ribbon cutting / presser for the farmington canal trail raised crosswalks! peep our new yield signs replacing the old stop signs, RRFBs, and bollard in the background

sorry to the architects but the new yale science hill parking garage is way more ugly than just a standard garage IMO or even the old garage which was buried behind a vegetated slope. at least grow vines on the side or something, it’s just a solid wall of wood for an entire block

a neighbor put out a box of free morning glory seedlings on the sidewalk back in the spring, found a nice surprise this morning in my garden

biked down to milford and back today and checked out the construction wrapping up at fowler field. they are relocating the road along the marina into the parking lots and unused grass to make the marina side pedestrian only. really cool!

farmington canal trail @ shelton/starr raised intersection is now fully paved. traffic speeds are already so much safer here. whole project set to wrap up next week

intersection of whalley and blake, which used to be a skewed and massive expanse of roadway, teed up to 90 as part of our routine isolated sidewalk repair program. blake st is getting paved this summer so this will also reduce the amount of asphalt needed.

progress on whitney ave: i dont think i’ve posted many updates at all, but we’re about halfway through phase 1 (canner st to cliff st). road diet lane config is implemented in the north, along with curb & bumpouts, future cycletrack base, future raised crosswalk corners, and some new signal arms

new traffic signals going up on whitney ave. existing signal is an unknown age (likely 1960s) so this will be a huge improvement in conjunction with the rest of the road diet project

I’m surprised it took this many years to get the comment, but it’s finally been said. It’s over folks. Pedestrianizing a half block of low-traffic street for the summer only in the densest part of downtown lined with businesses is a war on cars.

asphalt paving is in full swing for the farmington canal trail raised crossings. crews are currently in hamden working south into new haven, and one crossing here has been opened. after paving, just needs line striping and signs

2 of the raised crosswalks have now been paved in the hamden section, *only* 10 more to go! also note that the trail itself is getting each approach repaved - needed to clean up the holes and old yellow striping pattern from the former bollard setup

busy day of multiple construction activities happening at the intersection of state st & water st. here is a new drilled shaft foundation being poured for a future traffic signal. goes about 15’ deep

at the meeting in hamden tonight for the proposed road diet on whitney ave. CTDOT giving a very informational presentation regarding the issues with 4 lane roads and the safety benefits from a road diet. appears to be many supporters in the audience wearing green

cycletrack is done! (minus intersections) you can pseudo-ride the length of it by using the ped phase at each crossing to enter the road on the perpendicular ped ramp, cross, and ramp back up next big items coming up: - water st intersection reconfig - install and program new signals

had some rain delays weds and thurs, but we’re back today to finish paving the cycletrack between chapel and fair streets

me when i’m waiting for the bus:

oh yeah

the rest of the state st cycletrack is set to be paved this week from grand ave south. it won’t be open for use as it still needs raised crosswalks to cross intersections, but creative people may find a way :) also we are now onto water st, probably the most often redone intersection in the city

ending the conference with a beautiful 35 mile bike ride around the saint paul grand round trail system! thoroughly enjoyed the design and connectivity of the twin cities trails, and will take these ideas back to new haven as we develop our greenways 2030 plan

nacto day 3: morning session learning about design and maintenance in snowy cities, got a copy of Dividing Lines by Deborah Archer at the closing, and did a bike tour around the city to experience some great bike lanes, the cargo bike library, and a car-free street cookie stop!

early morning group fun run, passing by some cool infrastructure and crossing the mississippi twice!

in the evening we were treated to “nacto after dark” - observing and even helping the city pavement marking crew refresh lines and legends right in front of the hotel! have you ever experienced hundreds of people cheering for a new set of double yellows or crosswalk bars going down?

day two of nacto: a couple morning sessions highlighting projects constructed under SS4A and planned for Reconnecting Communites, then a tour of city public works projects including mini traffic circles (which also appear to double as engineer summoning circles) and a new block of nicollet ave

first official day of the @nacto.bsky.social conference! opening plenary, meet the cities, a technical discussion of bus priority featuring signal expert @jerryschippa.bsky.social , and a huge group lime ride over to the opening reception

late morning / early afternoon, rented a bike from the theo wirth center and did a 25 mile loop on the grand rounds. really beautiful and well connected trail system, good wayfinding and amenities, and of course stunning lakes

grabbed a coffee this morning and explored the skyway system - it’s very extensive! walked around 8-10 blocks without having to go outside. this explains why i’ve been seeing so few people out on street level, the majority are using the skyways it seems

rounded out yesterday with a lime bike ride around south minneapolis, love the new-build style of bike lane with the dark gray concrete, lots of commuters and families out using them. took the midtown greenway rail trail for a few blocks as well

here in minneapolis a couple days early for the NACTO conference! the light rail directly from the airport *would have* been cool, but it’s a bustitution after one stop this weekend for track work. hiawatha ave paralleling the LRT made for a pretty direct route, but no signal priority :/

the new haven crew is now working at the ivy street intersection, building the double bumpouts to narrow this wide one-way street

cant believe they named a street in chicago after the 85th governor of connecticut