City of New Haven Safe Routes for All Action Plan Implementation:

Chapel Street Safe Streets Project U.S. Department of Transportation

Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) Discretionary Grant Program Implementation Grant Application

Submitted By:

City of New Haven, Connecticut

SS4A Implementation Grant Application | City of New Haven, Connecticut

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Key Information Table

Item Response

Lead Applicant Name City of New Haven

Lead Applicant Unique Entity Identifier (UEI)

K8WBCLJ9DVD8

Eligible Entity Type City

Point of Contact Sandeep Aysola, Director of Transportation, Traffic, & Parking

(203) 946-8067, saysola@newhavenct.gov

Do you have additional applicants as part of a multijurisdictional group of eligible entities?

Not applicable

Total Applicant Jurisdiction Population

134,023 (2020)

Project Area Location Chapel Street between Ella T Grasso Blvd (Route 10) and State Street

Percent of Population in Underserved Communities in the project area Census Tract(s)

83%

Project Area Fatalities 2017-2021 3 (source: FARS)

Project Area Serious Injuries 2017-2021

23 (source: FARS)

Project Title City of New Haven Safe Routes for All Action Plan Implementation: Chapel Street Safe Streets Project

Applicant roadway safety responsibility (select all that apply):

Ownership and/or maintenance responsibilities over a roadway network;

Safety responsibilities that affect roadways;

Have an agreement from the agency that has ownership and/or maintenance responsibilities for the roadway within the applicant’s jurisdiction

Roadway users that this project will significantly benefit (check one that best applies):

Pedestrian and Bicycle Roadway Transit

Does your project include Demonstration Activities?

Yes

Project Completion Date 2029

Would you consider accepting funding for only demonstration activities and/or supplemental planning?

Yes

Total Federal Funding Request $11,040,000

Total Non-Federal Share $2,760,000

Total SS4A Funds Requested $11,040,000

Total Other Federal Funds Used $2,760,000

Total Project cost $13,800,000

Total Federal Funds Allocated to Underserved Communities

$9,163,000

Supplemental Planning Activities

(A) Federal Funding Request

$600,000

Supplemental Planning Activities

(A) Total Project Costs

$750,000

Planning, Design, and Development Activities for Projects/Strategies

(B) Federal Funding Request

$888,000

Planning, Design, and Development Activities for Projects/Strategies

(B) Total Project Costs

$1,110,000

Carrying Out Projects and Strategies

(C) Federal Funding Request

$9,552,000

Carrying Out Projects and Strategies

(C) Total Project Costs

$11,940,000

Existing Comprehensive Safety Action Plan (or equivalent) https://saferoutesforall.com https://saferoutesforall.com/

Table of Contents

Narrative Overview Location

Figure 1: Chapel Street Project Location & High-Injury Network Response to Selection Criteria

#1 | Safety Impact Figure 2: Project Segment Fatal and Serious Injury Crashes

#2 | Equity, Engagement, & Collaboration #3 | Effective Practices & Strategies #4 | DOT Strategic Goals: Climate Change, Sustainability, and Economic Competitiveness #5 | Supplemental Planning and Demonstration Activities

Project Readiness Appendix: Supporting Documents

Map 1: Chapel Street Project Safety Improvement Locations Map 2: Chapel Street Project Readiness A. Safe Routes For All Action Plan B. Plan Adoption Resolution C. Self-Certification Worksheet D. Table of Countermeasures E. Supplementary Budget Worksheet F. Detailed Budget Estimate G. Project Activity Schedule H. Letters of Support

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Narrative Overview The City of New Haven is seeking $11.04 million in implementation funds from the USDOT Safe Streets and Roads for All program to implement safety improvements along a 1.6-mile segment of Chapel Street, a key urban corridor connecting Downtown with communities identified as disadvantaged to the east and west, in conjunction with ongoing New Haven access, mobility, and safety projects.

New Haven is a growing coastal Connecticut city, home to Yale University, Yale New Haven Hospital, and Southern Connecticut State University. The 2020 Census indicated a population of 134,023, making it the state’s second largest city. New Haven’s 237-mile street network connects a dense and diverse minority-majority population spread out over just 20 square miles. The city is blessed with a number of large and historic legacy parks, 1.75 miles of the 84-mile Farmington Canal Trail, and numerous dynamic mixed-use neighborhood commercial corridors. Most residents live within a short walk, bike, or bus ride from significant open space, cultural, and economic assets.

However, users of the City’s street and trail network know that proximity doesn’t necessarily equate to safety or equity across all neighborhoods. Numerous higher-speed and high-volume arterials, like Whalley Avenue, Forbes Avenue, Ella T Grasso Boulevard, Columbus Avenue, and South Frontage Road/ Legion Avenue, two elevated highways (I-95, I-91), substantial rail infrastructure at Union and State Street Stations, and a number of bridges spanning active marine port activities, limit connectivity and contribute to the City’s high asthma rates. Such physical and psychological barriers are not controlled by the City yet create a substantial impediment to a safe and accessible network of active transportation facilities. Thus, focusing on City-controlled right-of-ways is all the more important for the City to ensure a safer and more equitable transportation network.

In 2019, the City of New Haven embarked on Safe Routes for All (SRFA) (See Appendix Supporting Document A), a multi-year and multi-phase planning effort that in 2022 resulted in the first City-wide Active Transportation and Safety Action Plan. Building upon existing policies, plans, and standards that align with Vision Zero principles, including the 2010 Complete Streets Design Manual, the 2015 Vision 2025 Comprehensive Master Plan and the 2019 Move New Haven Mobility Study, and following a series of smaller-scale corridor safety plans and improvement projects, the Plan put forth a comprehensive and ambitious set of recommendations to eliminate fatal and serious injuries for pedestrians, bicyclists and transit users by 2032.

As the City’s qualifying comprehensive Safety Action Plan, SRFA and the resulting Mayoral and Board of Alders adoption of the Plan (See Appendix Supporting Document B) serve as the two pillars on which this application is based. More importantly, the SRFA Plan applies a Safe-Systems and Equity focused approach to making system-wide improvements especially in the City’s historically disadvantaged neighborhoods (referred to in the Plan as “Priority Neighborhoods) and Disadvantaged Census Tracts identified within US DOT’s Equitable Transportation Community Explorer (ETC) Tool. While a range of demographic and other social determinants of health informed the Priority Neighborhoods identified within the Plan, the

SS4A Implementation Grant Application | City of New Haven, Connecticut 2 physical design and policy recommendations focus directly on improving safety and access along the City’s High-Injury Networks (HINs), which disproportionately impact residents in these communities.

The application includes Infrastructure & Operational Projects, as well as Supplemental Action Plan Activities that aim to implement a range of proven Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) safety countermeasures for a variety of conditions found along the corridor. These improvements and their proposed locations are informed by and included within the SRFA Plan, and will be implemented along Chapel Street for maximum impact. Altogether, the safety improvements and strategies in this application are focused on making context-sensitive, systemic network changes rather than isolated measures, especially for vulnerable road users, while providing a model for many more streets across the City.

Location The Project focus area consists of a 1.6-mile segment of Chapel Street (4.2 mile long) between Ella T. Grasso Boulevard (Route 10) to the west and State Street to the east. Figure 1 illustrates the Chapel Street project corridor within the context of the City’s High-Injury Network (the 20 corridors with the highest rates of crashes per mile). Classified as a minor arterial, Chapel Street provides connections to major neighborhoods including Downtown, West River, Dwight and Edgewood by way of important activity centers such as the New Haven Green, Yale Campus, Yale St. Raphael’s Medical Center and Edgewood Park.

Figure 1: Chapel Street Project Location & High-Injury Network

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Within the City’s High-Injury Network, based on a review and analysis of crash data available between 2017 and 2021, the Chapel Street corridor accounts for the third-highest number of fatalities, the highest number of serious injuries, the highest number of crashes across all city-owned streets, and a fatal and serious injury rate higher than any city-owned street.

Additionally, Chapel Street intersects various other high-injury network corridors, and is one of just two that link multiple historically disadvantaged neighborhoods, with majority low-income, Black and/or Latino residents, of West River, Dwight and Edgewood to and through the City’s dynamic urban core. For these reasons, the Chapel Street project area was chosen for increased focus and action.

Building from the extensive community engagement undertaken during the multi-phase SRFA planning process, outreach and feedback will serve to inform corridor-specific issues that sometimes may not be identified through crash and traffic data. Many types of serious injury and fatal crashes, especially those involving vulnerable road users like pedestrians and bicyclists, do not tend to be concentrated and benefit more from systemic safety improvements informed by a variety of data.

Response to Selection Criteria

#1 | Safety Impact Description of the Safety Problem: The proposed Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant application will directly advance the City’s Vision Zero mission and Equity goals, providing much needed funding to improve Chapel Street, one of the most dangerous and under-funded corridors across the City.

In New Haven (population: 134,023), based on crash data spanning a 5-year period between 2017 and 2021, there were 86 fatal and nearly 500 serious injury crashes amounting to fatality and serious injury rates of more than 64 deaths and 373 serious injuries for every 100,000 residents. While the entirety of Chapel Street (4.2 miles long) plays a prominent role in the City’s High-Injury Network, the 1.6 mile-long Project focus segment experienced a vast majority of fatal (3 out of 5 crashes or 60% of corridor) and serious injury related crashes (23 out of 28 crashes or 82% of corridor). This shorter segment equates to a KSI crash/mile rate of more than 16 or nearly three-times the overall corridor-level KSI crash/mile rate (6/mile). As a result, it is the most KSI-crash-prone street in the city’s system and the only street without significant corridor-wide investment already lined up. More importantly, although the Project focus segment represents only 0.7% of the City’s 237 miles of roadway, a disproportionate percentage (4.4%) of KSI related crashes were recorded along it.

Figure 2 illustrates the locations of crashes that occurred between 2017 and 2021 that resulted in death or serious injury along the Chapel Street project corridor.

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Figure 2: Project Segment Fatal and Serious Injury Crashes

Additionally, from a vulnerable users perspective, the majority of the Chapel Street corridor Pedestrian and Bicyclist crashes occurred within the short Project Focus segment (54 project-area crashes out of 78 crashes along the entirety of Chapel Street). Although the Project segment constitutes only 38% of the 4.2 mile Chapel Street corridor, a high concentration (70%) of Pedestrian and Bicyclist crashes occurred within the short 1.6-mile Project segment. Of the 26 recorded KSI-related crashes, 13 were related to Pedestrians and Bicyclists. This demonstrates the unfair and uneven impact on vulnerable road users who traverse the segment. Also, from a mode share point of view, data indicates that while Pedestrians and Bicyclists constitute less than 10% of all transportation-users along the Chapel Street corridor, nearly half of crashes involving them resulted in death or serious injury within the Project segment alone. Finally, from a concentration perspective, 13 of the 15 fatal and serious injury crashes (nearly 87%) occurred within the Project segment.

Safety Impact Assessment: New Haven’s High Injury Network follows a data-driven approach that prioritizes applying safety countermeasures to the City’s street network with a focus on roadways with historical crash problems. The approach includes using data and tools such as the Connecticut Roadway Safety Management System (CRSMS) to evaluate and implement methods identified in the Highway Safety Manual (HSM) through a multi-step management process of network screening, diagnosis, countermeasure selection, economic appraisal, project prioritization, and safety effectiveness evaluation. It also includes applying the results systematically at other locations with a high probability of crashes based on similar designs and conditions. Taking this systems-based approach allows the City to move away from safety

SS4A Implementation Grant Application | City of New Haven, Connecticut 5 treatments that are reactive to a more proactive approach which ultimately makes SRFA and the goal of Vision Zero successful.

The proposed project will employ a range of high-benefit treatments along the Project area including:

● Signal upgrades that include:

○ Leading Pedestrian Intervals (LPI) (FHWA Proven Safety Countermeasure)

○ Backplates with Retroreflective Borders (FHWA Proven Safety Countermeasure)

○ Improved Yellow Change Intervals (FHWA Proven Safety Countermeasure)

○ Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFB) (FHWA Proven Safety

Countermeasure)

○ Accessible Pedestrian Signals (APS)

● Pedestrian facility and safety upgrades including:

○ New sidewalk and ADA curb ramps

○ High-visibility crosswalks (FHWA Proven Safety Countermeasure)

○ Curb extensions/bump-outs

○ Raised crosswalks and intersections

● Bikeways that connect with previously completed and current bikeway projects (FHWA Proven Safety Countermeasure)

● Corridor improvements that will further accommodate the conversion of two intersecting streets that bisect the New Haven Green and the Yale University campus into car-free thoroughfares

● Design enhancements that prepare the corridor for intersecting Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service (2028) and that support the 15 CT Transit bus lines that currently use the corridor

Map 1 in the Appendix illustrates the locations along the Chapel Street corridor that these improvements are proposed. Supporting Document D in the Appendix summarizes a list of improvements and countermeasures by location along the Project corridor, as well as key crash data.

As will be discussed further in the Project Readiness section, many of these project elements have already been thoroughly vetted and prioritized in the last year through traffic crash data analysis, evaluation of established countermeasure crash reduction factors, and public engagement as part of various studies including the Downtown One-Way to Two-Way Street Conversion Study and the Urban Act Grant program project, and existing, funded projects. The City’s team has already developed concept designs and identified locations for each project and strategy in the proposal.

Implementation Costs: The proposed project has been estimated to cost approximately $13.8 million, including $11.0 million federal share and $2.8 million local share, that will help transform Chapel Street into a safer place particularly for pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit users, while maintaining vehicle access. Supplementary Budget Worksheet costs and detailed itemized breakdown of costs are shown in Appendix Supporting Documents E and F, respectively.

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#2 | Equity, Engagement, & Collaboration One key foundation of New Haven’s Safe Routes for All Action Plan (SRFA) is a commitment to engaging and reinvesting in the transportation networks of Disadvantaged Communities (also known as Priority neighborhoods) and areas with inequitable funding as a result of historical injustices and systemic inaction. Despite high transit usage city-wide, disparities in car ownership between the City’s Black/Latino and white populations mean less access to jobs, essential services, and recreation for disproportionately impacted communities. Other vulnerable populations, like children and the elderly, suffer from a high prevalence of chronic health conditions like asthma. Indeed, the New Haven School District’s prevalence rate of asthma is higher than all other school districts in the region, as well as the statewide rate. Rates of hospitalization due to asthma have been steadily increasing year over year. As such, the infrastructure and operational projects included in this application will target a corridor and numerous intersections adjacent to large employment nodes, open spaces, and other recreational access points that ensure linkages between vulnerable residential populations and opportunities to improve their health.

While 54% of the City’s population (approx. 114,000) is designated to be living in Disadvantaged Census Tracts, the 1.6-mile Project segment of Chapel Street spans across five Disadvantaged Census Tracts, equating to 83% of the project area serving these communities, as shown below in Figure 3. The Project segment connects multiple Disadvantaged Community neighborhoods including West River, Dwight, Edgewood, and parts of Downtown. These neighborhoods bear the brunt of historic transportation investments that prioritized automobile capacity and speed over access to multimodal transportation options. The result is a high-speed arterial that encourages commuting through the neighborhoods instead of a safe street for the local residents and other transportation users.

Figure 3: USDOT Equitable Transportation Community (ETC) Explorer

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The proposed project aligns with both the Equity and Engineering Action Plans (See Appendix Supporting Document A, pgs. 104 and 108), in that Infrastructure Projects are prioritized for areas of the City that are in the most need of critical safety improvements to support active transportation and reduce access barriers to healthy and sustainable modes of transportation. The prioritization of infrastructure in these Census Tracts is meant to address disparities in safety and security; equity and access; and health in the City of New Haven (Supporting Document A, pgs.

16-19).

The planned improvements are grounded in extensive engagement occurring as part of the development of SRFA and proposed solutions are based on discussions and public input received through a series of engagement efforts over the years. Planning equitably requires building and fostering community partnerships through compassion and dialogue. To ensure exceptional outreach and stakeholder engagement in the implementation of the project, the City will continue its collaboration with the Community Alliance for Research and Engagement (CARE) who led the effort in development of SRFA. CARE continues to be a great steward of the work and is the recipient of a second REACH grant from the CDC intended to improve health through a variety of means, including active transportation.

As the project goes through implementation, the City will continue its partnership with various organizations that support this project and continue to leverage the strong relationship that exists with important stakeholders such as Yale University and Yale Medical Center, the New Haven Coalition for Active Transportation (NCAT), the New Haven Safe Streets Coalition, the New Haven Parking Authority, Junta for Progressive Action, Elm City Cycling, Ice the Beef Youth, and businesses like the New Haven Adult Education Center. All were actively involved in the development of the SRFA Safety Action Plan.

A fundamental principle of SRFA is to ensure that project implementation actions do not create unintended harmful impacts, like further isolation of disadvantaged populations, polarizing policing tactics, increased real estate burden, and others. Active transportation improvements can have unintended, negative impacts on the communities they intend to serve. Sometimes, new infrastructure can result in negative, unintended real estate consequences that force low-income people and communities of color out of the neighborhoods in which the infrastructure is being installed. During this process we will continuously refer to Race Forward’s 10-point Impact Assessment Guide for corridor-scale transportation improvements projects to ensure improvement strategies and actions do not disproportionately affect residents living in Disadvantaged Communities within the project area.

#3 | Effective Practices & Strategies The proposed project uses a Safe System Approach to advance New Haven’s goal of eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries. The Chapel Street Safe Streets project is focused on changing the built environment by including three of the five safety elements identified in the National Roadway Safety Strategy: Safer People, Safer Roads, and Safer Speeds. The City’s Safety Action Plan is grounded on the principles that define this proposal: humans make mistakes; traffic deaths and injuries are preventable; human-centric design and accommodation of physical vulnerabilities; data-driven and proactive approaches; and transportation redundancy.

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Safer People:Most serious injury and fatal crashes involve at least one human behavioral issue as a contributing factor. The project will address behavior and safety through contextual design by adding enhanced visibility crosswalks, raised crossings, protected bike lanes, curb extensions that benefit pedestrians and bus users, speed feedback signs, and other measures to improve accessibility. It will also leverage the City’s ongoing StreetSmarts campaign by integrating media, education and outreach events to train better drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians. While currently in the early stages, the City developed a Vision Zero Automated Traffic Safety Enforcement Device (ATESD) Plan building upon Public Act 53-116 that allows municipalities to install Red-Light and Speed Cameras. Depending on the implementation timeline, the City will also take advantage of the Program to influence safe driving behavior along the project corridor.

Safer Roads: The proposed project uses context-sensitive design to improve roadway features that will minimize risks that users face. Proposed improvements to slow vehicle speeds, reduce conflict points and minimize exposure include LPI, protected bike lanes, high-visibility crosswalk treatments, curb extensions and bumpouts. These design elements are shown to be effective with crash reduction factors providing a strong safety improvement for all road users.

Since humans make mistakes, deliberate street design is needed to provide redundant layers of protection for all users to increase their safety.

Safer Speeds: Safe speeds are a core part of the Project. Multiple important measures are featured in the Project to achieve safer, slower motorist speeds including limiting the width of travel lanes to 10-11 feet, adding pedestrian crossings with RRFBs, installing raised intersections and crosswalks, and reducing speed limits from 25 mph to 20 mph in Pedestrian Safety and School Zones.

Complete Streets and Accessibility: The projects included in this application are intended to improve the safety of all roadway users, including people walking, cycling, scooting, taking the bus, and driving. The proposed Infrastructure Projects including traffic calming interventions, separated bikeways, intersection safety improvements, and bus stop improvements will transform streets to not just provide more space for active transportation modes, but to also encourage safe driving and decrease the severity of collisions by design.

To enhance accessibility for residents with disabilities, the project will undertake an upgrade of all signalized intersections within the project area by installing accessible pedestrian signal pushbuttons (APS) to provide both tactile and verbal information to users. Existing, non-ADA-compliant pedestrian ramps will be replaced with new compliant facilities.

Additionally, any sidewalk gaps will be closed, and poor condition sidewalks will be replaced to ensure accessibility. Such improvements will be supported by the City’s Complete Streets Policy and Design Manual, adopted in 2010, the U.S. Access Board’s Public Right-of-Way Accessibility Guidelines (PROWAG), and the Citywide SRFA Plan’s Intersection Database, an updated repository of the conditions of all 1,500+ intersections throughout the City of New Haven (Supporting Document A, pgs. 44-48, 112).

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#4 | DOT Strategic Goals: Climate Change, Sustainability, and Economic Competitiveness New Haven is committed to action on climate change. In 2019, the Board of Alders unanimously passed a resolution declaring a climate emergency and committing to mobilize emergency efforts to reduce community-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and to establish a Climate Emergency Task Force to plan and coordinate the City’s responses to mitigation, resilience and adaptation programs. The proposed project supports the City’s efforts in reducing VMTs and emissions, improving safety for pedestrians and bicyclists, encouraging mode shift to non-motorized options, increasing resilience and enhancing public health.

Climate Change and Sustainability: By providing safe infrastructure, the project will increase better access to active and low-carbon modes of travel: walking, biking and transit. Reduced automobile trips will help reduce Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) and point source pollution from tailpipe emissions while improving local air quality by reducing several air pollutants, including nitrogen oxide, nitrous oxide, volatile organic compounds, carbon dioxide, and particulate matter. Conversion of a large portion of the project corridor from one-way to two-way traffic flow will also provide additional reductions in emissions, VMT and Vehicle Hours of Delay (VHD). The project will also provide connections to the existing bicycle network by connecting to the Edgewood Cycle Track and make important signal upgrades for future transit priority interventions.

Economic Competitiveness: The project will provide safe and accessible connections to major activity centers, neighborhoods, job centers, health care and transportation hubs. It will increase economic competitiveness by increasing the number of people walking, biking or taking transit and connecting into citywide and regional transportation networks. Such improvements will accelerate development along the corridor. The project will also improve the experience of people walking and biking to parks, libraries, museums, and cultural institutions and build connections to and from the Downtown core.

Advancing Quality Jobs and Workforce: The City of New Haven is committed to developing and nurturing a competitive local construction industry which represents New Haven’s ethnic diversity. To ensure equal opportunities for construction and construction-related contractors, and to enable minority- and women-owned firms to overcome a history of disadvantages, the City of New Haven’s Small Contractor Development program provides targeted opportunities and support to these firms through bid notification, technical assistance, project-specific training, monitoring and services. The municipal ordinance which established the Small Contractor Development program sets utilization goals for minority- and women-owned businesses for City construction contracts, both as a percentage of the total value of City construction contracts and as a percentage of the total value of subcontracts. To meet the utilization goals, contractors must be small businesses that are majority owned, operated, and directed by minority, and women owner-operators registered with the State of Connecticut Department of Administrative Services (DAS) or pre-certified by the Small Contractor Development program to achieve state certification. The Small Contractor Development office also assists local contractors working on projects related to transportation with registration in the US DOT’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program.

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In addition to the City’s Small Contractor Development program requirements, all contractors working on City construction projects are required to comply with the regulations of the City’s Commission on Equal Opportunities ordinance. This ordinance requires that contractors exert maximum effort to achieve minimum hiring goals for each City project of 25% of total hours worked by Black and Latino workers and 6.9% of hours worked by women workers.

All of the work performed in carrying out the project will be subject to the City’s Small Contractor Development and Commission on Equal Opportunities programs. In conjunction with the US DOT’s DBE requirements, both municipal programs will ensure that project funds promote local economic development that is inclusive and prioritizes the utilization of Minority-and Women-owned Businesses.

#5 | Supplemental Planning and Demonstration Activities The City will use supplemental planning funds to update the City’s High-Injury Network Map created in 2019 as part of the development of the Safe Routes for All Action Plan. Currently the map is based on older data (prior to 2020) that needs to be updated with more recent 5-year crash data to help identify and prioritize corridors and intersections with a high number of fatal and serious injury crashes. The GIS tool will also be updated with Police crash reports and narratives to help provide deeper insights and accurate information on crashes and underlying causes.

Additionally, the City will also use supplemental planning funds to conduct roadway safety studies using proactive safety techniques, video analytics to identify and understand conflict hot spots at intersections, and develop precise risk profiles for vehicle movements. The tools will help carefully time and analyze user interactions in order to better select, implement, and evaluate countermeasures against conflicts and crashes.

Project Readiness The City of New Haven is committed to carry out the projects herein within five years of grant funding disbursement due to nimble staff, a Board of Alders-approved 20% match, in-house contract management, minimal right-of-way acquisition and significant experience in delivering large federal aid and capital projects. Project readiness is high as this project has undergone project development and scoping, including conceptual layouts for sections of the corridor, cost estimates, and public involvement. The corridor is under the maintenance and operational control of the City, with staff able to move forward with engineering and design, right-of-way acquisition, construction contracting, and construction management.

The City of New Haven recently secured a $5.1 million Urban Act grant from the State of Connecticut. The implementation planning work for this project is currently at the 10% design mark as part of the South Central Regional Council of Governments (SCRCOG) Downtown Two-Way Conversion Study for six of the fourteen Chapel Street intersections that are in need of new signals and safety enhancements allowing two-way vehicular travel. This project, already underway, is not alone in terms of preparing the large Chapel Street corridor redesign proposed in this application. In addition, the following projects are in various phases of planning and design along the Chapel Street corridor:

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● Urban Act Grant Phases 1 and 2 projects will retrofit six signals along Chapel Street to allow two-way traffic conditions. Phase 1 of the project is anticipated to be complete in 2024, with Phase 2 scheduled for construction in early 2025.

● State Street reconstruction will add a protected bike lane, replace a signal (Chapel and State Streets), improve pedestrian safety, and reclaim underutilized land for mixed-use redevelopment adjacent to the State Street train station. This project is anticipated to be complete in late 2025.

● The Congestion Mitigation & Air Quality (CMAQ) Improvement Program funded #92-666 Phase 1 Signal Upgrade Project is anticipated to go into construction in 2024 for full signal replacement at the Chapel Street and Church Street intersection. This project will be completed in mid-2025.

● #92-666 Phase 2 Signal Upgrade Project for Temple and College Street intersections is in the 60% design phase and is anticipated to be completed in early 2025.

● The Temple Street Pedestrianization project will knit both sides of the New Haven Town Green together with a new car-free access-way.

● High Street will be pedestrianized via a Yale University campus project, between Chapel Street and Elm Street. As part of the project the traffic signal at Chapel Street and Elm Street will be replaced. This project is anticipated to be completed in 2025.

● UPWP Funded Safety Studies are looking at key corridors that intersect or run parallel to Chapel Street, including Orchard Street and George Street.

● CT Transit BRT will intersect with the Chapel Street corridor and ultimately reorganize the current bus hub loading/alighting/layover activities that occur at the Town Green.

This new service will bring an influx of pedestrian users to the corridor.

Map 2 in the Appendix displays the locations of these projects in the context of the Chapel Street project.

The City’s Department of Transportation, Traffic and Parking, in coordination with the Engineering Department, will lead the design using City of New Haven standard specifications that align with Federal and State design standards. Following the Citywide SRFA Plan adoption, the City retained a consultant to provide a variety of planning, outreach, and design services to implement Plan projects. This is in addition to an on-call contractor for civil engineering and construction services, who was consulted throughout the grant application process. The City may choose to contract with other qualified engineering consultants for some specialties and would do so in compliance with the contracting requirements of the grant.

The project is expected to receive NEPA Categorical Exclusion (PCE) status given that the project will take place entirely on existing public right-of-way in an urban area. The project takes place along no State roads or intersections. The City does not anticipate issues with federal transportation requirements. There are no anticipated issues with historic preservation or archeological sites along corridors, as these areas are previously disturbed with little environmental risk.

All permits related to lane closures, street-cut permits, and construction permits that will be required all fall under the purview of the Department of Parks and Public Works. There are no

SS4A Implementation Grant Application | City of New Haven, Connecticut 12 additional legislative approvals necessary for the project. The City of New Haven’s Board of Alders will approve the local match amount included in this application upon award of grant notification. In addition, the project will be added into the City’s Capital Improvement Program.

While the City is prepared to hit the ground running and has made efforts to begin some of the design and implementation-related work, we also understand that all major transportation capital projects include a level of risk. We take pride in fully assessing and addressing any potential risks associated with its projects before they begin and understand the reporting requirements and financial best practices associated with responsibility as a federal funding recipient.

Furthermore, the City has its own significant financial stake in the Project and has taken necessary precautions to ensure this Project is completed on time and within budget.

Project Activity Schedule: A detailed project activity schedule is shown in Appendix Supporting Document G. It reflects well-understood project delivery considerations and scopes of work, and identifies all major project milestones including procurement, community engagement, design, construction, and closeout.

Map 1: Chapel Street Project Safety Improvement Locations

Map 2: Chapel Street Project Readiness

D. Crash Analysis Results and Countermeasures by Location

Table of Countermeasures (1 of 2)

Location along Chapel Street

FHWA Proven Safety

Countermeasures

Corridor-

Wide Norton Winthrop

Hotchkiss-

Derby Sherman Beers Orchard Kensington Day

Backplates with

Retroreflective Borders X X X X X X

Yellow Change Intervals X X X X X X

Leading Pedestrian Interval X X X X X X

Crosswalk Visibility

Enhancements X X X X X X X X X

Rectangular Rapid Flashing

Beacons (RRFB) X X X

Bicycle Lanes X X X X

Other Safety

Countermeasures

Sidewalk Replacement for

Sections in Poor Condition X X X X X X X X X

Sidewalk Ramp ADA Upgrades X X X X X X X X X

APS Pushbuttons X X X X X X

Raised Intersections

Raised Crosswalks X X X X

Curb Extensions X X X X X X

Floating Bus Stop

One-Way to Two-Way

Conversion X X X X X X X

Table of Countermeasures (2 of 2)

Location along Chapel Street

FHWA Proven Safety

Countermeasures Cofield Dwight Howe Park York High College Temple Church Orange

Backplates with Retroreflective

Borders X X X X X X X X X

Yellow Change Intervals X X X X X X X X X

Leading Pedestrian Interval X X X X X X X X X

Crosswalk Visibility

Enhancements X X X X X X X X X X

Rectangular Rapid Flashing

Beacons (RRFB)

Bicycle Lanes X X X X

Other Safety Countermeasures

Sidewalk Replacement for

Sections in Poor Condition X X X X X X X X X X

Sidewalk Ramp ADA Upgrades X X X X X X X X X X

APS Pushbuttons X X X X X X X X X

Raised Intersections X

Raised Crosswalks X

Curb Extensions X X X X X

Floating Bus Stop X

One-Way to Two-Way Conversion X X X X X X X

Summary of Chapel Street Project Area Crash Data

Chapel Project Area KSI Crashes

Chapel Project Area Yearly

Crashes

Count of CrashId Column Labels Row Labels Count of CrashId

Row Labels Fatal Injury (K) Suspected Serious Injury (A)

Grand

Total 2017 225

2017 5 5 2018 217

2018 6 6 2019 237

2019 4 4 2020 124

2020 4 4 2021 154

2021 3 4 7 Grand Total 957

Grand Total 3 23 26 2022 183

2022 0 2 2 2023 198

2023 0 4 4

Chapel Project Area Ped & Bike Crashes Chapel Project Area Ped & Bike Crashes KSI Count of

CrashId Column Labels Count of CrashId Column Labels

Row Labels Pedalcycle/Pedalcyclist Pedestrian

Grand

Total Row Labels Fatal Injury (K)

Suspected

Serious Injury (A)

Grand

Total

2017 1 10 11 2017 3 3

2018 3 4 7 2018 3 3

2019 1 13 14 2020 3 3

2020 1 9 10 2021 3 1 4

2021 5 7 12 Grand Total 3 10 13

Grand Total 11 43 54

2022 0 11 11

2023 1 6 7