“Don’t Want To Die”: Road Redo Readied

The city’s Engineering Department has restarted $2.7 million in plans to reconfigure Whitney Avenue to encourage slower car speeds, safer pedestrian crossings, and easier access for cyclists hoping not to get slammed by a motor vehicle.

City Engineer Giovanni Zinn gave that update during an hour-long public meeting about redesigning Whitney Avenue between Trumbull Street and the Hamden town line near Edgerton Park.

The prospective infrastructure upgrades could bring new bike lanes, crosswalks, ​“road diets,” and other improvements designed to slow speeds and increase safety for walkers, cyclists, and drivers alike.

Over 50 people attended the online meeting, which was held this past Wednesday evening. It marked the first formal public presentation on the traffic-safety project since Zinn introduced the subject at a December 2019 East Rock Community Management Team meeting.

During Wednesday’s presentation, Zinn said that the budget for the Prospect Hill/East Rock transportation infrastructure initiative has jumped from $1.2 million to $2.7 million.

The city currently has on hand for this project only $1.2 million in state-bonded Local Transportation Capital Improvement Program (LOTCIP) funds, he said. There’s ​“between an 80 and 90 percent chance” that the city will be granted an additional $1.5 million from the state based on a recently submitted local application.

“We’re fairly confident in that $2.7 million figure,” Zinn said, so his department is proceeding with that larger budget in mind.

Public Speaks First

How exactly that money will be spent remains up in the air.

Zinn and a team of city engineering staffers held last Wednesday’s meeting to solicit responses and suggestions from people who live in and travel through the area before putting together a proposed design.

“We really want to hear your input first,” Zinn said. ​“You guys are the experts in your neighborhood.”

His department has also set up an online comment and mapping tool for interested members of the public to submit their own ideas before March 1 for how they think Whitney Avenue could be safer for all users of the road. (See more below.)

“Not all bad behavior can be engineered out,” Zinn said.

Part of creating a safer Whitney Avenue is ​“compliance,” or drivers and other users following the rules of the road.

“But we really want to engineer a road that sends a message that the speed limit is 25 miles per hour. It is not 40 miles per hour, or whatever people want to drive on Whitney Avenue.”

“We Don’t Want To Die”

Alders who attended Wednesday’s meeting lauded the city’s focus on reshaping Whitney Avenue.

“We want to get across the street safely,” said Newhallville/Prospect Hill Alder Kim Edwards. ​“We don’t want to die. We want to bike. We want to do it all. But we want to do it right.”

“We’ve had way too many pedestrian deaths and too many close accidents that probably could have been avoided if we could only slow people down,” said East Rock Alder Anna Festa. Anything that can be done to slow car speeds on neighborhood thoroughfares like Whitney Avenue is welcome.

“Anyone who has tried to bicycle down Whitney Avenue knows you’re taking your life into your own hands,” added Prospect Hill/Newhallville Alder Steve Winter (pictured).

Winter said he’d like to see some ​“real bike lanes” on the roadway. ​“Protected bike lanes would be awesome. Any kind of bike lane would be a start.” He said slowing the speed of traffic is a top concern he hears from his constituents, as is doing something to ​“abate the noise from the hordes of motorcyclists who come through in the warmer months.” And then there’s the need to add new and clearer pedestrian crossings and signals.

He said that the ​“giant chasm that is Whitney Avenue” needs to be addressed for pedestrians, cyclists, bus riders, and drivers to all feel safer moving along the street.

Top Goals: Pedestrian Safety, Slower Traffic

The specific Whitney Avenue upgrades to take effect are still open for debate. Zinn said that the overall goals for this project — as well as for other engineering redos slated for ​“major corridors” across the city — remains the same as when he first pitched East Rock residents at the management team meeting over a year ago.

“Improving pedestrian safety is number one,” he said.

That could mean building out better sidewalks and new crosswalks. He said a top priority is ​“getting people across Whitney Avenue safely, especially people with children and people who may not be able to run across quickly and dart between cars.”

He said that ​“connecting the two sides of Whitney Avenue together” is one of the most frequent requests the city receives from residents about what they’d like to see changed about the East Rock corridor.

“This isn’t a freeway to downtown. It’s a neighborhood. It’s your neighborhood street. And I think having a design that shows that is really important.”

Other goals include facilitating easier ​“active transportation” for people who, say, bike along Whitney Avenue. ​“Whitney Avenue is also an important bus corridor,” so some of this money could be put into ​“improving its bus facilities.”

And repaving is always a consideration, Zinn added, as ​“there are sections of Whitney Avenue that are in poor condition in terms of pavement.”

The city engineer pointed to a few recent transportation upgrades across the city as examples of what can be done to improve Whitney Avenue.

On Clinton Avenue in Fair Haven, he said, his department took in comments from residents about reducing speeds along that corridor and built a bump out, a bioswale, rectangular rapid flashing beacons, a raised intersection table, and decreased crossing distances.

On Elm Street downtown, he said, the city built out a ​“bus box” that prioritizes public transit.

And on Long Wharf, he said, the city has built out a two-way protected cycletrack. (The same is in the works for Edgewood Avenue.)

Zinn said that the city will be accepting comments through its online reporting tool through March 1. City engineers will then put together a proposed improvement plan and present those ideas at another public meeting in April or May. Then the city would need to finalize a design and get approvals from the state and the local traffic authority. He said the target construction date would be some time in 2022.

Public Suggestions: Crosswalks, Bike Lanes, Better Lights

During the online meeting, attendees broke out into smaller groups to discuss and anonymously upload suggestions to a new city reporting tool for this very project.

Click here read currently submitted comments and to add your own.

As of Monday, members of the public had submitted dozens of comments — tagged to specific areas of Whitney Avenue — about how to make the street safer.

One of the proposed areas of improvement with the most suggestions submitted so far is in regards to crosswalks.

“LARGE crosswalk needed so that it’s easy and safe to walk back and forth from Edgerton Park from East Rock Park,” someone posted about the intersection of Whitney Avenue and Cliff Street.

“Very hazardous location for families, elderly to cross, people drive quickly in and out of area,” another person added about that same Edgerton Park intersection, ​“no way to cross to park. would be great to have crosswalk with lights like at Audubon St & Whitney”

Yet another commenter looking at Whitney and Cliff called for the creation of a ​“pedestrian safety island” at that point in the road ​“where a significant volume of high-velocity automobile and motorcycle traffic passes, particularly from the north.”

Down a block closer to Ogden Street, another commenter suggested some bike safety improvements. ​“Transform the two curbside lanes into large, one-way bike lanes,” they wrote. ​“Delineate the bike lanes from the auto lanes with inexpensive, plastic, reflective bollards that can bend over if struck by a bicycle, and also by raising the grade/level of the bike lane by several inches above the auto lane.”

By East Rock Road, someone keyed in on lighting as a particular area of concern. ​“Lighting needs to be improved — at night it’s terrifying to bicycle on this section because it’s dark and cars can’t see you until they are quite close.”

And a half-dozen commenters zeroed in on the current perils of crossing Willow Street and Whitney Avenue. ​“This intersection is extremely dangerous,” someone wrote, ​“as it is unclear when, how, or whether pedestrians should be crossing the street and this is a major access point from East Rock to Prospect area. Protected walk sign and crosswalk needed.

Watch the full public meeting below.