Maya McFadden Photo
Lincoln-Bassett parent Stacy Leslie: school pick-up is hectic.
Speed bumps are on the way to Newhallville. What, neighbors asked, about the schools?
Maya McFadden Photo
Brittiany Mabery-Niblack and Giovanni Zinn at Thursday's Lincoln-Bassett community meeting.
That news was delivered, and question discussed, Thursday evening at Lincoln-Bassett Community School. It was the latest community meeting hosted by new Newhallville Alder Brittiany Mabery-Niblack. Twenty neighbors gathered at the school for the two-and-a-half-hour meeting.
A major focus of the meeting was neighbors’ sidewalk and speed bump concerns. Mabery-Niblack invited City Engineer Giovanni Zinn to the meeting to address the concerns.
Zinn told attendees that six streets are in queue to get sidewalk repairs in Newhallville. Meanwhile, Butler, Lilac, Newhall, and West Hazel streets are on his list of requests to have speed bumps added.
Shepard Street resident Addie Kimbrough asked Zinn why no speed bumps or other traffic-calming tools are planned right at Lincoln-Bassett. “Every other school has it,” she said. “Our children go to this school, and there is nothing to keep them safe.”
Instead of speed bumps, Starr Street resident and veteran educator Claudine Wilkins-Chambers said, “I’d like to see some of that hump money transferred over to the public education for the city of New Haven.”
Zinn responded that “a critical part of having a good education for children is getting them to and from school safely. If they’re fearing for their lives walking to school, that’s a problem.”
Democratic Ward 20 Committee Co-Chair Latoya Agnew asked Zinn if there are other ways to slow down speeding in the neighborhood besides speed bumps. “It’s ridiculous to have the whole neighborhood full of speed bumps,” she said. She suggested more signage or roundabouts.
“The most effective thing on a street is something that causes vertical deflection, meaning some raised feature in the roadway that motorists have to slow down for,” Zinn said. “It’s 100 percent the most effective thing to slow someone down.”
He added that a roundabout is typically put at an intersection and often needs a lot more land to build.
Stacy Leslie, a new transplant to Newhallville who arrived three months ago, has a son who attends Lincoln-Bassett. Leslie said when she picks her son up from school in the afternoon, the traffic is hectic. She asked Zinn what he would suggest as a solution.
Zinn responded that there could be a place for raised elements near the school but added that because it’s an urban environment, bus traffic often presents complications.
Zinn also offered the community with an update on the soon-to-be adult education building at 188 Bassett St. He said his team is working on creating the building design with a goal of completing the design by the end of year.
Ward Committee Co-Chair Kim Harris asked about the construction process for the adult ed building and what safety measures will be in place to protect nearby residents. Zinn said an inspection of the building revealed a small percentage of trapped asbestos in floor glue used to place carpet on top of old tiles. When cleaning happens, it will be done in containment and in a controlled space by the state’s health department until the air is cleared.
Mabery-Niblack concluded Thursday’s meeting by updating residents that the first two monthly meetings she held with neighbors had focused on concerns about 911 calls being put on hold or not answered at all. She said Police Chief Karl Jacobson attributed delays to a shortage of 911 operators. As a result, Mabery-Niblack plans to host a community job fair for police and fire 911 call operators.
During the months that Mabery-Niblack doesn’t host a community meeting like Thursday night’s, she joins Newhallville community management team meetings to update and talk to residents.
The next community meeting is scheduled at Lincoln-Bassett on May 21, July 18, Sept 19, and Oct 17, all at 6 p.m.
Thursday's community meeting.
If there is no expected or potential consequence for bad driving behavior, it will continue. Every kindergartner knows this!!!!