Alders Accelerate “Safe Routes” Plan

The city’s planned overhaul of bike, pedestrian, and transit
infrastructure is on a fast track to potential approval, as
officials race to meet a mid-September deadline for a crucial
grant.
It was put on the fast track Thursday evening at a meeting
and public hearing held in City Hall by the Board of Alders
City Services and Environmental Protection Committee.
City Transit, Transportation, and Parking Director Sandeep
Aysola presented on that “Safe Routes For All” plan at the
hearing. Aysola — along with a dozen supporters from the
public — urged alders to “discharge” the plan for review by the
full Board of Alders (rather than take a formal vote on it) to
speed up the process by enabling the full board to vote on the
measure at a meeting next week and enable the city to apply
for an upcoming batch of federal funding to put the plan
into action.
By the hearing’s close at 10 p.m., a dozen New Haveners had
testified in support of the plan, and alders unanimously voted
to discharge it for a faster review and full-board vote.
The Safe Routes For All plan, as Aysola explained, calls for
the city to expand and upgrade 90 miles of bike lanes — and
make them “protected” lanes, with a physical barrier between
cars and bikers, whenever possible. It advises that the city

align car and pedestrian traffic lights so that pedestrians won’t
have to press buttons and wait for four-way red lights before
crossing the street. And it proposes that traffic-calming
interventions be implemented at dangerous intersections to
reduce car crashes.
The plan’s other recommendations include adding sheltered
bus stops, converting some one-way streets to two-way, and
committing to a “Vision Zero” goal of eliminating
pedestrian deaths.
The plan identifies seven “priority neighborhoods” with
majority low-income, Black, and/or Latino residents that the
city has historically overlooked for transit upgrades: Dwight,
Newhallville, Fair Haven, the Hill, West Rock, West River,
and Dixwell.
The city is applying for funding for the plan from the
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2022, which offers
grants for cities to either design or implement plans
supporting “active transportation” like walking and biking
through the Safe Streets and Roads For All program. The
deadline for an upcoming round of funding is Sept. 15.

If successfully secured, the grant could provide $5 million to
the city for five years’ worth of upgrades.
While many cities are expected to apply for this funding to
develop active transit plans, “we are the only municipality in
the entire state that has a plan” already drafted for improving
non-driver infrastructure, said Aysola. In order for the city to
apply for an implementation grant, the Board of Alders has to
sign off on the Safe Routes For All plan — and allow the city
to both apply for and accept any grants awarded through the
federal act. 

“There’s no design to it yet?” asked committee Chair
Anna Festa.
Aysola confirmed that there’s no precise design affiliated with
the Safe Routes For All plan yet. She noted that more
community input would be solicited during the design process.
As Aysola presented, the Board of Alders chambers were
filled with advocates for bike, pedestrian, and transit
infrastructure. Members of the Safe Streets Coalition of New
Haven waited as the sky grew dark and hours of other agenda
items passed by to share testimony in favor of the Safe
Routes For All plan. 
Safe Streets activist Lior Trestman said an active transit
overhaul would help people without cars maintain steady jobs.
“Transportation remains one of the biggest barriers to
employment,” he argued.
One in four New Haveners do not have a car, said Trestman;
in some neighborhoods, nearly half of residents are carless.
Max Chaoulideer focused on the New Haveners who have
died in car crashes: “Every single life that was lost
was preventable.”
Kai Addae noted that the Safe Routes For All plan would help
the city meet its broader climate goals, including ending
community-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 , by
enabling residents to rely less on cars. 
“We have eight years, almost seven … if we want to meet the
Climate Emergency goals,” Addae said.