Thomas Breen photos
More like Underpass Haven: By Exit 6 ...
... near State and James ...
It doesn’t have to be like this.
The Elicker administration and East Rock / Fair Haven Alder Caroline Tanbee Smith have asserted as much — well, not in those exact words — about the current state of neighborhood-slicing highways, as they seek $2 million in federal funds to help plan a brighter future for underused underpasses.
... on Humphrey by Exit 4.
Smith and City Plan Director Laura Brown pitched that latest neighborhood-reconnecting initiative Tuesday night during the latest meeting of the Board of Alders City Services and Environmental Policy (CSEP) Committee, which took place in the Aldermanic Chamber on the second floor of City Hall.
Smith and Brown appeared before the committee to speak in support of a proposed resolution authorizing the city to apply for and — if successful — accept a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Reconnecting Communities Program.
That grant would support the “I‑91 Neighborhood Reconnection Initiative.” Per Brown’s Sept. 5 letter to the alders on behalf of this proposal, that initiative “aims to restore community connectivity by exploring strategies to reclaim land, reroute traffic, and create public spaces” — in particular in the areas around I‑91’s Exits 3 through 6, as well as between Union Station and Long Wharf.
As Brown and Smith explained during their presentation and in related grant submission materials, the requested $2 million — plus another $400,000 in local and federal funds — would be spent on planning, through the hiring of architects and designers and through a community engagement process, rather than on construction itself.
This planning would support three major goals. To quote directly from a “Notice of Intent” document included in the aldermanic submission, those goals include:
1. Reconnection & Safety: Developing a buildable strategy to reconnect neighborhoods along I‑91 Exits 3 – 6 by reclaiming land and rerouting traffic to reduce the highway’s physical divide;
2. Integrative Design: Transforming underutilized spaces between highways into vibrant public areas that improve bicycle and pedestrian access and foster a sense of community; and
3. Housing & Zoning: Exploring housing development opportunities in the Mill River area, located east of I‑91, to support equitable growth and revitalization.
“While we can’t undo and remove the highways,” Brown told the committee alders on Tuesday, “we can fund specific ways to kind of repair the fabric of the neighborhoods that once existed.”
Brown pointed out that much of the car-centric infrastructure that divides neighborhoods in such visible and dramatic fashions today date back several decades to the mid-century Urban Renewal period, when highways were built, neighborhoods were redeveloped, and people were removed from their homes. Better and safer connections would help mitigate “the physical and social divides that [I‑91] creates.”
Smith agreed. So many cities have stories that are foundational to understanding what they are today, she said in closing remarks before the committee voted unanimously in support of the proposal. “One of New Haven’s stories is about highway construction. The pain of that ripples to this today.” This planning process and, hopefully, the redesign and construction work to follow, could help “to shift some of that pain into promise.”
The grant application and receipt proposal now heads to the full Board of Alders for review and a final vote.
Locations To Be Covered By Underpass Grant
See below for an excerpt from the grant application, which includes detailed descriptions of the highway exit areas and proposed planning work that would be the focus of this grant.
1. Union Station to Long Wharf: The connection between Union Station, Long Wharf, and the terminus of I‑91. Activities include conducting an alternatives analysis and conceptual design for connecting structure from platform to Long Wharf. This effort builds on the HUD 4 Choice Union Square Planning Study, Union Station TOD development, and the Long Wharf Responsible Growth Plan.
2. I91-I95 Interchange & Underpass: The terminus of I‑91 where it meets I‑95, including the Canal Dock Boathouse and Maritime District area. Activities include detailed planning and pre-development to address vacant land and aging petroleum terminal as well as need for dry egress and flood resilience to enable responsible future development including mixed-income, mixed-use development, intermodal connectivity along Harborside Trail to City Point and West Haven.
3. Wooster Square Court to Audubon: Wooster Square, particularly the division between east and west created by I‑91. Activities include: conduct an alternatives analysis and conceptual design for connecting structure from Union Station platform to both Long Wharf and Wooster Square to more freely and safely allow pedestrian and multi-modal transportation across the barrier created by I‑91.
4. Exit 3 at Trumbull Street: Exit 3 at Trumbull Street, a critical area where safety and connectivity issues have persisted for decades. This area has been the site of 180 crashes between 2020 and 2022, designating it as a high-frequency crash location (HFCL). Activities include: explore the removal or rerouting of Exit 3 to improve mobility, safety, and connections while unlocking developable land for affordable housing and neighborhood amenities; conduct a comprehensive traffic study to evaluate the impacts of any ramp removal and the subsequent rerouting of traffic to other ramps and intersections; explore need for new signal equipment and structures. This analysis will be crucial in determining how best to reconfigure this section of the highway to enhance connectivity and safety while addressing the needs of pedestrians, cyclists, and future development opportunities. This builds on existing planned improvements along Trumbull Street including signal upgrades, concurrent phasing, and Leading Pedestrian Interval (LPI) installations at key intersections. At Trumbull and Orange Streets analysis is underway to enhance pedestrian safety across the east leg of the intersection ramps while allowing two lanes of traffic to queue and exit from Trumbull eastbound during peak hours. At Trumbull and Whitney, the entire signal system will be replaced as part of project 92 – 666.
5. Mill River District to East Rock: East Rock and Fair Haven neighborhoods near Mill River as it passes under I‑91 / Mill River District. This will include advance planning for underpass beautification at Humphrey and East, and analysis of industrial commercial land reclamation for housing, including the abandoned English Station site, and consider I‑91 ramp reconfiguration. This builds on existing underpass and river beautification efforts such as Mill River Trail planning and development and the Mill River Municipal Development Plan, and the youth and community-led Mill River Underpass Project. Complete Streets and Roadway Redesign, along with lighting and other streetscape improvements. Study draining-related flood mitigation at I‑91 underpass at Clinton Ave. And Front St., as identified in Resilient Fair Haven project.
6. Exits 4 – 5 at State Street: Explore potential for restructuring on and off ramps for improved pedestrian and non-motorized vehicle safety. Explore lighting, road striping, sidewalk, and improvements to existing, and possibly new, pedestrian and non-motor vehicle connections, tunnels, and underpasses.
7. Exit 6 at Willow Street / Blatchley Ave: Activities include: explore potential for restructuring on and off ramps, improved lighting, and pedestrian improvements for improved pedestrian and non-motorized vehicle safety; explore increasing clearance as I‑91 goes over Ferry Street (currently 13’4”) and Exit 6 SB on-ramp over Exit 6 SB off-ramp (currently 13’6”); explore full traffic signal replacements, signage, crosswalk, pedestrian signs and signal equipment, modifying on-street parking, and other improvements to State St. as to connects to Exit 6 onramp to I‑91, which was identified by CDOT as a High Frequency Crash Location (HFCL); explore signage, crosswalk, pedestrian signs and signal equipment and other improvements to Willow St. at the intersection of Willow and State which is a HFCL and has seen 35 crashes between 2020 and 2022 as it goes under I‑91; and as the on and off-ramps intersect with Willow Street.
