New Haven Independent

Posted by: anonom | October 7, 2008 5:04 PM

Are Berkowitz and Lemar just bosom buddies or what? They end up in every article about East Rock, Lemar is always pimping See Click Fix and trying to get City Hall to do whatever it is that the Upper State Street folks want, even though most of State Street isn't in his ward. IS there a story here Independent?

Posted by: screwed | October 7, 2008 8:38 PM

Any plans to mitigate traffic on Willow St.???? or are the residents just going to have to suck up the extra noise, exhaust, stupid loud car stereos, roaring trucks, speeders, etc. for the next several years (who wants to bet that this project gets completed on time and on budget?), while southbound State Street traffic gets dumped into East Rock?

Posted by: cedarhillresident | October 8, 2008 8:50 AM

As far as the traffic when Ed Mattison was alder he talked about this with us. His main concern was were will the traffic go. And the fact that it cuts my area off totally from HELP! I am fearful for my community that is already having its share of problems from its isolation and this project is going to isolate us even more!

Posted by: robn | October 8, 2008 10:01 AM

SCREWED,

Just wait until the Urban Design League gets its way and turns the Oak Street connector into a surface road. The morning traffic backups will overflow directly into East Rock via Willow exit and Trumbell exit and through Wooster Square via Hamilton exit. City Hall has signed onto ths cockamamie idea because of the potential highway pork funding.

The UDLs obviously flawed thinking isn't evident to these neighborhoods and that boggles my mind.

Posted by: anon | October 8, 2008 12:45 PM

Robn: In case you didn't notice, most of the Oak Street Connector is already a surface road.

And there are people who live near that road. It's not just a road, it is a neighborhood.

Posted by: cedarhillresident | October 8, 2008 3:24 PM

OMG I have to agree with anon :0

dispite the fact that we do not want the traffic comeing through our community it does go through someones community.

I think once the 34 projects begin and traffic is being redirected though the wooster st and east rock areas (which will not be happening in the next decade) the value of these quit community may just drop. I wonder is part of the plan to protect these community's from rush hours??

Posted by: norton street | October 8, 2008 5:56 PM

hopefully the commuters will stop driving on our dangerous bridges and move into the new developments that will be going up on route 34 which will be within walking/biking distance of downtown. and hopefully in 15 years the edgewood/west river/hill north neighborhoods will be the new east rock and with no high way(except whalley) in site itll prosper.

Posted by: robn | October 8, 2008 6:12 PM

ANON,

You're incorrect. Most of the Oak Street Connector is NOT a surface road. Its above the surrounding area until about Church St and then it's below the surrounding area for its last 1/3.

There are buffer zones of commercial property adjacent to almost all of the connector and it leads to parking garages and high volume roads downtown... unlike Willow, Trumbull and Hamilton exits which plow traffic directly through quiet historical neighborhoods.

Posted by: cedarhillresident | October 8, 2008 8:58 PM

Robn you have been one of the most well informed people that posts about development in the city and your comment makes alot of sense. So my question is how do we stop this kind of traffic from coming through these community's?? Is their a way of restructuring long wharf to handle the flow of traffic from that end? maybe parking ect.

Posted by: Josh Smith | October 9, 2008 12:58 AM

@ "Screwed":

One way to prevent nonstop traffic from flowing through those communities would be to make it extremely inconvenient for people to get from the highway to other areas of the city quickly by car. Put in traffic-calming measures that force drivers to drive 15-20 on quiet, narrow, tree-lined streets, rather than just signs suggesting that motorists drive 25. Because that's what speed limit signs amount to when seen by the uneducated, or those who don't care about the safety of others: They are mere suggestions. I've said this time and time again: We are living in a society where we can no longer plop a speed limit sign down and trust that people will do the right thing. Action must be taken to force motorists to do what's right on the road.

Once people get used to the fact that they're going to have to drive extremely slowly in that neighborhood, they'll get fed up with driving there and they'll choose another route. And hopefully by that time, you'll have designed the whole surrounding street network to be traffic-calmed, so people don't just circumvent the system and just go one or two streets over, as so frequently happens now, which just makes things worse.

I suggest all of you get on board with the Safe Streets and Complete Streets movements, if you haven't already. This is vital to improving our neighborhoods. Please visit www.newhavensafestreets.org as a starting point and sign the petition for safer streets. I envision a New Haven where there will be less cars, more cyclists, more pedestrians, and more people enjoying life rather than sitting frustrated in traffic inside their cages of metal and plastic. It's too bad the DOT didn't think like this 30 years ago when they started thinking about the Whalley Avenue redesign, and it's even worse when Dick Lee did the complete opposite of traffic-calming in the 60s (and tore a nice, stable blue-collar neighborhood apart while he was at it). Please note that I'm NOT against high-speed roadways -- there's just a correct placement for them (near less-developed industrial or commercial zones), and an incorrect placement (near residential neighborhoods, institutions of learning, churches, and other places where people either could or do congregate). And right now, most of New Haven's roads might as well be signed as interstates anyway.

I apologize for the long post, but hopefully it'll get some people thinking about what the next step is in calming the traffic speeds in their neighborhoods. I wish you all the best in your efforts in East Rock.

Posted by: EastRokR | October 9, 2008 11:12 AM

Perhaps now with the bridge out the new chief will be able to make his point of cracking down on traffic infractions...

& As "we" who have grown up in New Haven for our entire lives know well, when you focus on bad drivers and speeders the crack dealers and the stick up kids will use bikes.

I agree we need a beat cop for the State Street shopping district - but dont forget about the little red headed step child of East Rock - CEDAR HILL.

That is the area of East Rock where we really need more support by our police dept. & YALE.

Posted by: robn | October 9, 2008 12:06 PM

CHR,

The Oak Street connector was disastrous to the neighborhoods it wiped out, but those don't exist anymore and this connector has evolved into a very high volume feeder road that gets automobiles directly downtown in a relatively efficient manner. The intent of the UDL plan (I understand is to reconnect Downtown with the Hill and Church Street South) may be a good taken independent of all other impacts... but when one considers the traffic impact upon other solid tax paying neighborhoods (Wooster Square, East Rock), its unconscienable. The city should leave the connector alone and let the city focus on developing Rt 34 west of the air rights garage.

Posted by: robn | October 9, 2008 12:41 PM

CHR and all,

Just to clarify, I'm all for redeveloping Rt34 (to the west of the air rights garage) as a slow calm neighborhood. I'm firmly against messing around with the Oak St connector to the east of the air right garage) becuase it will push overflow traffic into Wooster Square and East Rock. UDLs numbers don't add up. If Oak St backs up now during rush hour...cuttign its capacity in half will surely make it worse.

Posted by: Bozo | October 9, 2008 6:45 PM

Lighten up residents. Traffic will not be a problem as this job will never get done. Look whose in charge. Dear old Richard Miller. Its taken ten years just to get to thinking about repairing Quinnipiac Avenue.