Paul Bass Photo
The peanut’s shell didn’t crack.
Instead it helped usher in a hopeful new era this year for traffic-calming in New Haven.
The peanut in question is a squished-in-the-middle roundabout at the intersection of Yale Avenue and Chapel Street near the Westville Music Bowl and Yale Bowl.
The asymmetric intersection saw as many as 17 crashes a year — until Feb. 15 of this year, when the city borrowed an idea from Worcester, Mass.: It constructed a peanut-shaped barrier to adjust traffic flow on the previously treacherous high-speed stretch of asphalt. (Read all about that here.)
Since then traffic has slowed down considerably. And the number of crashes has dropped: The city has recorded two nonfatal crashes at the intersection this year through this week, one on March 6, the other on July 1, the first without any personal injuries, the latter with “a suspected minor injury” after a parked car was hit on the shoulder of the road.
Over 50 crashes occurred there from 2017 – 2020, some of them destroying vehicles and sending people to the hospital. The annual number peaked at 17 in 2019, before lowering to 6 in 2021 and 5 in 2022.
Click here for a spreadsheet provided by the city detailing all crashes since 2015.
The peanutabout also inspired neighbors to beautify the island, with plants and signage.
“Roundabouts are known to work,” said City Engineer Giovanni Zinn.
And peanutabouts?
“They work too.”
Plus they’re fun to drive and walk around. And show off to visitors to town, one of the many wonders of that quirky, dream-chasing city we love to call home.
