New Haven Got Itself Some New Bike Lanes
If y’all have been riding around town, you may have noticed a few new bike lanes around, as I have. Norton Street, for example, just two streets over from the already-striped section of Sherman Ave, just got lanes pre-painted on both sides. From what I can tell, they run from Whalley down to where Norton hits Chapel, though perhaps further.
I have yet to explore north of Whalley, so perhaps there’s stripes there too, but…who knows.
In more exciting to me news, Sherman Avenue’s lanes have also been extended, though leaving a gap. Previously, Sherman’s lanes went all the way from the frontage road up to Whalley, and now they start up again at Munson almost up to, though just short of, Basset.
For my money, this offers a less hilly and perhaps better approach to the Farmington Canal Trail from the Westville/Edgewood part of town — take Sherman up to near Basset, cut east, and hop on the trail. No more hill up Ella T. Grasso, no more Fournier street, no more turning left on the oft-busy Crescent St.
And finally, the stretch of Water Street from around State Street to where it connects with Sargent Blvd. has a nice big shoulder now, and construction workers one day said they’d heard that perhaps the bike path will extend this far sometime soon as well. It’s often a fast, busy road and a least-enjoyed section before getting over to the semi-separated bike lanes, so I’ll take a shoulder if nothing else.
Of course, it’s just paint on the road, but hey, I’ll take it for now. All that said, paint on the road is completely worthless when drivers stare at their phones and careen into people.
Oh, and then there’s that issue of cars parking in bike lanes. Here’s just a few pics of cars parking in most bike lanes in New Haven. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cop do a thing about a single one of them.
Seen any other new stripes out there?
