i couldn't agree more. i often run and ride my bike on this road, and the speeds people travel are consistently frightening. most people will speed past me around turns that i know they cannot see around-- it is by sheer luck that no one is coming from the other direction that they avoid collisions.

highly reflective signs, and a few crosswalks where the trails cross the street as well as bike sharrows would also help to remind drivers of the potential presence of cyclists as well as pedestrians.

i think some of this has been discussed with the Friends of East Rock Park...

I agree with Brian's suggestions. 15 mph limit for this very short stretch of road, and heavy enforcement to back that up.

The crosswalks are an excellent idea. I think reducing the limit would be more effective than another stop sign at English and Orange, although that certainly wouldn't hurt either. And of course without proper enforcement they can change the limit to 5mph to appease peds and it would change nothing. Also having proper signage gives me something to point at to drivers honking at me for being too slow/in their way on a narrow road...

A question and a comment:

First, how necessary is English Dr/Farnum Dr/Park Dr as a through road? Is there a way to limit through traffic and reserve the road primarily for park visitors?

Second, to echo other comments: setting a lower speed limit, installing more signs that post windy-road warnings and the speed limit, and painting crosswalks are all great ideas. But these measures will only be effective *in combination with stricter enforcement.* This could mean police presence as well as community members reporting infractions.

I love to point at the signs also Ray.
I agree with Sarah that the road should just be closed to through vehicles.

Although valuable at a city-wide level, traffic enforcement would not solve this specific problem because of the need for a dedicated officer to sit at the location. Anything more than sporadic enforcement on English Drive is highly unlikely given limited police resources (i.e., from a citywide perspective, officer time would be better spent in areas like Whalley Avenue that have exponentially higher traffic volumes of crashes and injuries).

Sporadic enforcement on this road could help at times, but it is far from a complete, long-term solution to the widely-documented problems of the road.

Posting a lower speed limit would be a step in the right direction (as Brian suggests). However, ultimately the road must be redesigned to promote safety, eliminate the possibility of dangerous crashes, allow for optimum use of the road (i.e., as a park road, not a through-highway), and provide true accessibility for all road users.

The community shouldn't sell itself short when it comes to making the largest park in New Haven a better place. Let's think bigger.

While I appreciate and wonder at your dedication to cyclist rights at the risk of becoming road pizza , I don't think a crosswalk at the bottom of a steep hill on a curve is a another great idea. Neither is a shiny sign with curve symbol even if you can point at it and shake your fist as the typical New Haven motorist motors past at 20 m.p.h. over the limit. Lastly Sarah's proposal of closing the road and park to motor vehicle traffic seems like the perfect first cyclist/pedestrian road in New Haven. Of course there will still need to be a police presence.Maybe money could be raised by charging for bicycle registration for adults, after all it would be for cyclists and I would love to have no mixing of cycles and motor vehicles.

Hey Pete,

the crosswalk would fare better at the top, where visibility exists and it wouldn't be unsafe.

Reducing the speed to 15 mph & posting a curve warning will probably also help--but not be perfect.

With that in mind, of c ourse some people will just break the law anyway, but I think you just have to look at it as 3 groups--
Engineering (signs, set lower limits) hits the casual speeder. Education improves most drivers. Enforcement hits the worst.

I agree that a closed to cars road would be preferable, but the City has stated clearly that they won't close this road. Regardless, I think it's a good thing to push for--I just like to make sure I have an "ideal" and a "good" solution in mind, and then I try to not get too upset when the solution is even worse than the good one :)

Wait, I don't remember the city ever taking closing the road off the table. Last I heard, they were pretty open to the idea, although I'm sure it will take quite a lot of work to make it happen.

You may be right--I am fairly certain I was told that the city would never do this but I could be wrong.

Even if they did say "never", I don't think it's a bad thing to work toward. I think? Cedar Hill gets good access to East Rock via State, but I'd really want to spend time talking to that community first.

The last thing we'd want to do is cut-off a neighborhood to a local park & to a really nice street (Orange street).

Good point--the implications for Cedar Hill are definitely worth considering from the outset.

Pete, if you can think of a logistically feasible way to implement bicycle registration, let me know. Everything I can think of (e.g. replicating auto registration for bicycles) A) would cost more to implement and enforce than it could possibly raise, and B) would substantially reduce the number of people willing to ride a bicycle, running directly counter to the City's health an sustainability goals.

After reading comments from the cycling community for several years I was subtly trying with no ill will to poke fun at some of the regular posters and although I do drive I wouldn't mind becoming car free. That said I was kidding about trying to raise money thru registration , but I was serious about Sarah's idea. Of course Streever it would be wise for this to be a test case with somehow keeping access for police and emergency vehicles. I have not went to check all the ways bikes could access the summit but I would love to live close to this area thereby making all of the nearby neighborhoods more desireable places.Lastly funds will be the determining factor if such a project could succeed but in such a dynamic city could the city and its citizens brainstorm a solution rather than raise here and cut there.

http://www.cityofnewhaven.com/Parks/ParksInformation/media/2008EastRockMap.pdf

I didn't take any ill will at all :D but I also missed the subtlety (you must realize I am awful at it, and that is no joke!) I have to admit I am oblivious when it comes to tone on the internet... (and sometimes in person)

on a run tonight, i noticed the crosswalks were painted! i'm not sure if it was just that the drivers were checking out the changes, but i could have sworn that overall the speeds were a bit slower near the blindingly bright white crossings.

This is great news, Juli! A step in the right direction.

Sweet!

I think Justin Elicker and Bruce Fischer both deserve a huge “thanks!”

(Ethan, if you are reading this, please let Bruce and Mike know that a whole bunch of people who use East Rock Park want to thank you all for installing the new crosswalks.)

Thank you for painting the crosswalks! Now onto the more serious issues.

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