Concerned on Ellsworth

Why is there no coordination of the traffic lights on Frontage Street from Park Avenue to the I-95 entrance. This is the biggest bottleneck in the entire city of New Haven any time of day. You literally have to stop at six different red lights to go six blocks, and these red lights are long. You would think the city would want to get the traffic out as quickly as possible.

This is how the Department of Public Works cleans Ellsworth Avenue now. They circled out around the accumulated leaves (I did not put them there). I specially kept my car parked there until midnight so no one else would park there, and then parked on the other side, to make sure they could sweep there in the morning. No one else moved, and they don't give any parking tickets. They just swept down the middle of the street. It's a farce.

Still, after months of complaining, nothing is done about the dozens of trash containers strewn all over this block of 300-400 Ellsworth Avenue. When are citations ever going to be given. It's total blight.

Street cleaning is impossible on Ellsworth Ave., because people do not move their cars, and the police do not issue any tickets or tow cars. Finally after 6 months, I thought my street would be cleaned of all the debris, but a car's parked there, with no ticket.

There is an infestation of gnats throughout the New Haven area this summer. They are tiny black flying insects, and very fast, and they leave welts like mosquito bites. It is impossible to go out in the yard to two minutes. The children have to stay inside. I have asked others in other neighborhoods if they have the same problem and they say they do. Diseases do spread through gnats. And it just has made for a miserable summer. I've tried various remedies, to no avail. This seems to be a city-wide problem, and I believe the city needs a plan to combat it.

Mosquitos are a monumental problem again this summer in the Beaver Hills area. It is impossible to go outside for two minutes without getting completely bitten up. I know my neighbors on Norton St and Ellsworth Ave have open containers and trash that are breeding grounds. It doesn't seem that our Livable Cities Initiative is functioning anymore, so no way to contact them. This is one more quality-of-life issue that needs to be addressed in New Haven. It's miserable living here.

There is an aggressive wild animal in the neighborhood, attacking people. Today a huge adult groundhog was digging in my yard, and my elderly neighbor went down the yard to see what is was, and threw something at it. Immediately, it rushed at her, she fell down, and it attacked her, biting her on the side. I rushed to try to chase it off, and it came after me. When I grabbed a big stick, I was able to stop it, but it still stood its ground and wanted to fight. When I reported this to the police, they said it is my problem and that I will have to contract personally with an exterminator to get rid of it at my expense. But this is not my personal problem. It's a community problem. When is it going to bite a child passing by? Does it have a disease, causing it to act aggressively. It does not "live" on my property. I think it has its main hole on my neighbor's property, but it crosses mine, and travels all over the neighborhood, even out to the street. This should be a city health problem.

My neighbors on both the south (373 Ellsworth) and the east (Norton St) deposit trash on their properties, including couches, refrigerators, and open containers, that collect water and serve as breeding ground for mosquitos. Last summer we had an incredible infestation of mosquitos, so severe that it was impossible to be outside most of the summer, and I'm afraid it will be the same this summer. I have talked with the owners but they are unconcerned. Is there anything that can be done?