Agreed. This bridge is absurd. The cars are moving way too fast, and it's just offensive that whichever city government is responsible for the bridge plows all the snow up onto the sidewalks in the winter - where do you expect cyclists and pedestrians to go??? That's just negligence! Forcing cyclists and pedestrians into traffic in the winter is a hideous accident waiting to happen. Slowing down the traffic somehow would be a huge improvement too.

I tried out my Spring St detour route this morning and I officially found it to be… not worth it. :-(

It added at least 5 minutes and I found riding on 1st Avenue between Spring and Kimberly to be extremely stressful. On the way back I just took Kimberly. Fortunately, traffic was light, but I still felt like I needed to pedal like my life depended on it to reach a speed where drivers would take me seriously.

If you’re not comfortable keeping up speeds in excess of 20 m.p.h., then there’s basically no low-stress way to get to West Haven at this point.

atrocious. where is dot

Any progress on this?

The state could easily close the Kimberly Ave. exit, from Southbound I95, as drivers going to West Haven can exit at either the Boulevard (and make a left turn onto Kimberly), or exit at First Avenue, in West Haven. Probably two acres of waterfront or restored wetlands could be made available, and the effect on traffic would be minimal. I95 has too many exits and entrances - selective closing of 195 access points would improve traffic flow on I95, and shrink the DOT maintenance budget.
http://tiny.cc/kimberly161
http://tiny.cc/k9OYb

Wouldn't it be nice if there were anything new to write about this path a whole year later? Or thanks to give to some city officials who had fixed the problem? Alas!

This is apparently a no man's zone between New Haven and West Haven, with both city governments ignoring the huge problems here for pedestrians and bicyclists and hoping the other government will take care of it. It would be so great to see some collaboration between New Haven and West Haven here to clean up the areas on either side of the Kimberly Avenue bridge! And to Keep it cleaned up too.

I see people walking and/or biking through this area every time I use the bridge. There is nothing to slow down drivers entering/exiting the highway and they Fly through here. Too dangerous. Needs so much fixing!

The Board of Aldermen passed a Complete Streets Order by a vote of 30-0 in October 2008. As the only viable connection between two of the largest cities in our state, this bridge has been a community issue for long before that.

Why such a delay in making this bridge acceptable for cyclists and pedestrians?

I agree, Jessica. This area needs a "clusterfix."

What's the status of the interchange reconstruction project?

This continues to be a major problem.

Coming over the Kimberly Ave. Bridge from West Haven into New Haven has many issues. For one there is no bike lane and the traffic is at highway speeds before they even get on the ramps. The alternative is to go on the sidewalk, but that too has problems. Glass, a narrow path, and a 12inch drop off to the road. The sidewalk is my preferred rouet when coming into new haven on the xtracycle or madson toting two boys. The problem continues as the sidewalk ends and a 'trail' begins. There is a well worn trail that runs parallel to the on ramps. The trail is littered with glass, soft sand, and other non bike hazards. After about a hundred trips over the past two years along that path i have defined a few changes that would close the gap and offer a 'bridge' between two cities for walkers, runners, and cyclist.
1. make the bridge path wider and include a rail on the street side.
2. gravel or pave the path from the bridge to Ella T. Grasso Blvd.
3. Install guardrail on 95 North Onramp from Kimberly Ave to prevent cars from going to the shoreline to hang out and fish. (this is where most of the glass comes from)

Last year i requested a guard rail to be cut so that bike trailers could pass. That was taken care of, now it's time to put some more of our tax money to work by creating safe routes between cities and towns. This route is also marked on for the East Coast Greenway.
lets get this done.

Is this basically the idea? (attached rendering)

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2011/09/27/news/metro/doc4e81e9c0a0af4740182100.txt makes this even more important. Call Mayor Picard's office to congratulate him on the project but demand that it be accessible.

Story http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2011/09/27/news/metro/doc4e81e9c0a0af4740182100.txt makes this even more important. Call Mayor Picard's office to congratulate him on the project but demand that it be accessible.

I agree Captain! Is there anyway to redesign the eastbound sidewalk as the official route to New Haven and the rest of the shoreline communities. The existing bike path is terrible and only requires minor clearing and paving and lights to make it a viable route form West Haven. The route back in to West Haven needs to be included in this West River project as well. The route is already slated for the East Coast Greenway. We have sent emails to Picard, DeStefano, and the DOT. We need to all get on the same page and really make this happen.

Any updates on this project?

The sidewalk, on the south side, of the Kimberley Ave. bridge, closest to West Haven, is narrowed down to about 1.5', due to soil, weeds and garbage encroaching on to the sidewalk.
The (West Haven) north side of the bridge, where the sidewalk ends, does not have a handicapped ramp and, as the curb looks relatively new - granite curb stones, I'm sure the bridge is not ADA compliant. This bridge is an example of the worst of CT DOT's design, where it is obvious that no one, at DOT, put any thought into how a pedestrian or a bicyclist, or anyone who is not in a car could possibly use this bridge in a safe manner.

I agree. The situation here is awful. When is the project to provide a safer walking and bicycling route scheduled to move forward?

Any attempt to improve pedestrian infrastructure is perceived as a direct threat to the DOT. The CT DOT is all about cars, graft and corruption. The DOT contractors call the shots in Hartford. Governor Malloy is pushing a plan to widen I84 and I95 - as a favor to his buddies in the tar industry. To paraphrase a planning observor: Connecticut has built roads, to get cars, to cities that aren't worth going to.

Christopher, did Picard, DeStefano, and the DOT, ever respond to your emails?

I have not heard from them in email. I will try to make some calls/email this week and next. West Haven needs to make some progress in making the streets more bike and pedestrian safe. There isn't even a SHARE THE ROAD sign or any bike sharrows in all of the roads in West Haven. Everyone always defers to the BOARDWALK, which is the WORST place to ride anything but a unicycle.

The DOT has plans to close / reconfigure exit 44. The city government, of West Haven, which despite having a new train station and a decrepeit, but walkable downtown, with a charming town green, seems determined to stick with the automobile as a driver of economic development - the city is opposing the exit closure. The closure of exit 44 would be a good time to develop a bike / pedestrian path connecting City Point, with West Haven. Clearly I95 is a road with no future. Young people are not buying cars; West Haven is becoming a poorer city, and building more car infrastructure will only accelerate the decline of the city. Hopefully, the DOT is not planning on building 60' wide exit ramps, with multiple turn lanes, which are pedestrian nightmares.

I agree, let's please fix this! At least get the street sweeping crews to maintain the sidewalk!

Dear all,

I will be gathering a meeting together with West Haven officials and some commuters between downtown NHV and West Haven (some going West, some going East) at the Yale West Campus at the end of August/September.

If you would like to be included, please email ehutchin @ newhavenct .net

Best,

Doug

Hi is this solved now? driving thru is still scary

Ask Doug how that meeting went. Look and see if there is any change. This is important. There is one city official supporting it. We just had elections.
LET'S GO!

CT DOT is not trustworthy, don't believe anything they say. The new Boulevard / Sea St. exit disaster demonstrates that the DOT is either incompetent, corrupt or, probably both.
The DOT did build a paved path, to the Kimberley Ave. bridge, but what is one to do, when one gets there? Stare at the speeding cars? Also, the DOT eliminated the bike path, on the Howard Ave. bridge, so the Howard Ave. bike lane ends, abruptly, on one side of the bridge and starts on the other side of the bridge... The elimination of the bike lane, on the bridge encourages cars to speed and puts cyclists in direct conflict with Northbound Howard Ave. traffic, turning right onto 5th St. So basically the DOT made a bike path to an unsafe bridge and then made another bridge unsafe. Don't forget the new traffic jams, on Sea St., backing up all the way to Howard and 5th St. Basically, I think the plan all along was to turn Sea St. into a highway entrance ramp, as a favor to the developers of the old Register building.
The Boulevard / Sea St. exit ramps are huge, no way any pedestrian can navigate those acres of tar.
And allegedly a developer wants to build a mall, i.e. get the city of West Haven, and the state of CT. to improve his property, after they steal some land, so the can flip the cleaned up mess. So how many car trips does it take to support a mall? 10,000 minimum? Yep the Kimberley Ave. bridge is really going to work out well...