This is fantastic and finally making our community reflect the nation wide trend of being bike friendly. There would be no problem for school drop off since the school boarders three streets with ample parking. Yea for the city's efforts to move this forward.

Great for bikers but no one else in the neighborhood. A bike path would be better placed on Chapel Street so it would not interfere with the city bus line, school zone traffic and local business parking. Also, Edgewood St. residents utilize more on street parking than those on Chapel St. which either is wider or appears to be wider since it isn't congested with as much on-street parking. Edgewood is not the best location for a bike path. It can be better placed on Chapel and then turn to connect with Edgewood on the other side of the park if needed to continue that route to meet up with other downtown bike paths.

We are a family of both drivers and bikers. I would be careful when you claim to speak for all drivers. Both vehicles go on the road and they need to safely co exist

BG, I appreciate the sentiment but Chapel would not work and can not connect all the way to downtown because of the one way configurations as well as ambulance considerations with the hospital.
While I bicycle occasionally to work and am comfortable in the current situation, I walk to work most of the days and would not fit your classification that only bikers want this. I don't want this for my personal biking use. I want this for the collective benefit of the neighborhood.
Edgewood cycle track would be wonderful for everyone else in the neighborhood as more bikes means less dangerous vehicles, noise and a better economy. The on street parking on Chapel is not a right. Providing complete and safe streets for all forms of transportation is. Very much looking forward to this happening sooner than later.

Here's an awesome piece on what the cycle track could look like as well as a history of Westville and Edgewood: https://newhavenurbanism.wordpress.com/edgewood-avenue/

The cycle track needs to be put in and would have a massive benefit not just for residents and home owners in the neighborhood, but also for small businesses in Westville.

There are 20,000+ adults in and around Downtown who have no access to a car in New Haven. They would love to walk or bike to Westville much more often if the street didn't look like a dangerous highway. All studies show that adding a cycle track increases retail sales and property values many times over.

New Haven DOT should be careful NOT to install just another regular bike lane, which is much less effective than a protected/buffered lane or cycle track.

Every renter and young family I know moving into Westville over the last 5 years is car-free or car-lite (1 car/2 adults). The city needs to respond to this trend right away if it cares about these people.

The bike lane studies demonstrate that the Edgewood St bike lane will bring more business to our neighborhood coffee shop, slow down the traffic where our parents, children and teachers are congregated and greatly complement culture of the community. In addition, the beauty of the Edgewood St route provides a straight shot through the city which will enhance the the bikers visibility and awareness to the car traffic.

Ya'll are making me want to add a 'like' button to comments.

I live in Westville and alternatively drive, bike, and walk to downtown for work. This would be a huge benefit for the neighborhood, assuming the DoT can figure out how to make it work safely. My main concern would be how school buses, CTA, and trash trucks might block sections of the road that are single lane.

I highly recommend this go into EACH neighborhood in this city.

Me too! Just to add, we did just buy a house in westville and are "car-lite". One of us bikes/buses to work and the other is a road warrior into Fairfield County each day (sadly). We chose Westville because of it's proximity, walk-ability, and community. But yeah, Edgewood can be a daunting highway, but the most comfortable route. TEh green line lane is a nice reminder to drivers to look out, much more than the sharrow.

We are also a 1 car family in Westville and moved there because we could walk and bike to work.

BG,
If the cycle track were on Chapel Street, what would cyclists do at the intersection of Forest Road - join traffic? Edgewood Avenue has a stop light at Forest and continues beyond to upper Westville on relatively calm streets. On-street parking will still be available along the entire stretch of Edgewood in Westville on one side of the street and on side streets - the worst that can happen is that people will have to park across the street or around the corner from their destination.

Yes! I love biking to work from westville. Chapel is fine for coming home, but it's not workable as a 2-way route. Edgewood is by far the most comfortable route, and edgewood from Forest to the bridge is the worst part, because motorists consistently speed and do not yield the lane, plus pedestrians and parked cars are not ready for bikes. I see a biker on Edgewood every time I drive it during daytime commute hours, so it's definitely used.

I am not necessarily against bike lanes but the current initiative is I'll conceived and ignores the home owners along Edgewood Avenue. Many depend on street parking. I definitely think there needs to be more study of this project especially data specific to the neighborhoods. I am not convinced that the proposed bike lane will be used enough to warrant the disruption it will cause.

It would be good to have the full plans publicized somewhere. I've seen comments like KTB's on the NHI website that it is ill-conceived or will cause problems, But the fact is that the plans haven't been made public yet. They very well might deal with the issues people are concerned about. Putting the plans out for public comment might calm nervous neighbors.

dweinber,
I agree. We need to wait until the official plans are released. Brian Tang has also suggested building the cycle track just from Downtown to Yale Avenue first and then wait on the Westville section until a later date.
The only issues I can think of with the Westville section are related to eastbound buses and how they riders will get on and off the bus next to the cycle track. Parking seems like a non-issue as many people throughout the city have to park across the street or around the corner from where they live due to narrow streets and other factors.

As a Westvillian and bike commuter, I favor the plan and support ensuring that busses, garbage trucks, UPS and FedEx trucks, moving vans, etc.. are able to park without blocking car traffic or endangering cyclists

The plan for a two-way protected cycle track down the entire length of Edgewood Avenue is an excellent one. Edgewood Avenue is the most centrally located east-west connection to downtown from Westville. This allows users from both north and south of the cycle track easy access to it. A two way track on the north side of the street would also protect children and parents as they enter and depart Edgewood and Troupe schools.

Siting the cycle track on Edgewood Avenue also has the salutory effect of the least disruption to existing parking patterns. Edgewood Avenue has zero parking usage between Forest and Alden, and very low on street parking usage between Alden and West Rock. All parking could be accommodated on the south side of the street.

Parking would likely need to be adjusted around the schools to accommodate day-time teacher parking as well as drop off and pick up. But there is more than adequate side street parking along West Rock, Yale and the side streets at Troupe school to accommodate the modest displacement from Edgewood Avenue.

Daily parking usage along Edgewood Park and the Edgewood mall would not be significantly impacted.

On Street parking usage is more significant between Winthrop and Park Street, but can likely be accommodated all on the south side of Edgewood Avenue.

Finally the businesses along Edgewood Aenue are primarily neighborhood convenience uses, which will benefit from additional bicycle traffic and additionally protected foot traffic, and will be less disrupted by minor displacement of car traffic.

I cannot speak to the traffic on Edgewood but the speed of cars on Chapel Street is frightening. I would not want to -- or encourage anyone else to -- bike on Chapel St. Traffic studies have clocked cars at 60 mph, some during peak commuting times. There is only one stoplight between Ella Grasso and Forest -- if you hit the light right at Central, you can barrel unimpeded thru 1.2 miles. There have been multiple accidents -- some serious -- due to speed between Alston and Alden. Chapel St is not a good location for a safe bike lane.

Agreed with Elisabeth about the number of accidents and rate of speed on Chapel. It needs to be addressed separately but putting bikes there would not make sense with the current intersection patterns.

Michael Pinto,
I agree with much of what you've said, but as far as I know, no on-parking spaces east of Westville are being removed. Along the Mall, one travel lane is being removed on each side - no loss in parking. Between Winthrop and Orchard where there are currently two travel lanes and two on-street parking lanes, just one travel lane is being removed for the cycle track - not on-street parking. Between Orchard and Park Street where there is currently two travel lanes and one on-street parking lane, only one travel lane is being removed for the cycle track - not on-street parking. Edgewood is by far the best choice for an east-west cycle track to connect Upper Westville, Lower Westville, Edgewood, Dwight, and Downtown, including Hopkins School, Edgewood, Troup and Amistad Schools.

We need a safe dedicated bike lane on Edgewood. This morning I was riding eastbound on Edgewood on my bike with my 2 year old son in a trailer and wife following behind. We were on the sharrow in the right lane, safe, reasonable speed, vests, flags helmets etc. A silver van came down the hill behind us, laid on his horn, yelled something and then sped by within 8 inches of my handlebar (and my kid). My wife called out and made a rude gesture, and he stopped to wait then swerved into me as though to hit me as I passed. He yelled we should be riding on the sidewalk and it was illegal to ride in the street (!) and he would call the police on us... we replied that it was illegal to ride on the sidewalk and he almost hit our kid (twice) and we would happily call the cops. He verbally threatened out well-being and sped off. We continued, shaken, but unfortunately we were so angry and shocked we only got a partial plate. When reported the incident to the NHPD officer stationed at Amistad.

We spent the day riding to the Q bridge and to East Rock festival - remembering you don't really *need* to have a car to get anywhere around New Haven. But, when you don't feel safe, you think twice about riding.

It seems like most people are in favor of a bike lane out of Westville - the general discussion has been about which road it will follow. Wherever it lands - let's do it right and make it a protected lane.

I live on Edgewood and do not and will not support a bike route on this street. It would have a major impact on neighborhood businesses like Deja Brew, schools, bus routes, parking. The speeding cars on Edgewood are an issue that need to be addressed. Like it or not , Edgewood is a major route for cars and perhaps other locations for bike route need to be seriously considered. Young people with families that bike are not the only people who live in this neighborhood.

Liz,
I understand your concern. Some things to consider:

- This bike lane will not adversely affect business. All empirical data suggests it will improve business and home prices.

- Even if there was a small near term impact on 20 home owners and three businesses, their interests can not come at the expense and safety of a neighborhood and the city.

I fully appreciate you speaking up for your position on the matter. I'm sure I appear a righteous bike advocate. I'm not. I'm your neighbor. It's hard for neighbors with forward looking visions for the City to see your case as something more than, 'my parking is more important than your or children's safety.'

It should be pointed out that Edgewood is not a major route for cars as compared to other major thoroughfares in the city. Edgewood is traveled very little by vehicles for an urban thoroughfare. This is one of the reasons why folks are advocating for cycle lanes here as opposed to Whalley or Chapel where there should also be cycle lanes in the future. In 15 years it is highly unlikely that transportation or cities look anything like they do today and we need to adopt our infrastructure or get comfortable with a continued exodus from the State and declining home prices and job opportunities.

Ben...you're sounding snarky and condescending. Opposition does not equate to lack of vision. Nor does it translate as anti child safety.

Look like the issue was closed by accident.

Fair point RJB. In hindsight my comments come off as more pretentious than I would have liked. I have a hard time seeing the other side of this particular argument but it does not mean it's not valid.

This is worth a read for those who want to understand what transportation will likely look like on Edgewood in 10 years.

http://grist.org/article/no-parking-self-driving-cars-could-have-a-huge-effect-on-our-cities/

We need to start to designing our streets for a future of substantially less vehicles that is inevitable.

Show up to Edgewood school now to check out the plans!

Thanks to everyone who showed up at Edgewood School on Thursday to preview and provide their input towards the transformation of Downtown West. Here are the files that were on display and discussed. The City's design team heard great feedback that we will be incorporating into the designs moving forward.

At the meeting on Thursday the City displayed a vision for Edgewood Avenue and Yale Avenue as part of the State of CT DOT funded #DowntownWest Community Connectivity pilot project. The goals of #DowntownWest is to reconnect SCSU and neighborhoods to the West of downtown with better multimodal infrastructure including:
Repaired handicap ramps
Narrower crossing distances for pedestrians
Safer crossings for transit customers
New pedestrian walk signals
Protected bike lanes
Dedicated bike signals
Fewer travel lanes
Better site lines for all users

We welcome further input on the designs of the project and invite everyone to attend the March 29th meeting at Troup School to hear from the West River, Edgewood, and Dwight neighborhoods. The entire project plans are located on this dropbox drive for further comment:

http://bit.ly/DowntownWest

For more write-up on the State of Connecticut funding and the background on separated bike lanes in New Haven:
http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/edgewood_bike_lane/
http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/cycletrack_on_track/
http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/westville_upgrades_winding_to_fruition/
http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/alders_ok_james_street_deal/
http://www.nhregister.com/government-and-politics/20160209/new-haven-alders-panel-recommends-accepting-12-million-to-expand-bike-lane-program
http://www.nhregister.com/article/NH/20150829/NEWS/150829424
http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/bike_lane_controversy_brews_at_westville_cafe/

Please consider riding over to our 2nd Community Input meeting on the transformation of Edgewood Avenue:
https://www.facebook.com/events/240048259672762/

You and Giovanni were great. Thanks for putting this together. When the project is complete I'm confident that Dejabru and The few neighbors who were opposed will see the benefit.

Great issue. Please keep me posted on how to help push this forward!

I live and own property on Edgewood Ave. I also frequent Deja Brew and bike frequently in my neighborhood. My tenants need and use Edgewood Ave for parking spaces. I do not bike on Edgewood Ave as it is dangerous for biking due to speeding autos, public transport, and oftentimes quads and other unlicensed vehicles which abuse the road. The school drop off and pick up times are treacherous for any parent and child entering or exiting their cars.
I would support the ONE option that would address the speed and recklessness of autos traveling on Edgewood Ave. More policing, speed bumps, lights or calming barriers are needed before any street plans that bring changes to the areas and neighborhoods involved.

So excited for this to move forward!

The design work on the proposed cycle track continues. I will follow up with TTP Director Hausladen and City Engineer Zinn to see how close those plans are to being finalized and presented to City Plan Commission for review and approval.

Very much look forward to hearing an update. Thanks for checking in on this.

City staff continue planning and design work in preparation for implementing the cycle track. More steps ahead to gain the necessary approvals, including actions to be take by the New Haven Traffic Commission and by CONNDOT. Stay tuned.

I am meeting with my colleagues, Alders Douglass and Hamilton, and with City staff soon to review the most current design specs. Keeping everyone in the loop.

On "Inftrastructure Friday" last week on Facebook live/WNHH, City Engineer Giovanni Zinn and TT&P Director Doug Hausladen talked about the Downtown West project for almost four minutes. Giovanni began by saying, "Let us be unequivocal. Edgewood Avenue Downtown West is being built." Then Doug and Giovanni went through some details.

This project is moving forward, with the two-way protected bike lane currently planned to be installed in spring/summer 2018. Stay tuned for more information soon about this project, including the plan to install a two-way protected bike lane on Yale Avenue.

This project has obtained all necessary local approvals. City staff await final sign-off from the ConnDOT in order to put the project out to bid and to begin construction.

Adam Marchand
Alder, Ward 25

Thanks. Why have they not signed off yet? When is it expected to be signed off?

This issue was recategorized from Other to Long Term Infrastructure Project.

this is great. Thanks to everyone involved

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