Islands, Bump-Outs
Calm Traffic On Grand

As crews installed 21st century traffic islands at Bright and at Atwater streets, they uncovered the work of traffic-calmers from a bygone era: two sets of trolley tracks that run beneath Grand Avenue.

Workers from Laydon Industries made the discovery as they installed two islands and created three bump-outs aimed at promoting safe crossing of busy Grand, especially for the kids at the Fair Haven School, which spans the avenue between the two streets.

Trolley tracks run beneath most main streets of the city, like those in this picture at Chapel and Poplar in Fair Haven, courtesy of the Connecticut Historical Society.

A $500,000 federal Safe Routes to Schools grant is paying for the work. The city won the grant in 2010 at the instigation of then alderwoman and local traffic calming champion Erin Sturgis Pascale.

The work began six weeks ago with new curbs and sidewalks installed along Exchange Street behind the school. Two speed humps are scheduled to be put in on Exchange right behind the school as well.

The five-man crew moved to Grand, where it will work for approximately one more month, according to superintendent Dennis McKeon.

As Ariel Pagan wielded a diamond blade saw to cut concrete, foreman Manuel Lozana helped things along with the old-fashioned sledge hammer. The workers were creating two spiffy new crosswalks, one at at Bright and one at Atwater.

They are doing this by installing two traffic islands at each crossing and then creating three bump-outs on all corners of each intersection except for the southeast. The new lane between the island and the bump-out is reduced from 18 to 12 feet wide.

That slows down traffic. During construction, McKeon reported, he has noticed cars slowing down to the 20 or 25 miles per hour, as required by law.

When the work is complete a crosswalk will run between the islands at each corner and from bump-out to bump-out. This is where kids and families are being encouraged to cross.

McKeon said the new crossing from bump-out to bump-out will now be 30 feet. That is 12 feet of the new eastbound lane, 14 feet for the westbound and four feet of island. That 30 feet is now 14 feet less to traverse than kids and families had to negotiate in the pre-bump-out dash.

That’s 14 feet of safety, said McKeon. ​“They can [also] wait in the middle of the island,” McKeon added.

Both the island and the crosswalks are being constructed of stencilled concrete. That means it’s all concrete; it only looks like brick. Melted plastic is used to fuse the concrete, the brick stencil, and other elements together. When completed, all four of the islands will have yellow markings around them, and the signage informing drivers of ​“Crosswalk” will be placed within the bump-out area.

McKeon said there is no plan for signage or plantings on the islands. The two existing crosswalks, both barely noticeable with fading white paint on the eastern side of the intersections, will be eliminated.

In addition to the new crosswalks, the grant has paid for the creation of new sidewalks and curbing all along Grand between the new cross-walked corners. In this area the school buses arrive and depart and, according to the workers kids and families, sometimes late arrivals, scamper. The new infrastructure is designed to eliminate this, making crossing at the two corners easier and more attractive.

The grant is about changing not only infrastructure but attitudes. The schools had to demonstrate, through parades and ongoing programming, that families want to get healthier by walking to school. About a third of the kids in the school walk to school today.

“The souped up Honda Civics and dirt bikers” might not slow down, McKeon said, but it should work with everyone else.

The crew was pleased to have found the trolley tracks. When the work is complete the tracks will be covered up. They were found just below the surface, about six inches.

“It’s hard to change human nature,” McKeon said, ​“but what we’re doing makes it easier.”