The in-road ped signs have been removed for the winter.

I found that this signal worked, when I used it, and they are in need all over the city, especially on Ella Grasso Blvd. I realize that we have much more pressing issues, such as street gangs and all that they bring to our city, including driveby shootings, prostitution, muggings, beatings and drug trafficking, but as a pedestrian who walks miles at a time, our drivers regularly ignore crosswalks as if they do not even exist. We need agents specifically hired to ticket people all over the city for traffic and parking violations. Ever see Parking Wars on A&E? It's working for Detroit and Philadelphia, why not New Haven? Why do we just focus on Downtown, when all of Whalley Avenue is one huge parking and traffic violation??

Thank you, TT&P. I see that the others have been removed for the winter as well. That said, I hope TT&P and Public Works is looking at moving towards more permanent placement of the in-street pedestrian signs. Other cities across the country do this and, if our October snow storm this year is any indication, the City's plow drivers are more than adept at negotiating around them when plowing. In fact, each intersection where an in-street ped sign was plowed around resulted in a nice little pedestrian refuge in the middle of the crosswalk. Great experiment, snow.

BJG, I agree that more ticketing is needed. See the third request article in http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/new-haven-petition-for-safe-streets.html. Without information, action is futile.

Anyhow, I wonder if those "more pressing issues" you refer to might be solved, in part, by making the city a place worth living in and walking around. There is certainly ample evidence to show that it makes a huge difference.

They might go hand in hand, but it's really the other way around - dealing with the street gangs really is our most pressing issue. More people might bicycle and walk if they felt safer being on the mean streets of New Haven! But the traffic and parking agents are needed in order to educate drivers who are doing wrong. Most drivers don't even know basic driving and parking laws, especially as they concern pedestrians, such as stopping for anyone in a crosswalk, parking on a crosswalk, etc. Ask CT Transit bus drivers how many cars blatantly park in bus stops, no standing zones, etc. The more people are ticketed for their offenses, the more they are educated, the less they will violate those laws, the more people will become comfortable walking and biking. Now, not getting mugged - that's a separate issue entirely. I do not see cops walking the beat in my neighborhood, and the street gangs act like the substation doesn't even exist, as they make their drug deals out in the open, on their bicycles and dirtbikes, right in front of said substation.

I think both are important, BJG. But if you look at the research, you find that safety of the road itself is easily the largest reason why people avoid walking or cycling in certain locations. There are many streets in our area that people avoid at all costs. Certainly, there are exceptions for high crime "hotspot" neighborhoods with gang activity and many other issues around feeling safe, but most sections of New Haven have a crime rate that's quite close to the state average.

I don't think reducing crime in the "hotspots" where it happens would do very much to promote the physical safety of using roads for driving or cycling (after all, roads are even more dangerous in the suburbs, where crime is low), but I do think (and there is significant evidence to show) that promoting the safety of driving and cycling, getting more children to walk to school, etc. within an urban area like New Haven, could have a major impact on decreasing crime by improving community pride and neighborliness.

Of course, both are critical issues, if perhaps for different reasons, but that is beyond the scope of the public space improvements being discussed here.

As I mentioned, I also strongly agree with you that ticketing is needed - but that we can't make any progress on that unless we have the information that has been requested repeatedly by thousands of residents, but never provided.

P.S. If interested, a bit more of the interesting history behind this specific issue is posted at http://www.newhavensafestreets.org/2008/08/response-from-mayor-destefano-on-in.html and http://www.newhavensafestreets.org/2011/09/coalition-receives-response-from-mayor.html

Just getting the yellow bollard here (which is not in place year round, but should be) took many years.

Mark said: "I don't think reducing crime in the "hotspots" where it happens would do very much to promote the physical safety of using roads for driving or cycling" REALLY? Because yesterday, as I was walking down Whalley Ave toward Westville, I found a bullet casing. You're doing whatever you can here to make it seem as though New Haven is a safer city than it is. (Stop doing this for the sake of Yalies, they are quite aware of how dangerous this city is.) But whenever big CT crime is mentioned by media (as recently, on Where We Live), we are one of CT's BIG THREE crime hotspots: New Haven, Bridgeport, Hartford. Not just one section of New Haven, but ALL OF NEW HAVEN IS NOW OVERRUN WITH GANGS. That's right - even the "nice" neghborhoods" like Westville and Edgewood and once-beautiful Beaver Hill, are now gang territory. Street gangs bring gun violence, drug trafficking and prostitution to our communities. All of these issues contribute to New Haven being safe for cyclists, pedestrians, drivers and all residents.

Hi BJG, if you read the post above, my argument is based on the assumption (and large research body) that physical safety is the main reason why people avoid walking or bicycling on certain streets. Think Boulevard or Whalley. Over 15 years here, I've talked to many residents who feel this way.

Also, the fact is, most city residents feel safe walking or biking around their neighborhood during the day, even in high crime areas. There are several research groups at Yale who have studied this.

Perhaps someone who thinks the "ENTIRE CITY IS OVERRUN" with gangs doesn't feel that way (and I recognize that there are many who feel that way you do, so not discrediting what you say), but I'm just pointing out that if we want to get more people walking and cycling, it seems that we need to seriously address our road hazards.

LOL Well, Mark, you stick with you "large research body," and I will stick with my actual research - 42 years having lived in New Haven. Cheers, Mark, you keep up with those studies!

We are trying to delineate issues that are current and need the city's attention to resolve. Any issues prior to 2013 are being closed. If your issue remains and needs to be addressed by the city, please either re-open or open as a new See Click Fix issue. Thanks.