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Elm City Cycling
Elm City Cycling, Inc., is a nonprofit organization of more than 400 advocates whose mission is to make the greater New Haven area friendlier and more accessible to cyclists, pedestrians, and other users of non-motorized transportation.
Meeting Minutes
Elm City Cycling Bicycle Plan Subcommittee (ECC BPS) Special meeting with City of New Haven to review Bike Plan, January 10, 2011
Attendees
From Elm City Cycling: Mark Abraham and Brian Tang (Co-Chairs), Moses Boone, Tom Harned, Chris Heitmann, Zach Beatty. City of New Haven: Mike Piscitelli (Economic Development), Jim Travers and Ethan Hutchings (Transportation).
Summary: Key Action Steps and Timeline
- ECC will write up a short-term 2011 Bike Plan, and begin working on a long-range 3-5 year plan for infrastructure improvements.
- The City has agreed that key short-term priorities include cycling improvements along Howard and Kimberly Avenues in the Hill, along a new “East Shore” route (from the New Haven Green, through Wooster Square and Lower Fair Haven, to Woodward Avenue), and along the reconstructed Route 34. The City will also complete the route to Westville Center. In 2011, the City also will begin planning improvements for Elm Street and Dixwell Avenue and continue to press for immediate improvements at the Tomlinson Bridge. Major improvements to Fountain Street may also be completed by ConnDOT.
- Since the City’s Complete Streets Policy and Design Manual will continue to guide the city’s normal course of action on routine street maintenance and upgrades, ECC should begin focusing on cycling improvements that are larger in scope.
- Some of the potential 3-5 year improvements, such as the completion of the Farmington Canal Greenway along Olive Street, improvements to Goffe and Crescent Streets, and improved routes in Fair Haven and Hamden, are detailed in the minutes below. A long-range plan will also look at upgrades to existing routes, as well as “alternative” cycling routes such as bike boulevards that appeal to riders of all ages.
- ECC will conduct additional outreach to evaluate routes used by commuters to Science Park, and evaluate cycling routes connecting to Fair Haven and Hamden. ECC is also planning a citywide bicyclist survey.
- ECC and the City agreed to prepare an application for the Bicycle Friendly Communities award.
Meeting Minutes
Meeting began at 7:15PM.
Planning Process
The committee began by thanking City staff for their work on carrying out the 2009 and 2010 Elm City Cycling Bike Plans. The plan was largely accomplished, and many infrastructure improvements not originally in the plans were also completed. A few items were not completed, primarily the Howard Avenue / Hill neighborhood bike lane. Some minor corrections are needed to complete marked routes and sharrows.
The committee discussed the planning process for the upcoming year. Jim Travers requested that Elm City Cycling prepare a “short term look” at the requested 2011 improvements, but also begin creating a 3-5 year outlook that he could use to help him coordinate with the schedules of other city departments.
Mike Piscitelli explained that 2010 was the first year that significant bicycle improvements were standardized as part of the city’s normal course of action. Since bike improvements along key streets such as Sherman Avenue no longer needed a special approval, the city’s process of improving streets is “finally working the way it is supposed to look.” Because short-term improvements can now be included in any project, as guided by the city’s new Complete Streets Policy, Mike argues that it is time for ECC to look at a plan that is larger in scope and focused on long-term investments.
For the group’s annual Bike Plans, Mike Piscitelli noted that going forward, specific work plan requests should come out prior to the holidays; a meeting in January should be considered a second meeting to review Elm City Cycling’s requests.
Short-term Improvements (2011 Bike Plan)
Mike Piscitelli explained that, in terms of stimulus funding requests, improvements to Dixwell Avenue will be the “next project out the door” after Congress Avenue.
Mark Abraham discussed the group’s priorities for 2011. First on the list would be the completion of routes requested in 2009 and 2010, including the Howard Avenue bike lane. Improvements to Elm Street, which were included in the City’s Annual Report last year, are an example of a project that the group would like to include in its 2011 Bike Plan. Addressing the dangers of the Tomlinson Bridge is also still a major concern, as are future plans for Route 34 (particularly bicycle access between Downtown and the Medical District via College and York Streets).
Regarding the Tomlinson Bridge, Mike Piscitelli and ECC are unclear of DOT’s current position or timeline, despite the fact that they had agreed to (and made) certain improvements last summer (2010) following numerous meetings and protests. Mike Piscitelli said that the City has been clear to DOT that a bike lane works well. To create room for these, reversible travel lanes are one option to handle vehicle volume. A bike lane could be installed on each side, though Zach Beatty and Mark explained that due to traffic speeds and volume, a protected two-way bike lane on one side might be preferred by most riders and are a standard practice on bridges in New York and Portland. The City and ECC agree to continue pressing the issue.
According to the City, the first 2011 project will be the “lower Fair Haven and East Shore” route along Chapel Street, to Woodward Avenue. The route will be marked with sharrows and bike route signage. Mike asked if the route should continue past East Shore Park. The group suggested that, where the road gets narrow near the Coast Guard, additional markings or traffic calming would be helpful in making the connection. In order to connect with existing marked routes, the East Shore route will begin at College Street turning eastbound along Chapel and continuing through Downtown, Wooster Square and Fair Haven. Brian Tang suggested that a portion of the route should be redirected along River Street, which is already a slow-speed “bike boulevard.” The group also discussed whether the route should be directed on Farren Avenue after crossing the Ferry Street bridge. In its 2011 Bike Plan, Elm City Cycling will finalize its suggested route.
The next 2011 route will be the Howard Avenue bike lane. According to Mike P., the City has currently mapped this route all the way from Congress Avenue through Sargent Drive, with sharrows marked for a small section between Route 34 and Congress Avenue. Kimberly Avenue, which was targeted for a bike lane in the city’s 2003 “share the streets” bike plan, should also be included within the scope of this project in order to better connect Downtown to West Haven. Since CDBG transportation grants are available for these improvements, Mike hopes that Kimberly Avenue can be included along with other “complete streets” improvements. Elm City Cycling will include both Howard and Kimberly within its 2011 Bike Plan.
The group discussed that beginning the planning process for Elm Street should also be a priority for 2011. Mike Piscitelli said that the city really needs to focus on Elm Street, noting that “I didn’t get it done, but I think Jim, you should get it done.” There are many reasons why Elm Street is critical. A bike lane fits on the street, it is a one way road, it transitions nicely to a bike lane and connects with many of the city’s sharrow markings. Mike noted that the stretch from Broadway to College that is most difficult – how does the city transition traffic out of Broadway so that you have consistent lane arrangements and people aren’t weaving. There’s only so much you can do to transition people from lane to lane. Mike argued that this is the challenge we need to engineer, study and get money in the capital budget to do. Moses Boone recommended that the study also should address connections up to Dixwell and Goffe, not just the section of Elm Street through Downtown. Since the entire intersection at Tower, Dixwell, Goffe, Whalley and Howe is very difficult, traffic speeds may need to be slowed to make it usable. A complete redesign of the area (for example, going back to the traffic circle that had been there many decades ago) is unlikely, but all options should be evaluated to ensure the area can be made appealing to cyclists and pedestrians, since it is such a heavily traveled intersection. Jim Travers said that the City will look into a consulting contract to study the route.
Long Range ECC Bike Plan Items (2012 and beyond)
After finalizing a recommended 2011 work plan, the next step for the group should be creating a 3-5 year plan to address unconnected neighborhoods (including Amity and others). Tom Harned suggested that a description of meaningful funding sources should be included within the long range plan. Mike Piscitelli noted that, given that STP funding policy changes at ConnDOT are expected to be significant under the Malloy administration, regularly-scheduled roadway construction will provide substantial improvement dollars for bike and ped improvements. Furthermore, Mike Piscitelli has noted that the city placed a “marker” for undefined bike/ped projects within the state’s long-range transportation plan, which could be an additional source of funding.
Farmington Canal
The group inquired about the completion of the Farmington Canal Greenway through Downtown New Haven to Long Wharf. Mike Piscitelli explained that the City needs to work on getting the project back under budget, but in terms of federal funding availability, the project will definitely happen. Construction will probably occur in 2012, not 2011. One of the struggles on the project, and opportunities, is Olive Street. Mike said he thought that the City should “deconstruct Olive Street and make it just a slow street.” He thought this would have a lot of positive benefits, and that the neighborhood would support a project to make the street more appealing to multi-modal transportation. Tom Harned said it could be called a neighborhood greenway. Mike talked about how traffic didn’t return to Grand Avenue after the bridge re-opened, indicating that there is a lot of unnecessary traffic capacity on Olive Street that isn’t really needed.
Fair Haven
The group discussed ongoing improvements to Fair Haven. Zach Beatty suggested that the city should look at improvements to Ferry Street because it could be a connection between Fair Haven center, East Rock and Middletown Avenue. The group generally agreed that, due to traffic volumes, the current alternatives such as Blatchley, James and Front Street are better options for cycling improvements. Mike Piscitelli asked ECC to work on settling the debate over Fair Haven options this year and including them within its 3-5 year plan.
Bike Boxes
In terms of ongoing changes, Ethan Hutchings noted that the City would still like to install bike boxes and signal detection within the Gateway project. Jim Travers noted that any intersection with dedicated bike routes will have dedicated bike signal detection going forward. Mike Piscitelli suggested that marked bike boxes, if approved by STC, will be completed this year (2011) and also in projects going forward. Mike would also like to use “bicycles may use full lane” signage. Mike said though STC/DOT has not yet adopted these standards, the city will be lobbying for a more rapid adoption of them this year as part of its legislative strategy.
Hamden Connections
Mike Piscitelli noted that there is also some interest in having State Street and Newhallville connections to Hamden. These routes are undefined by the City, but there is significant interest in Hamden to partner with city on creating a dedicated route to Downtown. The Hamden Mayor is particularly interested. The City potentially would be involved in helping to mark out the route for them, since Hamden has limited capacity for traffic design at the moment due to recent retirements.
Science Park
Mike Piscitelli suggested that routes to Science Park be included in the Bike Plan, either for 2011 or the long range plan. The City has worked with the Tract A Science Park development team to identify connecting routes to Orange Street and to the Farmington Canal Greenway. Connections to the Greenway are easy. For Orange Street, the developers currently want to have a marked route come over Canner Street and Prospect Street. The group said that Canner is too steep for a bike route, and Mike Piscitelli said the City has reservations about it as well. Mark Abraham suggested that many commuters from the eastern half of New Haven currently get to Science Park via Sachem and either Mansfield or Winchester, since it is a flat route that avoids Prospect Hill (Science Hill). The primary route from Orange Street or Fair Haven, for example, is to come up Humphrey Street, across through the Yale campus’s marked route, and then via Mansfield, Tilton, Winchester or the Canal Greenway. The City and the group acknowledged that Yale University’s Holly Parker was instrumental in completing the connection between Humphrey Street and Sachem. Mike Piscitelli asked ECC to help with Science Park route planning by asking people sooner rather than later about how they currently get to Science Park.
Westville
The group moved on to discussing connections to Westville and other neighborhoods to the west of Downtown. Crescent and Goffe Streets are seen as primary candidates for improvements. The capacity on Crescent is enormous. Chris Heitmann noted that Crescent can be scary to ride on because there’s almost no volume and the street is extremely wide, so people drive 60 miles per hour around the corners. The current “left hand” lane should be scratched out at the end of Crescent, because it is unused. There are many opportunities for bicycle improvements on Goffe Street as well. Brian and Mark noted that a spreadsheet listing possible gaps on Westville routes has been started. Chris said that the first request would be sharrows on Central and/or West Rock Avenue in order to connect the village to the existing bike route from Downtown. Mike Piscitelli said that the City had promised these routes to Alderman Dildine as well, and that they should be included within the group’s 2011 bike plan. Mike Piscitelli also discussed a recent meeting with State Representative Pat Dillon, in which Pat called for a meeting between the City, DOT, STC (Barbara Rickozi) and local residents to look at safety improvements on Fountain Street. The engineers wanted to scratch out the shoulder and put in a bike lane (on each side of the street) from the parkway all the way down to the Westville Center village, except for a small section of narrow road where shared lane markings will be needed. DOT is going to map this project out and put it on their own schedule. ECC may include this project in its bike plan even though DOT is going to do it on their own. Chris and Brian also talked about improving shared lane markings or bike lanes at the bike route’s current end on Willard Street, in order to better connect the Downtown route to Fountain Street (perhaps via Alden Avenue). In addition, Chris noted that the section of Chapel Street through Westville could also easily accommodate a bicycle lane, especially if the on-street parking, which currently sees almost no use, was shifted to one side of the street and the centerline moved slightly.
Fair Haven
Mike Piscitelli mentioned possibilities for route improvements in Fair Haven Heights, such as along Russell Street. The group will investigate these further.
Existing Routes
As part of its long-range plan, the group also discussed how the City might be able to upgrade existing routes in order to make them accessible to cyclists of all ages and abilities. These types of improvements may be done by creating wider bike lanes, buffered bike lanes, lower traffic volumes on designated (or “alternative”) cycling routes, or slower urban travel speeds for vehicles. For Route 34, for example, the group suggested that an alternative bicycle route be created between Downtown and the Medical District that allowed for a very high degree of comfort for bicycle travel. These types of alternative “bike boulevard” systems, which contain significant traffic calming and bicycle infrastructure, are found in cities such as New York, Berkeley, Amsterdam, Stockholm and other cycling capitals, and are much more likely to attract children, families and less-experienced riders. Improvements to existing cycling routes such as Orange Street will require additional technical evaluation, but the group agreed they should be considered within a long term plan. ECC noted that there have been many recent public requests for improvements to bicycle access on Whitney Avenue, State Street, Orange Street, and the College Street and York Street connections across Route 34, in particular.
BFC Application
Mike asked whether New Haven should pursue a Bike Friendly Community (BFC) application. The group discussed the pros and cons of applying for a BFC award. Tom Harned argued that in order to have a winning application, the City needs to do a solid accounting of person-hours it has been spending on bicycle planning, in order to prove that it has the equivalent of at least one full-time employee working on the subject. As other components, Jim Travers said he can have an evaluation system for smart driver and smart cyclist pledges. Mark says that Elm City Cycling would like to conduct an intercept survey and tag bicycles to get good raw data on cycling perceptions and key routes, which the City has agreed to help with. Jim Travers agreed to forward a report that a student recently wrote about cycling perceptions and parking in Downtown. Brian and Tom argued that getting press, and internalizing the notion that New Haven is a bike friendly city are the main opportunities presented by the award. Mark said that ECC is happy to help put together an application.
Mark Abraham closed the meeting by thanking the city, and saying that Elm City Cycling will write up the proposed list of 2011 improvements and begin working on a 3-5 year plan this year.
Meeting adjourned at 8:30PM.
| Description | Advocacy organization working to improve cycling and walking in the New Haven area. |
| Sector | Public Safety +, and Health + |
| Title | Elm City Cycling + |
| Topic | Transportation +, Health Equity Alliance +, and Traffic Safety + |
| Town | New Haven + |
