Thomas Breen photo
DaGraca Masonry crew at work at Dean-Burr.
City of New Haven image
Traffic-calming measures at Burr and Dean, now under construction.
A construction crew has begun building a new roundabout at the intersection of Dean and Burr Streets with the goal of redirecting some Tweed New Haven Airport traffic towards Townsend Avenue.
A half-dozen workers from DaGraca Masonry were on the scene in the morning sun Tuesday, putting in new curbs and laying out the curves of the new traffic-calming infrastructure.
The Elicker administration is building this traffic roundabout — along with a new airport exit and pedestrian crosswalk — at the Dean-Burr intersection in order to address heavy traffic near Tweed. Some neighbors, including a group of Nathan Hale School parents, have pushed back on the roundabout plan as directing cars towards an already “hectic” school zone.
Even after the new exit and roundabout are constructed, vehicles leaving the main Tweed terminal will still use Fort Hale Road. This new airport exit and Dean-Burr roundabout will be for cars leaving the airport’s Lot C and for vehicles going to the arrivals area.
City Engineer Giovanni Zinn told the Independent that work on the new roundabout began on Monday and is expected to run for one to two months, depending on weather and scheduling. He said that DaGraca Masonry is part of the city’s small contractor development program.
“We are also continuing to work with teachers, parents, and administrators to improve safety and traffic conditions at Nathan Hale School during pickup and drop off,” Zinn added. “In engineering we will be conducting safety observations in the field and continuing to work with CT DOT on measures to improve traffic safety around the school.”
City spokesperson Lenny Speiller also told the Independent that an additional crossing guard has been assigned to Nathan Hale School “to help support safe crossing for students, families and staff.” That new crossing guard’s first day was Friday. As an example of another recent traffic-calming intervention by the school, Speiller pointed to the raised crosswalk — the first on a state road in Connecticut — that was installed outside Nathan Hale in 2022.
Meanwhile, a Morris Cove resident walking along Dean Street Tuesday morning — who asked to remain anonymous for this article — said she disapproves of the roundabout. It will only send airport traffic to an area of Townsend Avenue that has a school, a senior center, and a church, she said. That said, she praised the construction workers on Tuesday for setting up a clear and visible construction zone with plenty of signage indicating that drivers need to slow down.
