New Haven Independent

On Wednesday night, city, state and Southern Connecticut State University officials equaled the number of residents who showed up at a SWOT meeting at Beecher School to outline the purpose of a $110,000 planning grant from the South Central Connecticut Regional Council of Governments. The two municipalities went in for the grant together.

Karyn Gilvarg, director of New Haven’s City Plan Department, said the city is concerned about safety issues. “The road is not particularly bike-friendly. It’s very difficult for bikes and pedestrians to cross,” she said. “So it’s serving cars… It’s not even serving cars well, because there are some very high accidents rates at some of the intersections.”

Leslie Creane (pictured), Gilvarg’s counterpart in Hamden, said she had the same concerns, especially at wide intersections like Dixwell and Putnam and Dixwell and Skiff. She added, “We’re also looking to increase economic development along the Dixwell Avenue corridor in Hamden, and we’re very concerned with how the speeding traffic would affect that. So we’re hoping to turn it into a boulevard — slow the traffic down, maintain all the capacity but make it safer for pedestrians and bicyclists.”

Two staffers from Clough, Harbour & Associates, the firm that got the planning grant, explained SWOT from two perspectives.

Jeff Parker is a transportation planner, and Dave Souza is a land use planner. They said some of the corridor’s strengths (which could also be weaknesses along parts of the eight-mile stretch) are that there is good bus service (but it could be better, with the addition of the proposed Crosstown West bus route); there are sidewalks most of the way; it runs through mostly stable residential neighborhoods; it passes by several institutions of higher learning; and abuts quite a bit of green space and parkland.

Weaknesses include several dangerous intersections and poorly defined traffic lanes, shoulders and parking areas, which may contribute to the high accident rate, which Parker quoted as 2,260 accidents (from fender benders to fatalities) from 2004 to 2006. Also, it’s extremely pedestrian- and bicyclist-unfriendly. While buses run along the corridor, it’s a spoke and hub system, and lacks north-south connectivity. Land use-wise, development is car-oriented, with large parking lots, suburban sprawl and lack of public spaces at key points.

Regarding opportunities, Souza said, “New Haven and Hamden are on the cutting edge in Connecticut regarding smart growth.” Then he added, “That’s not saying much, but it’s a start.” Among the opportunities he mentioned are increased interest in creating walkable (and bikeable) communities; reducing sprawl through quality higher density development; creating connections to the Farmington Canal Rail Trail; and responding to the growing demand for other modes of travel beyond the automobile, especially with gas prices rising toward four dollars a gallon.

Threats are the continued emphasis on motorized transportation, driver behavior, lack of funding to make improvements, planning and zoning regulations that would need to be changed, and public apathy.

One resident who lives a few blocks from Beecher School said she worries that any improvements would be piecemeal. Jerry Poole wondered what impact — good or bad — work on Route 10 would have on his neighborhood, West River. He said he’d like to see the state road go back to how it was 25 years ago, “nice trees, a smaller roadway, and slower traffic.” He said whatever changes are made, his neighbors would like to have better access “to one of the best parks in the state, West River Memorial Park.”

The study must be completed by June 30. Then the recommendations will be published, and if officials and residents of New Haven and Hamden get behind them, they have a chance to convince the state to provide the funding to carry them out.