courant.com/news/opinion/hc-plc-langdon-yale-som.artdec13,0,1382356.story
Hartford Courant, December 13, 2009
Wrong Way On Whitney Avenue
Yale’s Gargantuan School Of Management Building Would Be Out Of Place
By PHILIP LANGDON
The gargantuan scale, inharmonious design, traffic and public safety impacts, poor planning for pedestrians and bikes, negative impact the peace and quality of life of adjacent residential properties and neighborhoods are all of great concern.
Your participation can help re-shape the proposal to fit the neighborhood and make it a good addition to the city.
The City of New Haven’s judgement that this incongruous design “sets significant standards for any subsequent development in this neighborhood” means that this development could have profound impacts throughout the Whitney Avenue area.
Public comment on the plan and controversial zone change to a “Planned Development District PDD” will be heard by the Legislative Committee of the Board of Aldermen.
Schedule for Public Hearings:
Hearing One
Thursday, January 28, 2010
City Hall,165 Church Street, Aldermanic Chambers
6-9 PM
1. Yale University presentation and City discussion of the use of a PDD
2. Public Questions and Comments
Hearing Two (Continuation)
City Hall,165 Church Street, Aldermanic Chambers
6-9 PM
TO BE ANNOUNCED – possibility February 25 or March 9
(Contact the League or your Alderman for updates)
1. Expert Testimony on behalf of community and residential constituencies
2. Public Questions and Comments
It is very important that you come!
Need more information about the plan? Please contact us.
MEMO
8 December 2008
TO: City of New Haven Workshop on Route 34 West
RE: Draft proposal for new streets and blocks for the Route 34 West area
The New Haven Urban Design League has prepared this draft proposal to encourage discussion of alternate street and block patterns for the Route 34 West area. The current street system of two one-way arteries was created as an interim road pattern, to be superseded by a limited access highway spur connecting to regional ring-roads. These temporary roads were designed to accommodate high-speed, high-volume traffic. And although temporary, the roads have established, through their design and the habits of 30 years of use, an exclusive and destructive definition of this area’s purpose as being for the use of automobiles. Even as an automobile environment, the road system has failed: it has been a primary locus of traffic accidents, injuries and deaths.
The City of New Haven’s most current plans call for the establishment of neighborhood-linked cross-streets and new traffic lights. These are good measures; they could ameliorate some of the problems of high speeds and lack of connectivity. But none of the options go to the root of the problem: the one-way streets themselves. Our draft plan provides one option for creating a two-way system based on a single boulevard. There have also been proposals to create two two-way avenues. We hope the city and the community will explore all of these.
Benefits this proposal addresses:
