What you can see from Jocelyn Square (plan diagram; click to enlarge).

Intense photo of Humphrey St underpass (click to enlarge).

Another photo of the underpass (click to enlarge).

"Mental speed bumps" (like public art, neon lighting, etc.) within the underpass could help eliminate the psychological divide, and calm traffic in the process. A lot of people live on the eastern side of the underpass; you could potentially double the number of customers for businesses along State Street if you did something creative here. The Humphrey Street underpass bridge closer to James Street really needs some work, too.

Hey Mark,
The Upper State Street Association has been looking into this.
If anybody knows of public art grants that might work with this project it would be excellent.
Acknowledged by Upper State Street Association.

I'll let you know of any grants that I find for public art! There is a Neighborhood Assistance Act grants that the city has, although that's a little more complicated (in that you get funded by corporations buying tax credits), but this might be something they might be interested in funding, so long as you could find the corporate backers to make it happen.

I have had the exact same thought as I pass under the I91 grand avenue overpass to get to work! It's such a huge barrier and literally splits the community into Wooster Square and "everybody else".

I've always thought if they could seriously ramp up the lighting at night (like 5x more), and also perhaps frame out and cover up the girders, which would make the undersides look a lot better, and maybe even help with the booming sound of the cars overhead.

Girders seen during daylight (click to enlarge).

Same shot at night (click to enlarge).

Early morning shot of underpass.

Photo of the Humphrey Street RR bridge that Mark alluded to.

Have been playing around with mural ideas for the underpasses.

Thinking that the white arrows in this photo would be filled in with free form design my multiple artists using a few designated colors.

coverage in the Independent http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2009/05/state_street_re.php

What do you guys think of this.
Someone come up with a better design than me:

How are you going to get the frame to spin freely?

I was thinking ball bearings. I'm also thinking that the frames could be four sided boxes to make them more interesting and create more real estate for artwork.

dude, we should make the spinny things out of old bike parts.

we're gonna to have to scrub the sidewalk real good before we paint.

I've been thinking about this too! Feel so out of touch not to notice all the public thinking about it... Anyway, in addition to all of these great ideas, making the underpass a destination I think is a good idea. I bet music would sound great in the underpass - particularly drums. Would Humphrey's collab to bring in musicians? Another event idea: SoHu group has also been talking about outdoor neighborhood movies. Wouldn't these concrete walls make great screens?! I'll bring the projector. We can invite street vendors for concessions.

I like it! but we can't close the street. I think we can do it all on the sidewalk. I think there's room on the north sidewalk for a dozen chairs plus a 5 ft walkway against the wall (that way we don't have apply for an obstruction permit). The north sidewalk is like 16 ft wide. it's ridiculous but convenient. I wonder if Humphrey's would let us run an extension cord from their place.

Shunter,
I love the idea of movies under there. Would you be able to come out and help with redesigning this space next Thursday at 6:00 with URI?

Hey Ben,
What was the name of that glass blower in Fair Haven? Maybe he'd be able to help us.

Hey Ben, would it be possible for the clean team to rent a pressure washer and really have at the sidewalk? It's possible that just selectively blasting the sidewalk to create patterns or pathways might be almost as good as painting it.

reverse graffiti is cool....maybe.

I vote that we treat the Humphrey St underpass event less as a functional movie night, and more like a "happening." I imagine about two dozen of us wearing absurd-looking ponchos sitting on folding chairs crammed onto the north sidewalk, beneath the deafening roar of the freeway overhead. Drivers on Humphrey Street would stare at our bizarre, yet humorously diligent, attempt to use the space as if it was intended for humans.

It's like critical mass, but without the bicycles!

fantastic, everyone. i am definitely interested in this!

Hey Juli,
Come out at 6:00 on Thursday and we're going to brainstorm, plant, paint and mulch to get things started.
-B

Wait, what are we painting this week?

Also, I talked with Gar Waterman about our sculpture ideas. He pointed out that the fact that we don't know how to weld is not necessarily an issue. If we build something out of found objects, it can always be held together mechanically (e.g. Cast iron pipes that fit together; staging/scaffolding held together by clamps). He told me that we should narrow down our ideas a bit and come back and he'd tell us what is actually feasible.

There's a fence that needs a refreshing.

Apparently it actually wouldn't be that hard to get a permit to close down the street for an afternoon/evening. Still, I feel like that would take a lot of the fun out of it.

It also occurred to me that an impromptu movie night would work best beneath an overpass where the lights are either non-functioning or particularly dim. Does anyone know of an underpass with lights that consistently don't work, preferably with a wide sidewalk and large concrete wall?

This is a great idea. I love the idea of plant material under the overpass. BTW the glass blower in Fair Haven (Clinton Avenue) is Conrad Duenkel( fairhavenglass.com).

Wait, why stop with movie nights? I want to hold all manner of unexpected events here! How about a poetry night, or a knitting class? I want checkers tournaments, chalk drawing, improv theater performances, neighborhood potlucks!

Ben, surely there must be some way to assemble enough folding chairs and find a card table somewhere?

What if we affixed "open" before the names of every event we hold here. Open Poetry Circle, Open Photography Exhibition, Open Movie Night.

In my mind I see red vinly ten foot tall Helvetica letters spelling "OPEN" affixed to the north wall!

take a look at this flyer advertising the "intersection game." San Francisco, 1966.

This is a start.
See photo. Some nice people must have fixed this up.

Hey, where did that brand new fence come from?

I can't believe I forgot to post our cinematic masterpiece...until now!

Concrete is being cut for trees to be planted just West of overpass today.
Please please come out at 6:00 tomorrow to help remove concrete so we can plant. We will need all the muscle possible.

http://americancity.org/daily/entry/1687/

this is amazing! could we do this here?

Sweet! Anyone know where the best place to buy sidewalk chalk might be? Would Walgreens have it? I need to buy some allergy medicine anyway...

Also, for the movie night, one of my friends had an intriguing idea: silent movie with live accompanyment. Does anybody know any brave (and loud) musicians who might be up to the challenge of improvising the score to a silent movie? Percussion would be interesting.

yessss! the chalkboard idea is awesome. however, i just did a wall in my apt. and it took almost three cans for a 5ft x 5ft square... you can get it at hardware stores or art supply stores (about 6-8 dollars a can). do a thin first coat and let dry completely before a second...

and i have some musicians in mind too! see y'all thursday?

Love this idea!!!!
There was a kids bray party in the park today and seeing the baloons and decorations really made u want to walk under the overpass.
Chalk on the walls would be agreat way to do the same.

All Walgreens has are sidewalk chalk "toy kits," which come with wierd plastic "chalk holders."

If anyone happens to be in the Milford area, my mom said she saw a Target add for a $5 mega bucket of sidewalk chalk.

Here's a photo of the trees we planted last week in this corridor.
Planting again at 6:00 on Thursday.

You can find recipes online for chalkboard paint. It's much cheaper.

1. Pour 1 cup of paint into a container. Add 2 tablespoons of unsanded tile grout. Mix with a paint stirrer, carefully breaking up clumps.

2. Apply paint with a roller or a sponge paintbrush to a primed or painted surface. Work in small sections, going over the same spot several times to ensure full, even coverage. Let dry.

3. Smooth area with 150-grit sandpaper, and wipe off dust.

4. To condition: Rub the side of a piece of chalk over entire surface. Wipe away residue with a barely damp sponge.

Hey Scott, what do you think of holding a bike-in movie event next Friday evening? Would you be able to lend us your projector that evening? Ben says he's knows another person with a projector, if you are busy or something.

Also, it'd be good to test it out sometime in the next couple of days to determine if it is dark enough under there. Those sodium lamps are surprisingly bright despite their dreary aura. The principal hurdle at the moment is determining where to find 250' worth of extension cords.

If anyone out there has a 50' extension cable I could borrow, that would be awesome.

I wonder if this would be a good space for some sort of a shadow puppet show, perhaps accompanied by drums?

Hey! I just realized I never posted the artist’s statement that originally accompanied the film:

“Brian Tang
8 April 2009
Humphrey Street project

Artist's Statement

This film is as much about me as it is about Humphrey Street.

This is a film about loneliness.
It is about looking for something, something that is missing. Something we, people, need.

It is about what an overly technical person might call "interpersonal connections,"
or what an urban designer might simply call "connectivity."

This is a film about two lonely neighborhoods, separated by Interstate-91.

It is about longing. Longing to come together. Longing for friendship, for a sense of place. Wanting to belong.

This is a film for those who share that vision, who are ready to build a neighborhood, a place where people can live and connect.”

a random idea I had:

PROPOSAL NAME:
SHADOW PUPPETS

PROPOSAL SUMMARY:
# Produce a short shadow puppet narrative performed for a small audience.
# To be held after dusk beneath Interstate-91 on Humphrey Street’s north sidewalk.

OBJECTIVES (in order of priority):
1. Introduce neighbors to each other in an ironically kid-friendly environment.
2. Form emotional bond between participants and space.
3. Domesticate underpass space.

PEOPLE:
# Shadow puppet operators—operate shadow puppets.
# Drummers—perform musical accompaniment as component of performance.
# Producer/production assistant(Brian)—arrange space permissions; coordinate people and materials necessary for production; make sure Director, Logistics Officer, and Event Promoter have EVERYTHING they need.
# Director(Juli)—execute artistic vision (objective No. 3); coordinate performers.
# Logistics Officer—ensure all people and materials arrive at the correct place and time; ideally this person should have access to a car, or at least a bike with a trailer.
# Logistics Personnel—assist Logistics Officer.
# Event Promoter(Ben)—achieve objectives Nos. 1 and 2; coordinate participants, sponsors, and volunteers.
# Press Officer—ensure event gets mentioned in the NH Advocate and other mainstream press outlets.
# Event Participants—achieve all objectives.

MATERIALS:
# Puppet performance screen
# High-power lamps
# Sufficient length of extension cord to reach Humphrey’s (~500 ft)
# Seating
# Blankets
# Hot chocolate with appropriate cups
# Earplugs
# Items to assist with domestication of space (floor lamps, house plants—small Christmas tree?, carpet, cookies, etc.)
# Items to assist with event promotion
# Items to assist with performance (e.g. programs)

That's a pretty awesome video.

I could help you with the press. You might apply to the CFGNH for a mini-grant. They regularly award $500-1000 for small community projects like these.

I ran across this two summers ago while visiting my aunt in London (see photo).

Awesome Brian!

This would be interesting:
http://www.yaledailynews.com/sceneblog/2010/03/03/furniture-puzzle/

Brian,
That is freakin awesome!
Is that from Joyce's class?

That should be totally under the underpass.

Pretty great photoshoot taken at the underpass this past weekend: http://www.carlateneyck.com/wedding-vendors/obsessed-unbalanced-woman.html

Check out this video from last night's tree planting. 18 volunteers came out to help.

Attached image.

Attached image, a more aggressive removal of the entire exit. Potential new streets are shown in blue. The permeability created by these new streets would dramatically increase the walkability and bikeability of all three surrounding neighborhoods.

In the long term, removing the psychological barriers between Jocelyn Square and East Rock and Wooster Square will require modifications to I-91, which is the urban element that divided these areas in the first place. Additions like trees and tactical urbanism, as suggested by Brian, can help but will not really eliminate this barrier to walking.

Removal of all or part of Exit 3 would create millions of dollars in additional tax revenue for New Haven. It would also create potentially dozens of acres of land that could be developed as parks, affordable housing and retail space. It could also tie Wooster Square, East Rock and Jocelyn Square together in a way not seen since before I-91 was built. It would be a far more cost-effective project than the boulevardization of Route 34. Most importantly, removing a freeway exit would have a huge ripple effect on adjacent properties and streets, increasing their development value as they are no longer impacted by proximity to a highway or traffic exiting at high speeds from the highway.

With appropriate mitigation measures, this would result in minimal impact to other sections of New Haven. Freeway exits have been removed in hundreds of cities around the world, generally with very positive results.

Attached is an image showing one possible configuration. This eliminates the most problematic section, which is the highway offramps to the corner of Trumbull & Orange. This one keeps the northbound I-91 entrance and exits but diverts some traffic to State Street, rather than Orange (State Street being a much more common corridor for entry into the city).

Green shows "new" land that would be reclaimed for appropriate economic & community development uses.

Great ironic photo of a City Bench placed on the saw cuts for our new trees just before planting:

Also, in case anyone missed it, great coverage by the New Haven Independent of the tree planting that occurred this year under the overerpass: http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/a_tree_grows_in_a_concrete_world/

Hey Mark,
The exit 5 access has been removed from State Street for the past 6 months. It would be interesting to do an economic impact study on the small businesses to see if this theory holds for them as well.
Possibly a survey on business of those North of Humphrey on State over the last 6 months?

Here are some photos from the tree planting under this underpass this Summer. Thank You so much to DOT, City of New Haven, URI, SeeClickFix employees and especially the 50 neighbors that did all the hard work.

And another

And another

And another

And Another

And another

And a last one

Ok, One more. Love this one.

What would people think of doing insideoutproject.net on the underpass walls?

great job everyone! http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/overpassunderpass/

Please help us fund a huge photo mural project at this underpass by contributing to our kickstarter campaign here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/milesl/inside-out-nhv?ref=live

It looks like 15 more people donated in the last 24 hours thanks to SeeClickFix users. Please share this with all of your friends. We only need about 110 people to donate $33 each.

Posting this to your facebook wall would be awesome!

Underpass work parties are happening every Saturday afternoon starting at 1PM this summer. Meeting at the Humphrey St underpass unless otherwise noted. This weekend (this afternoon) we are going to spread some fresh mulch at the base of the trees planted last summer. Next weekend (the 16th) we will resume work on pasting up the portraits.

The underpass has totally become a place for people to connect through the photos during the pastings and afterwords while appreciating the photography and the subjects.

Here's another photo of the work in progress.

Are there any plans to further improve lighting in the area?

I think that making the intersections of Humphrey & State and Humphrey & East more attractive to cross would also help further this issue. Perhaps that's the subject of a Complete Streets Request form? I would also narrow up the lanes where possible to reduce speeding.

Hey Mark,
That would be great. The Mayor expressed an interest in seeing better lighting here and the State mentioned that this might be possible as well. I think they would be open to community designed suggestions.