nothin Look What He Found | New Haven Independent

Look What He Found

Thomas MacMillan Photos

Chris Ozyck came upon a hidden pocket of the city — which he thinks offers the secret for how best to finish connecting the Farmington Canal Greenway through downtown streets to the harbor.

Ozyck, who helps run a tree-planting organization in the city, said he’s found a way to connect the canal trail to the waterfront while creating a scenic greenway that could be an economic engine for the city — right in downtown New Haven.

He proposes to install a trail alongside the train tracks that run between State Street and Olive Street, where a gravel drive already exists from Grove Street to Fair Street.

Ozyck has been pumping the idea — or rather resurrecting it as a proposed route — as the city heads toward a final plan for that last New Haven stretch of the hiking and biking trail.

City Plan Director Karyn Gilvarg called Ozyck’s idea interesting but unrealistic. City planners already have considered and discarded it as too difficult and expensive, given that the area belongs to Amtrak, she said. She argued that the city has designed the best route it can with the time and resources available, and attempts to change course this late in the game can only delay the project and jeopardize funding for the $7.6 million project.

The Farmington Canal Heritage Greenway trail currently runs more than 80 miles, from New Haven to Northampton, Mass. It’s both a journey and a destination for cyclists, walkers, and joggers. The trail now ends in New Haven at Hillhouse Avenue. One phase remains before the trail extends all the way to the harbor.

The city will develop tunnels from Hillhouse Avenue to the corner of Orange and Grove Streets, where it will climb out of the canal and reach street level. That phase has been designed by local architect Dean Sakamoto and dubbed New Haven’s Low Line,” similar to the High Line in New York City.

The trail’s very last leg, from the corner of Orange and Grove to the future site of the New Haven boathouse, is now in the design phase. The city’s plan calls for cyclists to take Grove to Olive Street and head south, sharing the road with cars.

Aaron Goode (center) is the lead organizer of NHFOFCG.

The Olive Street plan was recently panned at the inaugural meeting (pictured) of the New Haven Friends of Farmington Canal Greenway (NHFOFCG), a newly formed group of which Ozyck is a member. The group argued that Olive Street is too narrow and full of cars to be a good option for cyclists, especially children and families who will have just ridden on a protected bike path all the way from Hamden or Cheshire, or beyond.

It’s A Little Late”

Gilvarg said the greenway plans are running almost exactly one year behind schedule. The project is now at the semi-final design” phase, or 60 percent designed. The route that’s been chosen is the result of a number of public meetings, and represents the best that can be done with the time and money available, Gilvarg said.

The total project cost is $7.6 million, with the city paying $1.5 million of that amount and the federal government paying the rest. In order to avoid losing the federal money, the plans need to be completely finished by July, Gilvarg said.

It’s a little late for an alternate route. We’re at 60 percent design,” Gilvarg said. Re-opening the design process would set the project back for months and jeopardize the funding.”

In the city’s plan, the greenway would come up to street level near the corner of Grove and Orange streets, an intersection which will be treated with colored paint or pavers to signal to drivers to slow down. Cyclists would head east on Grove Street using sharrows, crossing State Street and turning right onto Olive Street.

It’s not perfect, but State Street [as a route] isn’t perfect either,” Gilvarg said. Olive Street was chosen because it has slow traffic and fewer cars on it, and it’s more aesthetically pleasing, Gilvarg said.

At the south end of Olive Street, the trail would take a left and become a protected cycle-track extending from Water to Brewery to Sargent. Originally, the intent was to turn right and connect with the Vision Trail, which runs between the post office and the back of the train station, but the city couldn’t get the right-of-way from the Post Office, Gilvarg said.

The Low Line”

On a recent afternoon, Ozyck led a tour of the route he thinks the trail should take to the harbor. He’ll offer the tour again at least twice more, as part of a volunteer campaign to get the city to consider his idea. He’s meeting tour participants at the main IKEA entrance at 2 p.m. on Sunday Jan. 20 and 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 2.

Wearing a bright yellow safety vest, Ozyck began his tour at the corner of State and Grove. He pointed up the block to where Grove meets Orange. He said both intersections should be converted into speed tables”—raised intersections where pedestrians reign supreme. When cyclists and pedestrians emerge from the canal onto the street, there would be a guardrail to separate and guide them to the corner, where, when the traffic stops, they can cross diagonally and enter the eastbound lane on Grove Street, towards State, he said.

At State Street, the trail would enter what is now city staff parking (pictured) on the east side of State Street, Ozyck said. The path could run down the middle of the lot, and thus not take any parking spaces away, he said.

Then the trail would take a slight left turn, and go down the bank to meet an existing gravel drive next to the railroad tracks. An existing gate (pictured) and track, already open, shows how easy this would be, he said. It’s like dropping through a rabbit hole into a strip of seemingly available real estate right in the heart of town.

We all walk around in the city thinking we know the city,” Ozyck said, until we dig a little deeper.”

From that spot, it’s a straight shot several blocks south. We’re going to walk all the way to the Knights of Columbus museum without having to cross a street,” Ozyck said.

Ample room exists next to the railroad tracks, enough for cyclists and walkers to be comfortably distant from passing trains. There’s so much room that the city could even extend the parking lot to make it even bigger, or have land to develop with businesses, Ozyck pointed out.

In Ozyck’s vision, this is the real Low Line, the attraction that could bring people to New Haven as the High Line does for Manhattan. The retaining walls and existing tunnels could be covered with public art and there could be seating areas and terraces for people to enjoy in the heart of the city.

The trail would run right by the State Street train station (pictured), which could lead to more people to take advantage of that underused stop. The proximity of the trains would also be a good advertisement for New Haven, Ozyck said. People riding by in trains would see happy walkers and cyclists having a great time on a beautiful greenway in the heart of town, and plan a trip to New Haven themselves. Is that not a great way to tell people about New Haven?”

My god, the potential,” Ozyck said, showing off the area.

If, on the other hand, cyclists were shunted off the canal and onto narrow Olive Street, danger, frustration, and road rage would ensue, Ozyck said.

I think that’s insane,” he said. A better alternative exists. … Here, with a more expensive, graceful stroke, you can achieve so much more. … It’s so obvious.”

We looked at that route,” Gilvarg said of the train corridor idea. The route was discarded mainly because it would require easements and other cooperation with Amtrak, which holds the property and is notoriously difficult to work with, she said. I don’t have enough years left to negotiate this with Amtrak.”

Gilvarg acknowledged that Ozyck’s proposed route has a certain attractiveness, as a car-free zone way right through downtown. But it’s just not possible right now, she said. In 10 years, if Amtrak is suddenly cooperative and easy to work with, you can change the route, she said.

Train Connections

In Ozyck’s vision, after four blocks running by the tracks, the trail would climb back up to street level and enter at Fair Street, the tiny road that connects Union Street and State Street. The westbound lane there could be claimed for bikes, Ozyck said. No one ever uses that lane, Ozyck said, demonstrating his point by standing in the middle of it.

Next, the trail would turn right onto Union Street, reclaiming what is now a trashed sidewalk with Jersey barriers running down the middle. Move those Jersey barriers over to one side and use them to separate pedestrians and cyclists from cars, Ozyck suggested.

Union Street (pictured) is a good option because it offers a great view of the city, he said. People pedaling north will intuitively head in that direction and have a sense of Ah! I’ve arrived downtown in New Haven,” Ozyck said.

At the corner of Union and Water streets, the trail would take a left and connect with the Vision Trail, which runs under the highway, behind the post office, ending at IKEA. This is the route that Gilvarg said wouldn’t work because the city needs a right of way from the post office.

The Vision Trail could also easily be modified to take people to the train station, Ozyck said. The trail turns. If you go straight you can get right on the platform.”

Ozyck said he envisions a service whereby people arriving by train in New Haven could text-message a bike shop like The Devil’s Gear to pick them up in a pedi-cab, take them to the shop and rent them bikes to explore the trail for the day.

Are you kidding me?” Gilvarg said when she heard about Ozyck’s idea to connect the trail to the back of the train station. Talk to OSHA [the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration] about crossing railroad tracks.”

In the future, there may be a way to do that with a bridge, she said. There are a lot of good ideas, but the focus has been on getting this done.”

There’s no question that Union Station is a key destination,” GIlvarg said. Nothing will stop people from taking a right at Water Street and pedaling themselves there, she said.

An Economic Engine”

Heading back to where he started, Ozyck took Olive Street (pictured), the city’s proposed route for the trail. He pointed out how narrow it is, how popular it is with commuters taking a shortcut to the highway. It’s not like this is a neighborhood road,” he said.

Ozyck acknowledged that his plan would be more expensive and more difficult. Where there’s a will, there’s always a way,” he said.

At the very least, the trail should avoid Olive Street by going down quiet, one-way Artizan Street (pictured) and Union Street, Ozyck said.

As planners look at the final phase of the Farmington Canal Greenway, the question should be, Do you really want to use this as an economic engine?” Ozyck said. Look what the High Line did for New York City.”

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