الوصف
*Elizabeth Nearing has given us permission to share her story*
Last night, our friend Elizabeth Nearing was in a car accident on her bike. Despite bruises and a severely bent helmet, she's ok — resting, but okay.
Elizabeth was on her way to present at the Pecha Kucha on her work as Community Engagement Manager at Long Wharf Theatre. Coming from Long Wharf, she turned onto Olive Street from Water Street. It was dark, so she was wearing a reflective raincoat with both front and rear lights. She was also wearing her helmet and riding far to the right of the lane.
As she was passing Wooster Street, a car going 25 mph turned into her. Elizabeth's helmet was severely bent and the car's windshield was cracked.
---
As a friend of Elizabeth, I am extremely grateful that she is safe.
As a citizen, I am extremely concerned.
Olive Street needs be a safer place for all folks — pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists — to travel safely. To start, there are a few core things that could be implemented:
-Better lighting for visibility
-Signage for bicyclists
-A stop sign at Olive and Wooster
-A protected bike lane
Would love to hear others thoughts and continue this conversation.
22 تعليقs
Kasolheim (مستخدم مسجل)
Kasolheim (مستخدم مسجل)
Those are proven to be much more effective than 'Share the road'
Frank (مستخدم مسجل)
BB (مستخدم مسجل)
NHVCyclist (مستخدم مسجل)
But this is an opportunity for action. Logical step would be a bike lane, since it was already planned (but then delayed).
At the same time, might as well make a bike lane along Grand Ave (and maybe Water St?), connecting to downtown as well.
I could see there being some pushback to the stop sign @ Olive & Wooster, since it can get a bit congested over there. But a combination of bike lane and better lighting may be sufficient. Wooster St is a "destination" street anyway, so it would make sense to illuminate that intersection a bit better.
Kasolheim (مستخدم مسجل)
Nadine Horton (مستخدم مسجل)
First of all I'm sorry to hear this; Elizabeth is a friend of mine too and I'm very grateful she's okay. Next as someone who also commutes by bike and sometimes at night, this is terrifying! You know New Haven is touted for the progress it has made in being such a bike friendly city, but it's even's like this that remind us we still have lots of work to do.
The easiest fix would be lighting because this is a destination street and the city would do well to highlight it. But please PLEASE put in protected bike lanes and extend them to Grand Ave and while you're at it bring them to Whalley too. Please don't let a fatality be the catalyst for change as happened down Olive.
abgoode (مستخدم مسجل)
Kasolheim (مستخدم مسجل)
captainkickstand (مستخدم مسجل)
Nadine Horton (مستخدم مسجل)
Rob Rocke (مستخدم مسجل)
Several thoughts come to me at once:
First and foremost, I'm glad Elizabeth is doing ok and was not more seriously injured.
Was the driver apprehended and were they given a ticket? If they weren't given a ticket because of their speed, were they given a ticket for violating CT's "3 Foot Law," which requires a driver to yield three feet to bike riders when passing (CT CGS 14-232)? Was the "Vulnerable User Law" invoked (CT PA 14-31)? If the answer to any or all of these questions is no, I'd like to know "why not"? I encourage everyone to contact Roland Lemar and their other state representatives and ask them why these laws are not being used. What's the point of passing all this legislation if it's not going to keep us safer? It is obvious that many in the law enforcement community don't know about these laws. We keep having the same discussions year in and year out but things aren't actually changing for the better as far as the enforcement piece of the puzzle goes.
As for Olive Street specifically, that's not a road I ride on regularly and so will leave it to others to recommend what infrastructure improvements are physically possible. I will say, however, as someone who's been part of Elm City Cycling from the beginning, that progress is coming too slowly. Go down to New York City and have a look at what they've been able to accomplish in the same amount of time despite strong, well-funded (and well-publicized) opposition to projects like the Prospect Park protected bike lane. Mayor Harp promised us two protected bike lanes (aka "cycletracks") in her first term which has now come and gone, and despite all our talk about "what's coming" (think the Edgewood Avenue cycletrack), we still don't have any protected bike lanes in our built environment to show for all our collective hard work. That's just not acceptable. We have great partnerships between the city (Doug Hausladen from Transportation, Traffic and Parking in particular deserves a shout out!) and groups like Elm City Cycling. Those relationships are healthier than they've ever been, but that doesn't mean we should be complacent with the slow pace of change. All of us need to work together to make more, better, and faster progress, especially on protected bike lanes. We're all ready to live and work in the city we imagine. I don't know about you, but I'm sick of waiting.
Road-2-Ruin (مستخدم مسجل)
Nadine Horton (مستخدم مسجل)
@Road-2-Ruin, as a resident who lives right off of Whalley Avenue in the lower Beaver Hills neighborhood, I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see the road diet (which was explained to us at a recent Whalley Avenue Main Street Committee meeting)being applied on Whalley Avenue! Now I would really love to see this come all the way down the Avenue to at least Sperry or Dwight Street as traffic calming is needed ALL THE WAY DOWN the Avenue to encourage safer conditions for cyclists, pedestrians, and cars!
Your post gives me new perspective on how much has been done in the city to make it safer for cyclists, but agree with Rob that the city needs to stop dragging its feet with installing more protected bike lanes throughout the city.
I personally can't wait to try out the new protected bike lane on Long Wharf and would be happy to take a ride with any of the posters here :)
David Streever (مستخدم مسجل)
I agree with the above that this should happen (and quickly!). It's been an agenda item for many years, since before the current Mayor took office, and the lack of a solution is disheartening.
Maybe Olive Street starting at William could be designated a pedestrian/cyclist way with 5 mph car access? That might be wild, but I think the city should propose several options, including pie-in-the-sky ones.
Local_Bicyclist (مستخدم مسجل)
Maria (مستخدم مسجل)
As a cyclist in New Haven, biking East Rock - YNHH most days, I feel incredibly unsafe most of the time. New Haven has publicly boasted of being a bicycle friendly city but I have not found this to be the case at all.
For example, the Orange Street bike lanes are threatened from both sides - moving traffic on one, opening doors on the other. The bike lane on College Street going to YNHH disappears - what to do? Merge with traffic or merge with pedestrians? That same bike lane only goes one way. Going home, I must use the sidewalks.
With so much of the history of biking rooted in New Haven, this mode of traveling should be supported no less than walking or driving. It should also be supported because biking is healthy, cheap, doesn't pollute, and doesn't wear the streets down.
If I have the numbers right, it costs as much to revamp an entire city's bicycle infrastructure as it costs to build ONE mile of highway (including physically separated bike lanes and specific traffic lights for bikers).
Mahfouz (مستخدم مسجل)
Frank (مستخدم مسجل)
I know that this is after the fact, but that entrance could still be relocated to Water St.
NHVCyclist (مستخدم مسجل)
A few random thoughts:
- A fundamental re-imagining of Olive Street into a bike corridor, with extremely-slow car traffic only, is probably not possible due to Fire HQ at the corner of Olive and Grand. They need an open corridor.
- Yes, a bike lane (protected or not) would not guarantee 100% prevention of this type of accident. However, the presence of a bright-green bike lane, combined with the better lighting I mentioned earlier, could serve to raise driver awareness - thus reducing risk.
- Speed humps on Olive and Wooster? Maybe make the pedestrian crossings raised?
- Overall note to the city: As you can see by the comments here, there are a many reasonable (and sorely needed) ideas presented by residents. Some of it can be seen as an upgrade to Wooster St and the surrounding area, which is a "destination." This is sorely needed. If we're honest, the city relied on Wooster St as one of its rare "bright spots" for so many years - but now that good things are happening elsewhere in the city, Wooster seems a bit forgotten. Bike, pedestrian, safety, and business-friendly upgrades to Olive, Wooster, and Grand (especially Grand...what an embarrassment) could serve to bring this area into the 21st century.
Nadine Horton (مستخدم مسجل)
مغلق Manager of Operations, Process Improvement - Transportation, Traffic, & Parking (تم التحقق رسميا)