John Martin Photo
Cyclists on the Vision Trail: Not for long?
The state Department of Transportation has again outraged New Haven’s new urbanists, this time with a plan to destroy the Vision Trail.
The DOT decided to eliminate the off-road paved trail connecting downtown to Long Wharf in light of expanding state rail operations in the area. That led to a meeting Wednesday night between outraged greenway supporters and DOT officials, where competing visions emerged of what’s necessary to provide optimal transportation options that benefit New Haven and the rest of the region locked.
The Vision Trail meeting, which was held at the DOT’s new construction district building at 4 Brewery St., was the latest in a series of conflicts between the city and the state agency, including a battle over Union Station’s new parking garage design, another over the who should run the station, and yet another over neglected state-owned lots in town.
New Haven created the Vision Trail in 1995 in conjunction with the city’s hosting of the Special Olympics World Games, as part of a broader, ongoing effort to find ways to connect parts of the city together better and enable walkers and cyclists to get around better.
The short trail begins at Water Street, where it passes under the Route 34 Connector, winds between the state’s busy rail yard and the U.S. Post Office and out past IKEA, and continues under I‑95 to access the waterfront along the harbor around Long Wharf Drive.
It’s not a pretty route, particularly the part that goes past the rail yard. But it serves its purpose — safer access to the waterfront.
But now that the state DOT has acquired a parcel of land on the other side of the trail, which technically includes that portion of the trail, agency officials said it’s time for the trail to go.
Markeshia Ricks Photo
DOT Engineer Michael Mendick: The state doesn’t want the trail bisecting its property.
“At this point, the department plans on re-outing the portion of the trail that is designated through the rail yard,” Assistant 1A District Engineer Michael Mendick said during Wednesday night’s meeting. “Now, we have a trail that bisects the rail yard, and so really at this point, with increased demand on the rail yard … we’re seeing this as a programmatic restraint and that we really have to stop and move on. We have more cars coming, more areas needed for stored materials. We have the Hartford line starting in 2018 based out of here as well, so that’s really where we are.”
DOT’s suggestion is to shift the “trail” out onto Water and Brewery streets and Canal Dock Road.
Mendick said he called the meeting at the recommendation of city officials to get community input on how to help maintain connectivity.
Meeting attendees panned the idea. They expressed shock that a DOT that has professed a commitment to intermodal transportation would call them to a meeting to announce that it plans to simply erase a trail that is a key component of the city’s efforts to connect downtown to its waterfront.
Chris Ozyck: Feasibility study needed.
Chris Ozyck, a creator of the Vision Trail, said the rail yard’s growth over the years has only succeeded in further cutting off safe access to the waterfront. The Vision Trail is also part of the ongoing plans for expansion of the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail, he noted.
Ozyck said the DOT has not been much of a partner in maintaining that access. He said it has shirked its responsibility in general when planning for the impacts that its growth has had on the community.
“We actually established criteria, and it was what was the shortest, what was the safest and what was the most interesting route,” he said. “And we were able to get this trail built in nine months because of the good will of lots of people. And at the time, we had a variety of easements that went across all these properties.”
Ozyck said that easements were obtained from the federal government, on the post office side of the trail, and before the state started expanding its rail yard operations. DOT disputes that any formal easements allow for the trail. While DOT didn’t buy the trail, it did buy the land that the trail goes through.
“We have historically used this property before you owned it,” Ozyck said. “And you’ve known that we’ve been there, but you have refused to engage with us. We want to connect with our waterfront. And to think of all this expansion that you’re doing down here to the detriment of all the citizens of New Haven … but also the deplorable way this building looks and sits and turns its back on New Haven is a travesty.”
Urban Design League’s Anstress Farwell at Wednesday night’s meeting.
Mendick said the meeting was the DOT’s attempt to engage New Haven residents. But several at the meeting said that the meeting seemed more about telling people what DOT had already decided to do with no consideration for how it impacts efforts to to make the waterfront more accessible and to promote alternative forms of transportation.
Ozyck asked Mendick to pursue a feasibility study that looks at the rail yard and how it can be more pedestrian friendly by making a connection between Union Station, downtown, and the waterfront. He said a study could tease out what is possible, and help the DOT articulate its own goals about pedestrian connectivity for the city and all train station users.
Aaron Goode of the New Haven Friends of the Farmington Canal asked for better communication from DOT, which he said failed to notify the community when the trail was closed and bulldozed last year or to notify the East Coast Greenway that a part of its trail had been closed.
“I think we need to raise our expectations and raise our standards for communication,” he said.
Mendick agreed to keep all parties informed and promised to take up the request for a feasibility study with his immediate boss. Cordalie Benoit pressed him about taking it up with DOT Commissioner James Redeker; she said if he doesn’t, the group will. Mendick said he prefers to talk with his direct boss first.
Mendick said Redeker was aware of the plan to move the trail from state property. Despite recent clashes, past appeals to Redeker were successful in getting the DOT to back off a plan that would have taken a large chunk of the Long Wharf Nature Preserve to make way for the I‑95 northbound Exit 46 ramp.
It's pretty simple. DOT would rather have more people leapfrogging CT from Boston to NYC and D.C. than have New Haveners gain access to their own waterfront.