I'm hosting a meeting tonight (Tuesday, June 9) to discuss traffic and crime issues in Northern East Rock. The meeting will be at Wilbur Cross High School at 7pm. Please come and help us design an overall plan for addressing these issues in East Rock. And email me at justinelicker@gmail.com if you can't make it but want to be involved.

Justin Elicker
www.elicker2009.com

There are many people concerned about speeding on Willow Street.

I met with officials from Traffic and Parking last week to discuss this matter and we talked about several options including improving pedestrian infrastructure at the corner of Anderson Street in front of Archie Moore's, increased traffic enforcement and having a speed trailer placed more frequently along the road.

Justin Elicker
Ward 10 Alderman
justin.elicker@gmail.com

Would you be able to pass this around Wilbur Cross and get students to vote up the issue or comment?

I think the police and city hall will listen to students if you make some noise.

From what I've seen in this area, I would agree. The "Quality of Life" survey completed by 375 East Rock residents in 2010 identified Willow Street as the least attractive street in the neighborhood, primarily due to traffic issues.

If speeding and disregard for pedestrian safety continues to be an issue here, the neighborhood should fill out and submit a "complete streets" request form at http://www.cityofnewhaven.com/Engineering/completestreets.asp.

Getting these types of requests on the official public record will really help the city improve the safety of these crossings over time, while significantly raising property values. If you need help completing the form itself you may want to contact your local alderperson or newhavensafestreets at gmail.com.

Slowing speeds on these streets, to levels that are appropriate for a residential neighborhood, would reduce both the frequency as well as the severity of crashes here.

This should be done both with posted signs as well as re-engineering techniques (which, contrary to the city's assertions, do not need to be expensive to install).

Appropriate speeds are well defined by many progressive local and national governments throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. For example, 20 mile per hour speed limits are increasingly required in residential neighborhoods throughout the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. In Darien and Greenwich, Connecticut, the lives of children are apparently more valuable than they are in New Haven, so many residential areas have 15 mile per hour design speeds. In other words, there are many examples that New Haven could draw from if it were to adopt a policy that placed the needs of residents of all ages and abilities above the needs of speeding drivers.

In fact in NYC, of all places, the city is currently implementing 20 mile per hour speed limits in 75 neighborhoods beginning this year. The city's top traffic engineer has said that 20 mile per hour speeds would have absolutely no impact on the city's ability to move cars.

Unfortunately, until these sorts of progressive measures happen, we will continue to see speeding and severe crashes and pay an enormous price for them. Will the City take action? Willow Street is in the 2011-2012 city budget....