Description
Drivers routinely speed on residential Barnett St. between Willard and Fountain. Much of this is cut-through traffic trying to avoid the light at Fountain St. and Forest Rd. While cut-through traffic in and of itself is arguably OK, the speeding is not. Beside the traffic noise of fast-moving cars (often 40-45 mph), there are about a dozen kids under the age of 7 just on the half-block closest to Willard - and lots more in a one-block radius - that routinely play near the street. This is a serious safety and quality of life issue.
A few possible solutions to slow people down would be:
1) Install two nice big asphalt speed humps (rather than speed bumps, which are shorter and can be very loud when cars pass over). Speed humps do not cost a lot and work very well in substantially lowering speeds - it's an easy fix for the speeding and would probably also help cut down on the cut-through traffic. The only downside as far as I can tell is that snowplows and in-street bicyclists have to get used to them. See photo.
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2) Alternate street parking from one side to the other once or twice down the block, and bump-out or stripe the transitions with chicanes. The bump-outs could create some nice new planting areas, which neighbors on this block would likely and gladly take on maintenance of. Building them is relatively expensive b/c of the curbing, but they could be striped first as a cheap experiment. See photo in next post.
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3) Just allow cars to park on both sides of Barnett, creating what's called a "queuing street" - cars have to pull over and wait to pass one another. This latter approach is a new standard for low-volume residential streets in Portland, OR and is the defacto standard on older streets all over the world. This would be cheapest - just some new parking signs. Barnett is roughly 27' wide, just between the 26-28' wide standard for a two-sided parking queuing street.
I look forward to hearing other possible solutions.
14 Comments
Chris Heitmann (Guest)
CT Livable Streets Campaign (Registered User)
I like these ideas -- they should be a part of any neighborhood design toolbox.
It's unacceptable that so many small residential streets in New Haven essentially function as highways, dragging down the appeal of entire neighborhoods. I understand the 1950s traffic manuals said to do this, but come on, it's been more than 50 years now.
Another idea: what do you think about closing the street entirely, except to local traffic, like Court Street in Wooster Square?
Many streets in Downtown Minneapolis do this, so I wouldn't be concerned about the impact on snow removal.
This can be done by narrowing the road and using a different paving surface, like concrete supports or brick.
CT Livable Streets Campaign (Registered User)
Article on why 20 MPH speed zones are being rolled out in London, and saving dozens of lives each year:
http://www.streetsblog.org/2010/03/22/how-london-is-saving-lives-with-20-mph-zones/
Chris Heitmann (Guest)
Since I don't think traffic volume is as much the issue here as speeding, I completely agree that the goal here should be speeds of even 15-20mph.
As for closing the street to through traffic - like on Court St. in Wooster Square - I like the idea, though the two streets are quite different in terms of housing density, overall length, and function as part of a network of streets.
Melissa (Guest)
Chris Heitmann (Registered User)
CT Livable Streets Campaign (Registered User)
Chris Heitmann (Guest)
CT Livable Streets Campaign (Registered User)
Chris Heitmann (Guest)
Sure, would love some help. I would like to pull together the neighbors on Barnett and Willard at our house first so we can brainstorm some ideas. Maybe an early November date - will work on it and post back soon.
Chris
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