City of New Haven
Proposed Edgewood lanes.
State money may be on the way to help New Haven offer a protected bike commute from the west side of town.
The state has started an initiative “to enhance pedestrian and bicycle connectivity in municipalities” across the state called the Community Connectivity Program. New Haven’s “Downtown West” project has been selected as one of the pilot projects to receive $1.2 million as part of the first round of funding to create “a state-of-the-art bike network across six neighborhoods west of downtown.”
The money would fund a bike “artery” that includes a proposed two-way cycletrack—bike lanes physically separated from car traffic — on Edgewood Avenue that created a stir among Westville neighbors this summer over a possible loss of a couple of parking spaces near a coffee shop. (Read about that here. Read about the original plan here.) It also includes “‘feeder’ bicycle infrastructure to bring cyclists safely to the major Edgewood Ave east-west corridor,” City Engineer Giovanni Zinn and transit chief Doug Hausladen wrote to the alders.
A formal proposal to accept the state money went this week to the alders; it will be considered in committee before coming before the full board for a vote.
The money does not require a local match.
Hausladen said Tuesday that the bike network’s design remains in the early planning stages. He said that the city is awaiting design alternatives specifically for the Edgewood Avenue piece of the project. One of the design concepts would include zero-impact on parking; an alternative would include some parking loss. He said once designs are in hand there will be several opportunities for neighbors to offer input. They also will get to do so through the Board of Alders public hearing and committee process.
“The commitment that we’ve made to the community is to have a public process and that includes a number of public meetings,” Hausladen said.
He said he expects the Edgewood Avenue portion of the project to be built by the end of 2016.
The $1.2 million would pay for “line striping, traffic control devices (e.g. delineator tubes, pictured)” — e.g. rubber duckies—“signal upgrades and additions, curbs, sidewalks, handicapped ramps, and paving” in support of the bike network, according to Zinn’s and Hausladen’s letter.