far behind schedule. Perhaps a temporary solution could be put in place?

Check out what I just had forwarded to me:
“The City of New Haven invites you to participate in an important meeting relating to the development of a Concept Master Plan for Long Wharf Park. This planning effort, and construction of the resulting recommended improvements is funded by ConnDOT as part of the mitigation plan for the I-95 corridor improvement project.

As you know, Long Wharf Park serves many functions: it is a critical link in New Haven’s waterfront trail system, a marine and environmental education resource, a veterans memorial site, a local park for the Hill and City Point neighborhoods, and an important environmental coastal resource. We hope that you can join us in a discussion of the park’s issues and opportunities as we embark on the development of a long-range vision and for this important New Haven asset.

Our presentation and workshop will be held Thursday, June 17, from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM in Meeting Room #2, 2nd floor of City Hall, 165 Church Street. A light dinner will be provided.

We look forward to hearing your thoughts about the future of the Park. Please contact Donna Hall at dhall@newhavenct.net or 203-946-7842 to let us know if you plan to attend.”

Thanks Brian!

I am up in Monroe and cycling home today and i wont get home till 6:30. I am going to send Donna Hall an email anyway.

If you plan on attending let me know what was discussed. That's a big part of a safe route from west haven.

Best,
chris

Did any news come out of the workshop on June 17?

I would love to commute between my home in West Haven and my job in New Haven on a daily basis, but the bridge and highway entrance/exit area is way too fast and dangerous for a solo biker, especially at rush hour.

The trail here could almost be a good route, but as everyone has said, the skinny dirt trail is too narrow! Narrow enough and pitted with holes and rocks such that you almost have to walk your bike if you want to avoid falling. Please pave! Even crushed gravel would not be a good solution here, as it could get dislodged and kicked around by the people who walk this path.

Pave the goat trail!

The opening in the guard rail has been improved by DOT. They have enlarged the space by cutting the guard rail. The dirt path improvement- is another issue. The path is on state DOT land. I have ridden my skinny tired bike over that dirt path a number of times. The first time on 11/5/2005 was when New Haven hosted a ride on the East Coast Greenway (ECG) section from New Haven to West Haven. Since that day I have become an ECG Ambassador. The path from New Haven from the Vision Trail (just repaved) sidewalk by Ikea, under highway, to Harborside Trail (a bit narrow), Long Wharf Nature Preserve, Sea Street, sidewalk, dirt path to Kimberly Bridge = very safe, mostly off road. One does not have to travel next to all of the entrance ramps.

Thanks Rob. Great to see that fixed. I just rode it this morning with the Arts and Ideas ride out to West Haven. Now on to the next issue. Getting that path paved, widened, lights, and the Kimberly Ave bridge reconfigured. There needs to be a clear path and a clean path. Glass is all over the dirt path and on the bridge.
Thank you DOT and those involved in fixing this issue.

Chris

The guard rail has been cut and bike trailers can get by. I will be posting a new issue to have that path paved/crushed stone, widened, lights?. Thanks everyone for supporting this and safe routes between our communities!

Thank you Chris and Rob!

Please also vote at http://www.seeclickfix.com/issues/3099 - let's keep this alive and fix all the problems here, so that New Haven and West Haven are better connected.