New Haven Independent

Posted by: Paul Wessel | February 26, 2007 11:18 AM

Rather than spending $20,000 to $30,000 on consultants doing a study, put resources into promoting more activities like this past weekend's party - but do them on the sidewalks, in the streets, and in ways that residents begin to take back the street.

See http://www.lesstraffic.com/Programs/SR/SR.htm for ways to think about this.

City staff know about the different engineering, enforcement, and education techniques for slowing traffic down - don't spend money on consultants telling them what they already know. Substantial funds have been spent on Front Street or will be spent on Quinnipiac Avenue in engineering improvements. Reengineering roads to reduce traffic speed is expensive and takes time.

(I say all this as someone who worked on these issues for three years at the City. For the record, I no longer have any formal or informal role on traffic issues with the City.)

For more engineering improvements to happen more quckly, this issue has to become a budgetary priority. Aldermen have discussed making this a policy priority in their budget setting, which is where their real power is. They should decide, and should be encouraged to decide, the relative of importance of traffic calming, youth activities, crime-fighting, schools, etc - and then figure out how to fund those priorities in tight fiscal times. Then they - and we - should recognize those choices made through the process.

In the end, though, reclaiming streets through "activity," as is discussed on lesstraffic.com cited above, is at least as important as through "design," far more fun, far less frustrating, and continues to build neighborhoods in the way Saturday's party did.

Posted by: cedar hill resident | February 26, 2007 5:53 PM

Paul I agree with you the more visable a community is the more the area improves! Party in the streets do curbside events let the whole world know we care and we want you to respect our area! I think that when the people driving through see this they do come around and say hey not in this area! Just like if they drive through Branford they would never think of doing things they do in New Haven. DAMAND RESPECT!

PS Paul you know our area has been waiting years for something to be done with a problem at the intersection of ferry and state and are still waiting for a lousy arrow on the ground how much could that cost?? The Sarg. even sat at the corner and said "it needs to be done!" and tryed calling you and several others to get help with it and you came to our meetings about it. ONE LOUSY ARROW that will stop alot of accidents.

one more PS nice pic Gerda :)

Posted by: Rafael Ramos | February 26, 2007 8:11 PM

Thank you to- the Chatum Square Neighborhood Assiciation (CSNA) group, Maryann Moran, Sally Esposito, Lee Cruz, Mat Morgan,The Community Foundation of Greater New Haven and our Alderwoman Erin Sturgis-Pascale & Ms.B for bring our wonderful Neigbors together in the spirit of Afican American History month and at the same time doing very serious community building. I love our neighborhood. looking forward to the CSNA spring festival.

Posted by: Walt Coleman | February 27, 2007 9:38 AM

Where is Chatham Square and its neighborhood?

I lived on both Grafton
St. and Clinton Ave. for many years but never heard of thar tetrm.

Thanks

Posted by: gina | February 27, 2007 11:39 AM

It's so cool to hear about this community taking care of itself. It makes me feel really good about people working together to get things done. But also shows the importance of letting each other know how each can help the other. If Ms. Genece didn't know that the CSNA existed, she would have been in over her head and, like she said, on her way out of the community. I wonder what other kinds of help the city or communities can provide by simply getting the word out? This was such a good article; I really enjoyed reading it.

Posted by: Anonymous | February 27, 2007 1:54 PM

I couldn't agree more with Paul Wessel's comments. When a group of neighbors asserts pride and ownership in an area, a lot of problems go away or lessen. Littering or not picking up after one's dog or playing loud music or dealing drugs are some of the problems that diminish when the neighbors are watching and acting.

I'm not sure, however, if speeding is a problem that diminishes with community pride. It seems like drivers everywhere speed, whether it's in Fair Haven or along the leafy lanes of Greenwich. And sadly, it's usually one's own neighbors, not some careless "outsider" doing the speeding. Maybe we just have to live with the fact that people will speed, especially if they feel hung up in traffic on city streets. Or maybe we have to fund ongoing driving education about the dangers of speeding, so that slowing things down comes mostly from people choosing to drive that way. I know that I've slowed down a lot in the past year, but when I get frustrated by traffic and by so-called "traffic calming", I feel the urge to step on the gas. I try to resist that, but frustration, I think, is a big contributor to speeding.

Posted by: Walter | February 27, 2007 4:01 PM

The frustration around the bottleneck at the Grand Avenue bridge is, I believe, one of the causes of speeding, because once free of the traffic, or U-turning to avoid it, or taking a side street to get to Middletown Avenue, there is a human tendency to drive faster. Why the city can't supply someone to direct traffic in the area from 4 to 6pm, when the congestion is greatest, escapes me.

Posted by: Lee Cruz | February 27, 2007 5:25 PM

Follow up on the comments of Paul Wessel and Walt Coleman:

Much more than what a community chooses to do to improve itself is the fact that a community chooses to do so at all. In the Chatham Square Neighborhood, 200 households have been invited, via home visits, to participate in the planning and implementation of activities and programs intended to revitalize and stabilize the neighborhood. Over 60 have responded positively and 30 are get things done. Residents are working with neighbors on traffic as a means of improving the quality of life, planning activities for families, and taking greater ownership of the park – not just through sweat equity, but through community-based planning. Residents are also rehabbing their homes through a program they created and engaging realtors in an effort to reach homebuyers that are likely to become resident-homeowners in the neighborhood. At the center of all of these efforts is a fundamental belief in the power of community built through relationships.

Two studies suggest the residents might be on the right track, "Systematic Social Observation of Public Spaces: A New Look at Disorder in Urban Neighborhoods" in the November 1999 issue of The American Journal of Sociology and "Neighborhoods and Violent Crime: A multilevel study of collective efficacy" by Dr. Felden Earls, Rutgers University website. These studies are also summarized in a January 6, 2004 article by Dan Hurley in Boston Globe. Check them out.

Chatham Square is the city park bordered on the north by Chatham Street, on the south by Grafton Street, on the east by Maltby, and on the west by Clinton Avenue. It is two blocks north of The Mary Wade Home and two blocks south of Clinton Avenue School.

If you are a resident of the Chatham Square Neighborhood, or even if you are not, you can come see how it works at the March 21 meeting, 5:30PM at The Mary Wade Home.

Posted by: cedar hill resident | February 27, 2007 6:29 PM

Walter I have got caught up in that traffic a few times is greatly aggravating! I think once the ferry street bridge is complete a lot of that will stop. Until than there should be some kind of help at that intersection.

Posted by: Erin Sturgis-Pascale | February 27, 2007 11:27 PM

I agree with Paul Wessel that there is nothing that builds community better than neighborhood activities, some of which will be orchestrated and planned in advance. But, the most potent community building happens in daily interactions. And it is this kind of interaction that is so seriously damaged by unsafe roadways. We have made incremental changes over the years to facilitate the passage of motor vehicle traffic at the expense of pedestrians and other non-motorized users of our public streets. This has really damaged our communities. Urban areas have a special opportunity to make welcome a large population of people that would rather not live their lives in their cars as well as to children, the disabled and seniors.
There is evidence to support traffic calming as the source of reductions in crime and increases in economic development. Safe communities are stable communities and the safe streetscapes that are the result of effective traffic calming are an essential element. New Haven is not alone in marginalizing this fact, but there are plenty of municipalities that have not and are enjoying the benefits of truly revitalized communities.
Without mourning the past too much, it is true that substantial funds have been spent on Front Street, replacing *exactly* the same inappropriate infrastruture, knowing that the recommendations of costly consultants were being ignored. We the residents watched this happen from our windows with not a little anger.

The bottom line is that we shouldn't be muddling through expensive infrastructure improvements without looking at the big picture first. It doesn't make fiscal sense and it doesn't serve the community.

Posted by: gerda genece | February 27, 2007 11:34 PM

Speeding is a very big problem in our neighborhood. As far as I know, nobody wants to live in a community that makes you afraid to cross the street or send your child to the corner store in the middle of the afternoon. I ask you this Anonymous, do you ever awake in your sleep to tire streaking or mufflers so loud you grind your teeth? I am not talking about drivers just plainly speeding, no, I’m talking about people designing specific cars to race side by side, starting from Grand Avenue, to the end of Clinton. They go back and forth for hours with speed reaching 100 miles per hour. Calling the police won’t do any good because by the time the police show up, the race is over. I took it upon myself to go door to door asking people in my neighbor to contribute money, because if we don’t do anything about it, someone can, eventually, get killed. We have had this problem for many years and, frankly, we are sick of it. If you care, please send your donation to the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven on 70 Audubon Street, New Haven, CT, 06510. If you happen to be within the Fairhaven area, you can drop of your donation at 147 Lombard Street.

Posted by: Juan Montalvo | February 28, 2007 10:16 AM

I agree with Paul Wessel and Erin. Erin you tookl the words right out of my mouth. The bottom line is that we shouldn't be muddling through expensive infrastructure improvements without looking at the big picture first. It doesn't make fiscal sense and it doesn't serve the community.

Posted by: Karen Mielcarz | February 28, 2007 10:53 AM

It is a sign of the times we live in that people have the need for speed. On City Streets or in the country. There is always a form of street racing--drifting is the current sensation. On these wide and straight stretches speeders of all varieties are not taking into account the potential for disaster. There are so many pets and children dwelling in this old fashioned neighborhood.Every day the TV news is full of drivers gone wild with their unwieldy SUV's or sedans disregarding the rules of the road. Vehicular manslaughter is no picnic I'm sure--just ask pop singer Brandy! I strive to keep in mind that anything can and usually does dart out into traffic along Clinton Avenue. People don't use crosswalks all the time and bikers ride on the wrong side of the street frequently.Traffic calming will help those that just don't get it. Especially people that are only passing thru our neighborhood or just don't care what happens in this part of town. I'm intrigued by the person's comment on innappropriate infrastructure on Front Street. Are they referring to the new Quinnipiac Terrace?

Posted by: Q Town Resident | February 28, 2007 4:39 PM

I agree in some respects to Paul Wessel. The idea that the community is burdened with the traffic and speeding issues brought about by the Ferrry Street bridge closure and the lack of traffic calming along Front Street, and is now burdened with the task of raising money for a traffic study, when the city already did one in 2002, is absurd at best. The 20 or 30 thousand dollars would indeed be better spent on activities that unite community, not on ideas of infrastructure that any forward thinking city which boasts one of the best educational institutions in the world should already have in place. Paul doesn't want kids to "play in the street" with speeding traffic as some my think. If you follow the link to www.lesstraffic.com you will see that the community element is to realize where people gave up the streets to speeding traffic and reverse that process. In terms of Front Street, between Lewis and Chatham, it started with residents giving up on-street parking. Without a visual cue to slow down, vis a vis physical objects, the speeding continues unchecked. Where the city has failed is the opportunity that came about during recent re-construction of the street, which included sewer separation, sidewalks, curbs and offered the perfect opportunity for much needed traffic calming. Where were the ideas then? I was personally told that the city engineer had great plans for traffic calming in our block of Fair Haven, and I'm still waiting to see what those plans are. Which is why I'm a little jaded to think that once a new traffic study is done, will the city step up and implement any of it now that the roads are brand new?

Posted by: Anonymous | February 28, 2007 4:59 PM

To Gerda Genece,

I am disappointed (again) that an honest and moderate response gets met with high-handed words and another challenge to pay up or shut up. Yes, Ms. Genece, I do live on a street that experiences some racing (mostly motorcycles and ATVs and then snow mobiles in winter) and yes, I've almost been run over by careless drivers. I walk and bicycle a lot, so I'm all too familiar with those clutchy moments when you think you've seen the last of this world, because some driver thinks pedestrians shouldn't cross the street but just stand like street trees decorating his path!

But whether I live on such a street or not, or whether I am willing to contribute to your collection drive or not, should not determine the validity of my comment or the right of anyone to comment. And frankly, I think if everybody looked him or herself in the mirror, he/she would admit to sometimes speeding. I know of only one person who never speeds -- my mother(!), and I admire her perpetual state of calm when driving. I have not yet reached that Zen state of mind. In the meantime, however, I do hope to comment and not get slammed or sneered at by fellow readers who take a higher or mightier road than I can travel.

Posted by: Lee Cruz | February 28, 2007 5:30 PM

Dear Anonymous,
If it makes you feel like speeding up it is not an effective method of calming traffic. Read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_calmingfor more information.

If anyone has been to Holland or any other country in Northern Europe speak up, you have seen effective traffic calming.

We can slow down car traffic. Resident or outsider, does not matter health, safety and quality of life, that's what matters.

Posted by: Lee Cruz | February 28, 2007 6:57 PM

Dear Anonymous,
If it makes you feel like speeding up it is not an effective method of calming traffic. Read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_calmingfor more information.

If anyone has been to Holland or any other country in Northern Europe speak up, you have seen effective traffic calming.

We can slow down car traffic. Resident or outsider, does not matter health, safety and quality of life, that's what matters.

Posted by: Ned | February 28, 2007 10:58 PM

Same problems on the Willow St. speedway. The crosswalk lights are timed so that a pedestrian has to wait for two cycles of the traffic light to walk 15 feet, so cars are given preference, as a result most people don't bother using the button to cross, because you can be half way down the block by the time you get the walk light... (same thing at the intersection of Orange and Cold Spring too). Also, the invitation to speed, by the design of the road, inevitably leads to frequent crashes at the intersection of Willow and Orange, as well as at Canner and Orange (yeah that flashing light is really going to slow people down - apparently NOT). In addition, there was a "yield to pedestrians in crosswalk", sign, in the crosswalk, at the intersection of Anderson and Willow (which did seem to slow people down - being directly in the middle of the roadway), in front of Archie Moore's, which lasted all of about 2 weeks, before it was RUN OVER and never replaced. Curiously, I see the same "yield to pedestrian..." signs all over the place, in Fairfield county suburbs, where there are hardly any pedestrians - go figure? Maybe New Haven could go begging to Darien: we'll trade you some low income housing for a few pedestrian signs... So if it's not speeding cars, it's really loud car stereos, serenading the residents with the lovely strains of "mo----f----r" and "b--ch", while demonstrating the Doppler effect. It is literally impossible to hold a conversation, on the sidewalk as the average car speeds past at least 10-25 mph faster than the posted 25mph limit. Traffic "engineering" in New Haven seems kind of stuck in the 1950's, while the rude car stereos are unfortunately too contemporary.

Posted by: Cedar Hill Resident | March 1, 2007 8:39 AM

Anonymous I don't think she was slamming you. She is tired of the racing. My area has a strip that is raced on in the summer evenings. I live a block away from the starting line and I can hear the cars take off. The concern is children or even an out of control car going through a house.
And to be honest we really don't bother the poliice with it because there is not really much they can do. That and I can think of a 1000 other things more important in my area that I want them spending there time on.
But each area has there problems and this areas is the speed of the cars.
At one time we did suggest for the park area that they race in to maybe do some small groves in the road way (you know the kind that make noise when you drive on them)that would definitly stop the speeding. But we never presude it. But maybe that is an idea for Clinton Av.

Posted by: another Q-town Resident | March 1, 2007 2:28 PM

It is nice to see so many people engaged in this conversation online, but how many of you are active in the community? It takes nothing to speak your opinion, but it is much more effective to go to meetings and become an active member of the community. The City will listen to the masses. For those of you who are active...keep up the great work!! We WILL get there. To those yet to go beyond online commentary or complaining to neighbors...GET ACTIVE! By pulling together we WILL get the message to the City that we need traffic calming and enforcement.

With that said...the City didn't pay any attention to the traffic study done several years ago, why are they going to listen now? I would hate to see the community raise all of this money only to have yet another traffic study, with the mostly the same problems, be ignored and pushed aside by the City. Lets make sure the City will back us now...before the money is spend on a traffic study that goes nowhere.

Posted by: aaron | March 3, 2007 12:34 AM

Why is an expensive study needed? Because unfortunately the City doesn't listen to its citizens and (sometimes, or so it seems) wouldn't know a good idea even if one hit City Hall in the face. Any fool can see that painted arrows demarking turn lanes is needed at Ferry and State, or Chapel and Olive, or any number of other intersections in the city, but it never gets done. It shouldn't take a $50,000 study for the City to realize something simple like this, but the sad reality is that it does.