Acknowledged by CTLS

I was almost killed here a few months ago by a big black pickup that flew through the light to make a right onto E. Grand going into FH. If I had blinked, I might not be here to write this email.

On multiple occasions, when I was the first car in the queue, cars have veered around me from behind to run through the red light! Unbelievable anarchy at this intersection.

I have been almost hit here as well. Not sure why it is so anarchic.

Honestly, these types of problems have a major impact on my decisionmaking about where to live in New Haven, and I know on others as well.

Fixing serious problems like these would have a huge impact on property values in New Haven as well as on the foreclosure issues.

I know that a lot of the people running the light are people southbound on Q. Ave. Not that I empathize in any way, but the light timing is set in a way that people traveling southbound on Q. Ave. don't get a fair shot when trying to travel straight. Too much time is granted to the northbound Q. Ave. vehicles to turn left, but southbound Q. Ave. traffic turning left doesn't get a special left cycle. If we take away the special left cycle for northbound traffic I think the light would work better for everybody. I suspect this light timing is archaic, dating back to when Ferry St. bridge was closed and Grand was the only way to cross the river. I've opened a separate ticket about this issue:
http://www.seeclickfix.com/issues/1699

Ultimately, I think the solution is red light cameras so the drivers making this their personal drag, but that's a separate legal issue that only the Connecticut legislature can solve.

I was almost killed here a few months ago by a big black pickup truck. After I blew my horn, he kept coming at me. I have also seen a bad accident here. There is a real disregard for one another here. We really need a red light camera here, for sure.

Unfortunately, enforcement only goes so far, and if you talk with police lieutenants in the area, they say they do not have significant resources for traffic enforcement across the entire police district.

Re-engineering intersections is the only way to control this type of reckless driving in the long-term, and is the approach used in other cities. There are thousands of examples of re-engineering residential areas and busier streets like these to be livable, calm, walkable, quiet streets. They can easily be accessed online.

Although engineering that promotes good behavior is the only way to permanently solve the problem here, some measure of enforcement is needed, too. Residents need to bring it up to ensure that adequate attention is paid to it, even if it is an incomplete solution.

If you go to New Haven Independent, for example, there is a crime log that will show you exactly where M/V violation tickets are issued. Seems pretty clear from that that enforcement activity in this neighborhood is quite limited. Neighbors should be very concerned about the data on the log, and demand more attention to local quality of life enforcement.

It is easy to change the situation in a small city like this, it just takes one or two persons to make the issue a real priority and demand accountability for any lack of action.

Please call your state legislators and ask them to approve intersection safety cameras during the upcoming legislative session. If everyone makes one call to each of their reps, we can create a great urgency to pass these this year. Look up your reps at http://www.votesmart.org/.

Has anything been done to improve this intersection?