The easiest thing to do would be what they did in front of city hall and have a mid-block stoplight and crosswalk.

If I'm reading the location right (intersection of Whitney and Audubon), we wouldn't even need a mid-block crosswalk, as it is an intersection. We'd just need a well-marked regular crosswalk or signal, preferably with curb extensions and a stop bar accompanied by signs saying "STATE LAW: yield here for peds."

Still no solutions! Anyone know if Safe Streets has this intersection on their radar? The warmer the weather, the more walkers will be trying to cross here!

No solutions and now it's June! Yesterday a child about 3 or 4 was dragged across the street by a parent who thought it was safe to cross but had to dodge a silver Honda that accelerated to high speed when the light turned green at Grove and Whitney (Church). Is this intersection on ANYONE's radar besides the pedestrians? The drivers don't notice, and the city seems not to notice either...

"Yield for pedestrians in the crossalk" - Christ you should'nt have to tell that to anybody, let alone place signs there like that..
But only to pedestrians IN THE CROSSWALK
Don'rt slam on your brakes for someone taking the garbage out and then floor your volvo...Pedestrians have to still realize it is not a stop sign,and these drivers think they are on highway 61..
Sometimes you look both ways and start to cross and wham a car zips around the corner,until you can't ever cross ...

Since Connecticut is such an old state, I would imagine that the laws on what does and does not constitute a legal crosswalk are somewhat tricky. Growing up on the west coast, I was always taught that a corner--even one at a T intersection--is a crosswalk, regardless of whether one is painted on the road.

Am I jaywalking if I cross a T intersection where no crosswalk is marked (e.g. the intersection of Pleasant and Pearl)? Honestly, I have no idea what Connecticut law says on this matter.

There is more on this issue here: http://www.seeclickfix.com/issues/1277

Hope it can be fixed - it is such a dangerous road configuration! Narrowing the lanes down with barricades and barrels, and making a chicane that limited speeds to about 10MPH, would be a good temporary fix until some more permanent solution can be found.

Don't understand why saving people's lives isn't worth an immediate intervention like this.

Discretion of the observing Officer Mr.Tang

I have just received confirmation that the law in Connecticut—just as in every other state in the U.S.—indicates that every corner at every intersection is legally a crosswalk, unless explicitly stated otherwise, regardless of whether a crosswalk is painted on the road.

I have also learned that, in the State of Connecticut, a pedestrian need only place one foot in the crosswalk for oncoming vehicles to be required to yield the right of way.

Therefore, state law requires that drivers (or riders) of vehicles approaching the intersection of Audubon and Whitney yield the right of way to any pedestrian with even one foot in the street.

A nifty animation explaining the law on this matter, which is more or less consistent across the states, can be found here:
http://animatedtrafficlaw.org/ror/index.php/RoR:Every_corner_is_a_crosswalk
(courtesy of the Animated Traffic Law Center)

Enjoy!

This stopping at crosswalks unless it's in the immediate downtown area is insane. Chapel and Edgewood avenues are a nightmare, with cars required to stop every block for walkers stepping off thecurbs. Please! I'm a walker and even I know that it's nuts to expect a driver to come to a full stop at every intersection. Just say what it really is: a form of speed-bump to slow people down. NOW, that's something I'm totally in favor of.

A suggestion from a Minneapolis Clicket:
http://seeclickfix.com/issues/6939

Not fixed! Can we get some acknowledgment from the City that at least they are aware of this intersection? I'm happy to start posting daily the number of people trying to cross here with me. Friday morning at 8:30 there were 6 others (5 adults one with a child) trying to get across Whitney. Not sure what the solution would be, but anything that slows traffic and allows pedestrians to cross at this legal intersection would be a tremendous improvement!

Please let us know it is at least on a list 'somewhere' to get fixed 'someday' and let us know about when that 'someday' might possibly come. I played "dodge car" trying to cross there last Saturday evening.

The solution is get rid of one maybe two parking spaces and paint a crosswalk with one of those dandy little signs. A raised crosswalk would be even better.

I don't think an in-street sign would be allowed here since it's a one-way street.

Personally, I agree that getting rid of a few parking spaces and striping a crosswalk would be the best thing to do, though I'm not terribly optimistic that the city's traffic engineer would agree.

No one even pays attention to crosswalks in new haven . I realize that the police have bigger fish to deal with but if they gave out a couple hundred tickets and put it in the paper people might change their minds. I'd really love to see a crackdown on people on cell phones when driving

Only a matter of time before someone is killed here.

Crosswalks are needed for crossing both Whitney and Audubon, since cars also turn into Audubon at high speed with limited visibility at the corner.

A no-parking stretch of five or ten yards before the corner would improve visibility for pedestrians and drivers alike. How about putting a big, low planter box there, edged with granite posts?

Maybe it is time for masses of pedestrians to exercize their legal rights while thanking the drivers who stop for them.

Any progress on this? I walk this almost every day and take my life in my own hands each time.

I can almost imagine what it would feel like to a non able-bodied person, having had the experience in the past of walking New Haven's streets with a broken leg (and comparing them to the experience of walking through London, which despite being a huge city, is heavily traffic calmed and has raised crosswalks in many locations).

The conditions here are simply unacceptable, and it makes you think that the only reason they haven't changed is because the people in charge are able bodied, middle aged people who drive everywhere.

Looks like a crosswalk has been painted here at last, that's great!! Any chance of getting pedestrian ahead markings on the road between Grove and Audubon? There is a rise in the road over the canal that makes it hard for cars to see pedestrians, and and vice versa. At long last, this intersection is getting a little safer, thank you!

To my extreme disappointment the city is power washing the mysterious gifted crosswalk AT RUSH HOUR. Wonder how safe those workers felt as city buses, cars and delivery trucks zoomed past them this morning. Really, is Traffic and Parking SO stubborn that they cannot realize a simple solution will work here? This doesn't need flashing lights and fancy expensive contraptions. It needs drivers who recognize it as a pedestrian-heavy area and it needs a coordinated safe spot for pedestrians to cross at this LEGAL intersection. This has been open for over 2 years now. It is bording on criminal that the only thing the City has done in that time is

A second photo of buses zooming around the city workers as they try to clean.

PS I took some measurements today. That rise the City is so afraid of? 39 FEET. I am FIVE FOOT TWO and standing at Bruggers on the corner of Grove and Whitney, I can see pedestrian movement crossing at Audubon and Whitney. I don't have superhuman eyesight, so what is wrong with this picture?

NH Independent Coverage, 5/3/11, includes some great interviews about the need for a crosswalk at this location.

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/guerrilla_crosswalk_appears_on_whitney/

Also, the director of one of the city's largest business districts wrote this note to me, after we discussed the most pressing pedestrian issues in New Haven:

"I think the intersection of Audubon at Whitney ought to be focused on. I understand it is a challenging place to put a crosswalk because of the rise in the roadway (the same factor that makes it dangerous to cross here) , but I'm also sure there is some creative solution that can be devised. There is a broad swath of the community that crosses Whitney at Audubon - Yale folks, workers and shoppers in the neighborhood, ECA students, NMS students, families with young children, and more - and it is currently unnecessarily dangerous for all of them. Let's work on fixing this BEFORE someone really gets hurt or worse."

Here are some historic images to see how this area has changed over the years-

The first is from 1925, the second from 1940. Note, across the trolly tracks what appears to be....yes, Virginia, crosswalk stripes!

Dear all - Erin Gustafson and myself have submitted a project request form for the crosswalk. Please find it linked here: http://bit.ly/ward7crosswalk

We will be collecting signatures of supports at our DWSCMT general membership meeting tonight at 6pm - City Hall meeting rooms -

Best,

Doug Hausladen
Chairman
Downtown-Wooster Square CMT
dwscmt@gmail.com

This has not been addressed and I am very sorry to report that a pedestrian was hit here today. Wiring work seemed to be happening a few months back which gave hope for a pedestrian signal of some kind. Can anyone confirm what and when will happen here to prevent another accident?

An update from City Hall:

The Engineering Department has a surveyor preparing the topographical and right-a-way survey of the area so that proper Complete Streets methods can be designed and applied. A consultant team will propose Complete Streets design solutions and then the TT&P/Engineering departments will work on the budget of the project and timing.

The main reason for the project being started in a few months is due to the large sewer project by the WPCA. The road has been ripped up many times in the past month. That project is ongoing and will last through 2013 - though the area around this intersection will likely be completed much earlier.

http://www.gnhwpca.com/construction_alerts_4.aspx

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/pedestrian_hit_at_whitney_and_aubudon/

Not yet addressed. Any word on the consultant team's proposed solution here? Construction continues nearby at the corner on Trumbull at Whitney, so perhaps we're still waiting for that to be completed?

Wow. Seeclickfix just informed me that this has been outstanding for 1706 days! I know there is a plan to improve this intersection but no work has started. I hope it starts soon!

A project to address this was announced yesterday at a press conference in the middle of the street.

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/crosswalk_plans_unveiled/

Attaching a photo of the planned improvements as well.

So what happened to this project? Where is the sewer project that supposedly holding up progress? Is it impossible to paint a temporary pedestrian crosswalk until this major sewer project starts? I'm not holding my breath.

This issue was recategorized from Uncategorized to Signs / Bus Shelters / Pavement Markings.

Work has started on the raised crosswalk at Whitney and Audubon! We can close these issues in celebration when the new crosswalk is open, which will take most of the summer according to Transportation, Traffic and Parking Director Doug Hausladen.

Whitney & Audubon Complete Streets Project has begun this week: See https://seeclickfix.com/issues/1129626
.

bookkeeping