Absolutely. We actually have some grant funds and other resources right now that could likely be utilized to kick-start the effort.

There are couple projects like this actually where WVRA could put some resources and/or fundraise additionally if the City agreed. Any assistance on SCF's part to coordinate would be hugely appreciated!

That's great Chris,
Do you happen to have estimated budgets for any of the projects? If so, you could start walking through the approval process here: http://seeclickfix.com/new-haven/projects and we'll help shepherd with the city.

That depends on what the City is willing to do and how quickly (and whether we need state DOT approvals, possibly). For example, jackhammering all of the asphalt on the traffic island and actually planting that whole area will take more time, $ and effort than painting it and dropping a few planters on there. Re-stripe just the existing crosswalk or extend the traffic island through the crosswalk to create more of a refuge? Think we'd need to sit down with the City and take a look at the options. I could see very short-term, planters and a new paint job; medium-term, extending the size of the traffic island and actually planting it; and long-term is an intersection redo. What's your experience been with other projects of this nature?

I think that's a good assessment. On Upper State we fund raised for 500.00 for each in road sign. I think we could get permissiion
from Traffic and Parking to do that piece. My guess is that planters would be the next step and those would just need to be spec'd by the Traffic and Parking as well. The State seems very receptive to these things as well these days so I would be happy to help make that connection if they need to be involved. I am going to meet with Rob Smuts Monday to discuss how best to move some of these things forward quickly.

Maybe a first step for you while we're waiting to get City approval would be to spec out some planters that you have seen in other cities in medians that work. If this is an iteration before a final project the planters could be moved somewhere else in Westville afterwards.

TT&P Traffic Signal Division, please acknowledge. This is a long-standing issue. Now that have a newly-painted crosswalk courtesy DOT, more folks will be crossing here, especially with a popular new restaurant open a half block away. Thank you.

Chris, do you mean the WVRA traffic calming or something else? DOT isn't paying for that - we got the $$ from a DECD pot. The improvements in walkability will help local merchants. Going forward we need more resources from DOT in several places, though they will expect a local share.
Pat D

This area is in desperate need of help. I remember the city telling me they disabled the walk sign and the red light because traffic backed up on Fountain when the light turned red and I think, ultimately, it posed a problem for the Fire Station on Fountain. What honestly needs to happen is that a Yield Sign needs to be put in the median. A planter should be put in the median (concrete). A walk signal like the one near the Wintergreen Apartments should be installed so that when a pedestrian needs to cross it activates a similar sign to the one at the Wintergreen apartments. Overall this intersection is horrific and I am amazed that the state is so backwards that they just spend a fortune paving and repainting the streets in this area and didn't first address this intersection. Tax dollars down the drain and Connecticut government working against everyone who has been trying to get this resolved for over one decade!

The City controls these signals at this point so it's on them in the short-term. Let's Work Together, I agree completely re: the elements that should be in place for the short-term fix.

The longer-term fix, I believe, is a wholesale redo of the intersection where Fountain would T into Whalley, slowing people down, eliminating the merge altogether, improving crossing, creating wider sidewalks, and even adding a few curbside parking spaces potentially. The Whalley Avenue corridor study lays out one possibility - see page 31, Exhibit 3-7: http://www.scrcog.org/documents/WhalleyAvenue-FinalReport.pdf

This issue was recategorized from Traffic/Road Safety to Traffic Signal / Pedestrian Signal.

Update on the ped signal: At long last, thanks to the hard work of Doug Hausladen and Bijan Nothgi at TTP, this crosswalk now has a pedestrian-activated, signalized crosswalk. No more garbage bags! The crossing is safer as traffic now stops in both directions when the ped signal is activated.

That said, the signal operates only intermittently - sometimes on the first push, but other times only after the third push - and the default traffic signal coming down Fountain into the merge is now a green, rather than a flashing yellow. This presents in some ways an even more dangerous situation than before because the flashing yellow let drivers know to exercise caution when entering the merge. I have let TT&P know about the need to tweak the solution and they are working on it.

Closing this ticket for now. TT&P has got the ped signal working properly. Though at times it takes a long time for the ped signal to turn green (having to do with where in the cycle the button is pressed), because of the complicated nature of the intersection, this is the best we are going to get for now. The longer-term solution is a reconfiguration of the whole Fountain/Whalley intersection, which DOT is already in the planning stages of and which will be Phase II of planned Whalley Ave traffic-calming improvements. One additional short-term measure that we are requesting from TT&P in the meantime is an in-street pedestrian sign to sit on/near the island once the snow season is done to make drivers further aware of this crosswalk.