New Haven Independent

Streever, who filed a complaint with the police department over his rough treatment by the cop, said he appreciated that city officials are thinking about ways to make cyclists’ lives better in the future, by planning bike lanes and such. “But we feel like our lives are in danger right now,” he said. The dozen other cyclists in the room all had their own stories of close calls or actual impacts from motorists who don’t see them or sometimes actually try to hit them.

Mayor DeStefano (pictured) expressed some confusion at Tuesday’ night’s meeting about who these people in his office were, saying there had been a group of bicycle and pedestrian advocates who had been meeting with City Hall staff for two years about their concerns. It was established that that group (the Go-alition) was no longer meeting regularly, due to lack of attendance on the part of both cyclists and city staffers, and that those present at the meeting were members of the loose-knit group Elm City Cycling (in which, as an avid bicycle commuter, I participate).

The mayor emphasized the importance of enforcement in changing people’s behavior, putting him on the same page as the cyclists who’ve been calling for that. He bemoaned the failure in the General Assembly of a bill that would have allowed the city to install cameras at targeted intersections, to identify vehicles whose operators run red lights. “I need your help with our delegation,” he said, “because a majority of them voted against the bill.”

At the start of the meeting, Chief Ortiz said he had some police training materials he wanted to share with the cyclists, to get their input. But at the end of the meeting, he said he was going to work on the materials more and would send them out later. He also said the number of moving violation citations handed out in New Haven far outnumber those in other towns in the state; when asked for those numbers, he said they weren’t available. He also expressed frustration that the cyclists were going to the mayor when he felt they should be coming to him with their concerns.

Meanwhile, cyclist Joel Creswell reported on a conversation he’d had with Captain Steve Verrelli, who said he’d welcome members of Elm City Cycling to talk to officers about their safety concerns.

Before leaving the meeting, DeStefano said he would put a team of staffers together from the police department, City Plan, and his own office to work with bike advocates on next steps, including trying to resurrect the red light camera option, perhaps as a pilot project just in New Haven. Cyclist Rob Rocke (pictured) said he strongly supports that proposal, though he added that it won’t be a panacea.

After the meeting, some of the cyclists gathered on the steps outside City Hall, debriefing while they enjoyed the perfect late spring evening. Most were impressed that the mayor had brought several key players with him to the meeting — the police chief, Chief Administrative Officer John Buturla, and traffic and parking head Paul Wessel.

But they wondered how committed the top people are to really changing the car-dominated culture on New Haven’s streets. Ortiz, for example, had cautioned against having too high expectations, about being “realistic” in the face of many other demands for law enforcement. And they told stories of life in other states, like California, and even Massachusetts, where pedestrians and bicyclists are actually given the right of way in intersections. That’s the law here in Connecticut too, but it’s barely enforced.

Then the cyclists hopped on their bikes and rode off, hoping to avoid any four-wheeled encounters.