Whalley Avenue widening project underway

Coverage at the New Haven Register:

http://nhregister.com/articles/2010/07/15/news/new_haven/aa3_newhalleywide071510.txt

Traffic Safety: Links of Interest

Yale-New Haven Hospital "Intersection Repair" to Honor Mila Rainof http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2009/07/community_repai.php

Neighborhood-Wide Meeting on Future of Whitney Avenue http://www.newhavensafestreets.org/2009/07/july-9-future-of-whitney-avenue.html

July 2009 NH Safe Streets Newsletter http://www.livablestreets.com/projects/new-haven-safe-streets-coalition/safe-streets-update-070909

Citizen Cameras Nab Speeders http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2009/06/caught_on_camer.php

Car on Upper Whalley Avenue Jumps Curb; 4 Pedestrians and Driver Hospitalized http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2009/07/elderly_driver.php
http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2009/07/15/news/new_haven/a1_--_pedestriansstruck.txt

Driver Crashes Into Pedestrians on Avenue

http://www.newhavensafestreets.org/2009/07/four-pedestrians-and-driver.html

Gabrielle Lee Remembered: Whalley Widened

Excellent reporting from Paul Bass of the New Haven Independent on the Whalley Avenue widening project can be found here: http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2009/06/whalley_widenin.php

A year after a driver mowed down an 11 year-old girl on Whalley Avenue, the state prepared to start widening the congested road — endangering other pedestrians’ lives, in the view of neighborhood critics.

Urban planner Christopher Heitmann (at center in photo) argued Thursday that the DOT plan will accomplish the opposite of Zborek’s predicted outcomes: It will make cars drive even faster, and make walking and biking even more perilous, than it is now. He and other local traffic-calming advocates reacted in outrage to the plan. Heitmann, executive director of the Westville Village Renaissance Alliance (WVRA), organized neighborhood meetings with the DOT to try to alter the Whalley plan. He argues that their concerns fell on deaf ears.

Whalley Ave. Hearing - Thurs., July 31, 5-7:30pm

The DOT hearing on the upper Whalley Ave. project, requested by State Rep. Pat Dillon and Coalition for a Livable Whalley, will take place Thursday, July 31 at Edgewood School (Edgewood and Yale Ave. in Westville) from 5-7:30pm. The agenda is as follows:

5-6pm Open house with DOT staff available for Q&A
6-6:45pm DOT presentation on the project
6:45-7pm Q&A session and discussion

We hope to see you there! Please let your friends and neighbors concerned about making Whalley Ave. a safe and pleasant street for all users know about the event as well. If you have any questions about the hearing, traffic calming, the project, or our efforts in general, please do not hesitate to contact us at whalleyavenue@gmail.com.

Coverage of the meeting: http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2008/08/conflicting_vis.php

Community Workshop Summary

On Thursday, July 24th, about 50 concerned neighbors came to BEKI in Westville for the Coalition for a Livable Whalley's community workshop on the upper Whalley Ave. reconstruction project. The workshop served as an information session on the project and as an introduction to concepts of traffic calming, with the goal of helping to prepare for the DOT open house/hearing scheduled for Thurs., July 31st at Edgewood School from 5-7:30pm. The evening's events received excellent press coverage from both the New Haven Register and the New Haven Independent.

The group's goals for the project were summarized as such:

• For moving through the area to be safer and more pleasant;
• A livable, walkable environment;
• Safe and consistent sidewalks and pedestrian crossings throughout;
• Safer and better design for public transit and considerations for a bus lane and increased uses of public transit;
• Ability to ride a bicycle safely;
• Design road to achieve existing speed limit of 25 mph;
• Not having to dodge and weave around people turning left into businesses;
• Reconsideration of the “need” for two-lane traffic in each direction;

For a complete summary of the workshop results, including overall impressions of the roadway as well as proposed design considerations for the overall corridor and for each major section of the project (Ramsdell St., Davis Street, Dayton Street, and Emerson St.), e-mail us a request at whalleyavenue@gmail.com.

Welcome to Coalition for a Livable Whalley

Upcoming Events:

1. Coalition for a Livable Whalley community workshop meeting on Whalley Avenue: Thursday, July 24th, 6pm, Congregation Beth El-Keser Israel, New Haven. Update: Thank you to all who attended. Click here for links to media coverage of the event.

2. Whalley Avenue DOT Public Hearing: Thursday, July 31, 5-8pm, Edgewood School cafeteria, New Haven. DOT staff will be available the entire time to answer questions. Overview and wrap up at 7:30pm.

Click here for the Coalition for a Livable Whalley's press release on the two events.