I am very familiar with this intersection as I cross it frequently. Since it's not signaled and there are no sight-line obstructions, I walk into the street. (Court and Orange comes to mind as another crosswalk where drivers consistently refuse to stop.) Usually, in the morning, vehicles are travelling SB on Orange and often there are no vehicles travelling in the NB lane. This forces cars to slow down for me since I am already halfway across. It works rather well but I often think how fun it would be for a few good citizens to monitor the crosswalk and act as volunteer guards to stop traffic. It would raise the issue in the city and since it is at a relatively safe location (not a major intersection) folks could do this rather safely. People could dress with a theme in mind to make their point, but also be polite and thank drivers for slowing down for pedestrians.

Crosswalk "stings," where plainclothes officers attempt to cross and traffic enforcement officers issue tickets to drivers who fail to yield, are done in many other cities. Do a news search and you'll find them. They are often announced in the press beforehand.

Chief Lewis promised that many such "stings" would be done in New Haven, but to my knowledge none ever happened.

This obviously needs to change.

Sure, yeah, I am familiar with crosswalk "stings" but I'm not talking about law enforcement in plain clothes. I'm talking about folks stepping outside their comfort zone and doing something themselves, safely and responsibibly, to draw attention to the need for people to drive responsibly.

Hey,
You can organize a Citizens’ Crosswalk Brigade by clicking on the link to the right. You might need to create a profile for the purpose, but I don’t see why the profile would have to reveal any identifying information.

This Saturday the Downtown-Wooster Square Community Management Team and Wooster Square Watch are sponsoring a community planning meeting.
Results from the 2010 New Haven quality of life survey are now available and will be a terrific indicator of the areas of focus for improving the quality of life in our neighborhood.

Please join us!

Saturday, May 8th
8:30 am -- 12 pm
(coffee and refreshments provided)
Conte Hills School Cafeteria

I hope many of you can make it to think strategically as a group about how we as citizens can make a difference in the neighborhood within our broader mission of safety through awareness and prevention.

See you there!

twitter.com/dwscmt
http://groups.google.com/group/DWSCMT

in regards to the second comment, i would love to spend a day as a volunteer crossing guard.

i propose spending roughly an hour at:
temple street &wall for morning rush hour
audubon & orange for evening rush hour
lincoln & trumbull in between

what should our theme be? superheroes?
(all i'm saying is i wouldn't argue with a cape.)

There could be a superhero theme where capes are encouraged. It seems like a good idea to me. There are a few other people who have raised concerns at other crosswalk locations in the city. Perhaps they would be interested in this idea as well.

As a pedestrian and a driver I agree with enforcing compliance at crosswalks. At the same time, pedestrians need to show a little hustle when crossing the street. I have many times wanted to run down some oblivious Yalie taling on the phone and taking their sweet time in the crosswalk. Temple and Wall is the worst.

Pedestrians need to understand the crosswalk law! It doesn't mean walk into the crosswalk as a car is approaching and expect the driver to slam on his brake for you! I have never seen such stupidity. Pedestrians think that they have the right of way and are invincable (spelling?) with cars coming at them.

Legally, as long as there is no car currently In the intersection (as far as I know approaching doesn't count), the pedestrian does actually have the right of way.

As for taking their time, pedestrians are allowed to walk at whatever speed they want. Honestly, how much time does a slow pedestrian cost you? 2 seconds? 3 seconds? That's not worth getting violent over. Heck, even if I wasted an hour of your time, attempting to kill me would not be an appropriate decision.

The pedestrian always has the right of way, even if they are not in a crosswalk. The reality is that drivers are required to yield to other human beings within the lane of travel.

Please drive carefully and share the road - keep in mind that it is much easier for a driver to slow down for a few seconds than it is for a pedestrian to have to wait for several minutes to cross a busy street, or have to run across to try to avoid being killed.

Pedestrians have the right of way but still need to know that cars hurt. New Haven seems to be full of very silly people who are not aware of that fact. How many times have I had to slam on my brakes at the last minute as a pedestrian with the right of way has almost ended up on the hood of my car.

mr ray, you shouldn't be traveling so fast that you can't anticipate someone having the right of way. that is the whole reason that vulnerable users have right of way at intersections.

"cars hurt" is pretty disgustingly cold reasoning for your poor driving. it is a "speed limit" for a reason.

If you knew me you would know I am a very good driver and pride myself on going the speed limit, even when cars are lining up behind me, but even at 20mph it takes a bit to stop and I think alot of Yale students have not been taught that. Right of Way should not replace common sense.

Don't forget that the law requires not just that you adhere to the posted speed limit, but also that you slow to a safe speed that varies depending on conditions. During times of peak pedestrian traffic, the safe speed may be closer to 5–15 m.p.h.

…which is why I feel really sorry for people whose jobs require them to drive in downtown (e.g. bus drivers). There is a reason traffic moves so slowly at certain times of day: it’s simply not safe to go any faster.

I guess the above comment is directed at me. I rarely am downtown during the day which I guess would be peak time. Are you suggesting that we all drive 5 mph all the time. I don't want to seem argumentative but I grew up here and the driving culture is not pedestrian friendly, so I think it is irresponsible to make it appear that it is. The people I grew up with who are now driving pickup trucks are not looking out for pedestrians. Probably quite the opposite. Yale may want to turn New Haven into Disney Land but it can't happen. This is the real world.

Can we get back to the talk of caped volunteer traffic guards

Mr Ray - i wouldn't assume that previous comment by Mr Tang was directed at you -

Also, this issue isn't a "yale" issue. there aren't many "yalies" that cross that path (you could argue there is employee foot traffic). this is a bigger issue that New Haven is trying to brand itself as being a dense, urban, multi-use downtown with 24 hours of use.

This is the real world. And in the real world pedestrians are given right of way and pedestrian-friendly zones are the most precious and expensive (by property value) in our country. We have a lot of jobs in the downtown, and there is a lot of pedestrian traffic with yale students. the driving culture is not pedestrian friendly due to (insert jonathan hopkins from Independent) years of improper planning and enforcement. We in new haven, those at yale, and those at the hospital are trying vigorously to change this.

Mr. Tang's comments about traffic speeds are a reality. He is not in the slightest suggesting people drive 5mph all the time. the city speed limit is 25mph, and like brian said, it is dependent on conditions (including pedestrian and automotive traffic levels). so in the middle of the day when the downtown is bustling, the real speed limit is decreased (as is stated in law).

Dan - some pedestrians don't hustle b/c they're not able-bodied.

I won't touch the crossing guard for fear of liability, though anything done in a hypothetical world would be sweet if videod and used as a viral PSA to circulate around the city. in a hypothetical world where this PSA existed, I'm sure the PSA would be great if it had captured a few red light camera violators as well.

oh, i would also suggest an in-road pedestrian road sign on orange street. it's 2 way, so it would fall in the ability of the TT&P department. that's needed, right commenters?

Mr. tang where do you get your statistics ?? 5 mph - please. If that was true you wouldn't be able to drive in New York or New Haven- Rush hour is called that for a reason.

Maybe it would be better to just eliminate car traffic in New Haven all together by closing Route 34-Then we can watch the town wither and die.......

Clarification- RIGHT OF WAY means that you are to YIELD to the established party traveling- in order to YIELD someone who is established-either car or pedestrian- the party must already be established or close enough to be the first one there-has everyone forgotten basic DMV rules- if someone runs off a sidewalk they DO NOT have the right of way. I'd be all for the cape dal, but don't our taxes pay for services to enforce rules ???
They give out enough tickets here for pARKING - hire more traffic guards and have them enforce traffic violations.

A pedestrian was hit trying to cross this intersection today. There used to be an in-road crosswalk sign for this intersection but it never appeared last summer. The biggest problem is speeding traffic coming off the highway and turning up Orange St. Can we get some police presence to slow things down? I sure hope the pedestrian is okay! The news: http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/new_haven_cty/pedestrian-hit-in-new-haven

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