by Adam Walker The New Haven independent
City traffic commissioners voted Tuesday night to shoot down an Elicker administration proposal to convert a downtown stretch of Chapel Street from one-way to two-way traffic.
The vote marked the third time since May that the Traffic Authority — which is responsible for reviewing and approving “lawful regulations” that govern city roads, and whose members also make up the city’s Board of Police Commissioners — has declined to move forward with the plan.
However, unlike during those previous two meetings, when traffic commissioners voted to table the proposal while seeking more answers to questions of public safety and community outreach, Tuesday’s vote was a definitive rejection — with 4 no’s, 1 yes, and 1 abstention — thereby throwing the overall project’s future into uncertainty.
The request before the commission, submitted by the Department of Transportation, Traffic and Parking (TT&P), was to rescind one-way westbound vehicular traffic operation and establish two-way traffic operation on Chapel Street between College and York streets.
Those three blocks — which currently consist of two west-bound lanes of traffic as well as on-street parking on both the north and south sides of the road — run from the southeast corner of the Green over to the Yale Art Gallery.
Four commissioners — Darrell Brooks, Donald Walker, Mike Lawlor, and Isaias Miranda — voted no, Commissioner Tracey Meares abstained, and Chair Evelise Ribeiro voted yes, meaning the plan failed to advance.
Most commissioners pointed over the course of the meeting to lingering concerns about congestion and fire-department access.
Brooks, a former firefighter who worked for the department for 20 years, said a two-way layout with cars parked on both sides would choke off emergency response routes. If Engine 4 turned eastbound from High Street onto Chapel while a CTtransit bus or a truck was approaching, he argued, the truck could be blocked.
“There’s no on-the-spot plan that can be created for turning radius and access on that block,” Brooks said.
City staff countered that they had coordinated with Yale and with fire officials, who indicated that emergencies could be managed by keeping curb space clear and sealing off blocks when necessary. City transportation director Sandeep Aysola acknowledged the trade-offs and said the department could remove parking if fire or police deemed it necessary.
Meares, who wound up abstaining, pressed why removing parking on one side was not included in the plan from the start. “Everybody has to give something,” she said, adding that emergency safety should come first. Aysola replied that parking demand and ADA equity considerations shaped the design, though he agreed the option could be revisited.
City Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Justin McCarthy, also a former firefighter, noted that emergency crews already navigate tight two-way intersections elsewhere, such as at Chapel and Olive. He said the city would analyze response times after any conversion and adjust assignments if needed.
Still, Brooks and Walker said they wanted to hear directly from the city’s fire chief and the department’s operations chief before signing off on a change.
Ribeiro cast the lone yes vote, writing to the Independent that she supported the measure because city staff had followed through since June by engaging stakeholders, addressing concerns, and winning support from most groups involved, as well as from the Ward 1 alder. She said her vote reflected both that progress and an expectation of continued engagement as the project moved forward.
After the vote, commissioners discussed holding a special meeting with fire leadership to address outstanding questions about turning radii, congestion management, and whether permanent parking removal should be built into any revised plan.
At a previous Traffic Authority meeting, city transit staff said that converting these three blocks between College and York would cost around $550,000 in state funds to complete. They pointed out that it is part of a larger, $11 million project that will see Chapel Street converted from one-way to two-way traffic all the way out to Ella T. Grasso Boulevard. It’s also one of several downtown two-way-conversion projects City Hall has been working on for years.
For now, this three-block stretch of Chapel Street will stay one-way — until a version that clears the commission’s emergency-access test comes back.