NO

Not sure why "Active citizen" closed this request: please re-open.

Huge Apologies ! no intention of closing this ! Can it be reopened?

Sure -

Thanks for re-opening @Doug Hausladen.

Just brainstorming here but what about weekend electric shuttle bus service to the summit from the still-open main parking lot just before Farnam Drive hits Davis Street?

I absolutely agree. As a daily user of this park, this has been such a huge improvement in our quality of life. It is so wonderful to see so many people enjoying the outdoors walking, running, cycling etc. As the original poster points out, less dumping and no dangerous cars too! I agree 100%

The segments of paved roadways currently closed in no way prevent an automobile from reaching the summit and monument parking area of East Rock Park. I can only echo the original post's sentiments and observations as to the success that this alteration to the park has been. It's nothing short of amazing to see the daily projection of safe and healthy pedestrian and bicycle activity across this area in question. To reopen these superfluous roadways to automobile traffic/racing would be a tragic step backwards.

Farnam Drive yes. Not sure about closing the road to the top. Yes on weekends (like Central Park NYC). Too many people who should have access that won't be able to go up there.

Yes, please. This should be a no-brainer within our City Park.

People use it as a cut-through from Hamden to I-91, and when it’s open the way people drive is outrageous and unsafe.

Doug Hausladen assigned this issue to Parks Department: Data Entry

Just to be clear, I was in no way suggesting that the road to the top be closed! That access from the main parking lot in Hamden is great! I was talking about the stretch of road that runs from the balls fields to Davis Street. Could keep the access to the ball fields open from View Street (obviously) but close it off just at the bend before English Drive turns into Farnum Drive and goes to Davis Street.

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Absolutely support this. Was just commenting that I wanted to see this happen. Cars drive super fast on those roads when they're open as cut-throughs.

Not to mention, I think that traffic on Orange Street has slowed down and dissipated quite considerably, which is great given the amount of foot and bicycle traffic on that street. If only we could find other streets through the city to close and achieve this effect elsewhere.

Support strongly! It's been great to see so many people use this road for biking and walking. Still plenty easy for drivers to get to the park's parking lot from the other direction.

I'm for it, vehicle traffic is hindered by a lot of winding blind spots and it's dangerous for people to drive, walk, and bike up and down normally. At least with it being a pedestrian/bicycle path as it is now, people can enjoy it.

Couple of issues here. 1. Where will the traffic that currently uses Farnam Drive go? How will Cedar Hill neighbors get over to Whitney? I think that needs to be looked at. Farnam is an east-west connector between neighborhoods. Will Cedar Hill have to come all the way down to Willow? And then go down Mitchell Drive and Cold Spring Street, which already bear excessive traffic for residential streets? 2. With all due respect, Mitchell Drive is where Wilbur Cross High School is. Leila Day Nursery School fronts onto Cold Spring. Farnam has no schools, day cares or residences along it. If closing Farnam means more traffic on Mitchell and Cold Spring I would say that this proposal, as much as I enjoy the pedestrian allée, is DOA. Instead, I propose closing the cut-through that is an extension of LIvingston leading to Whitney.

Alternatively, I could see closing the road on weekends, when most people would have the time to enjoy it and the high school and day care are closed.

@lofernande - Def. / There was a very serious plan . proposal to build an actual highway there, if i recall correctly there would be an extension of the Willow Street Exit, a connector , View street joining in on the fun

Yes let's close park roads to motor vehicles. State St goes on the East side of the park and Whitney Ave on the West side. Motor vehicles should be using those thorough fares; not cutting through the park

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..'60's and 70's was mostly pulling cars up that flew through or over the rails and down down..The only argument that raised was is , the driver safer whilst inebriated or sober ! ? See a drunk would just relax and flop around while the sober guy or speed user would tighten up ..Most left their car and walked the trail home ..well lets skip the 80's ...Then someone spotted municipal trucks dumping all over , some said a ploy for OT , some said one drug or another affected their thought train ...Either way the PD never came close to solving

Let’s get rid of street parking in the East Rock neighborhood! Down with cars! Have Yale expand the bulldog bus route to make cars unnecessary.

I support this.

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I fully support keeping the roads closed so that they are available to pedestrians, cyclists, joggers, hikers, etc.The closing of these roads to vehicular traffic has massively reduced the quantity of trash that people who drive pitch out of their windows or dump illegally into the park. Law enforcement doesn't have the time or resources to go after those people and members of the New Haven Dept of Parks and Rec also do not have the time to go after people who litter/dump. Nor do they have the time to clean up all of the litter that ends up on the sides of the roads. That task usually falls to members and volunteers from Friends of East Rock Park and that is an ongoing, never-ending, almost thankless task. Many people drive through East Rock Park also do so unsafely - they speed or drive in ways that put pedestrians and cyclists, hikers, and others at risk. Those who do drive can access the park from the Hamden side and still drive to the peak.

I strongly support this!

Makes sense to me.

Close Farnam to cars on the weekends. Keep it open to cars during the week, so as not to further add to already excessive traffic on Mitchell Drive and Cold Spring Streets where many minors walk to school and daycare on those streets and surrounding ones.

@petesalomone: how do you propose people get between the thoroughfares of Whitney and State? Those are both north-south. They need a reasonable east-west route to get from one to the other. If Farnam is closed to vehicles, drivers will take the closest route: on the already excessively car and truck-burdened Mitchell Drive and Cold Spring. As one who lives on the latter, I cannot support any proposal that would drive even more traffic on my street. That is why I suggest closing Farnam on weekends only.

I live right by Mitchell as well. That street has it's own problems and needs both an engineered "road diet" as well as more robust traffic enforcement in what is a school zone, but I'm not sure that much traffic has migrated from English/Farnam to Mitchell/Cold Spring and Willow. It's too late but it would have been a good opportunity for TT&P to have done traffic counts on all of those streets before and after the closure.

I would accept weekend closures as a compromise.

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I could certainly support a compromise of closing on weekends. In my original post, I didn't take into consideration the burden on other streets. Which is why civil discourse is so important and useful.

Yes keep it closed, this makes New Haven better place to live, and gives people a safe environment to enjoy the park with out traffic. Keep cars on the main thoroughfares, give people an incentive to walk, bike and hike to stay healthy and happy.

I support closing the road only on weekends. Traffic overflow on Cold Spring and surrounding streets, which are not "main thoroughfares," has been quite noticeable since the closure. Many of the drivers who might have taken the shortcut through the park drive just as recklessly on the alternate residential streets.

Traffic on surrounding streets has gone up dramatically, so I don't think this is a good idea. Weekends, maybe.

The arguments being used to support closing these specific roads could apply equally well to, for instance, the roads around the green, near the restaurants and shopping downtown, etc.

Fewer cars in many places would make things nicer. But unless people agree to drive less, all this does is make other roads worse---roads not designed to handle the diverted traffic.

You all have Edgerton Park , The Trails at the Eli Barn Museum and across the street on the water company land .The trails up to East Rock on both sides up to the summit AND the park between Livingston and Orange. Really, but this seems not enough ? Traffic road safety is a nightmare all through hamden and New Haven . See Click fix has posts of very dangers issues going on for years that do not get addressed. case in point below...

Traffic/Road Safety
805 Whitney Avenue New Haven Connecticut. Closing streets is not the answer.

"You all" ??

C'mon, now.

Josh Kanter ... For the 30 plus people who contributed Pro comments to keep the drive closed .......... Now does this grammar please you ?

Closing streets to cars AND traffic calming is the answer. I don’t really care of more cars drive by my home, as long as they do so calm and slow.

I just returned from AZ and was thrilled to find Farnam Drive closed to cars and open to pedestrians. Finally, a safe, green space for walkers, dog walkers and families to use without the worry of traffic. This road reminded me of walking through Central Park; how lucky is New Haven to have a ready made place without the cost and hassle of building one.
I have lived in New Haven my entire life. Walking on city streets and trying to cross them is a frightening thing, even with crosswalks and stoplights. Where should we walk? Drive to Sleeping Giant? A good suggestion only for those with cars and time. Why ignore a perfect solution in our own back yard?
I read with interest some of the comments about cars not being able to get from point A to point B by the road closure. As a lifelong New Haven resident, I know this is completely untrue. And as for being inconvenienced, is not finding an alternate route a way to be a better citizen and help preserve a walking route which is bringing joy to so many?
It is my hope that this road will remain open; perhaps those who oppose this should reconsider putting community above self.

How about the people who are physically challenged who enjoyed the summit of the park and only way to get there is by car.

XYZ, I already replied to your comment made on June 16 but I'll do it again. If you read my original post you will see that I was NOT suggesting closing the road to the summit which is accessed from Hamden. I was suggesting keeping the road that runs from State Street to Davis Street closed. This road has 2 different names, English Drive and Farnum Drive, and is used as a cut-through at the base of East Rock. This post has NOTHING to do with accessing the summit.

I was responding to Theresa's post

Go back to Coco’s post. There is a way to keep the road to the top open for those who are handicapped and need a car to get to the summit. Coco has answered your objection.

If you were up at the summit last year on a weekend, you would have seen crowds of people picnicking, and over a hundred cars parked along the road and in the lots. That type of crowding would not be hospitable to people with health conditions, especially now with some health conditions increasing the threat of covid. Those crowded conditions would now be a threat to anyone. There are now many scientists who say aerosol transmission of coronavirus is a much greater threat than has been previously acknowledged. Search google news for "aerosol transmission".

If people with health conditions that make them unable to walk from the lower lot really want to go to the summit, the road to the summit could be open for limited hours on days and at times when picnic crowds will not likely to gather.

Anonymous
What if the health condition is a bad knee due to an auto accident would they be a greater risk?
Do you really want to limit the time that people who are physically challenged can enjoy the summit?

XYZ,
As I said, everyone is at greater risk if what scientists are claiming about aerosol transmission is accurate. Are you saying that nothing less than having the summit road open from sunrise to sunset is acceptable? No compromises? I am only suggesting that the hours be limited just enough to prevent crowds from occurring. If the hours were limited to 6-11 am, that gives plenty of time for the disabled to enjoy the summit. The enjoyment of being on the summit is the view and you can only spend so much time enjoying the view. And there is only so much space to get that view, so if a few people spend hours occupying the limited space to enjoy the view, others will be deprived. It has been established that many people go to the summit not to enjoy the view but to engage in illicit activities. I am not necessarily opposed to people doing those activities, I wish they had other places to do them besides the summit. Also needed is other places where people can have picnics.

As I said, with a hundred cars parked up there, where are all the disabled people going to park? There are only so many handicapped spaces. So the summit road being open does not necessarily guarantee access to the disabled at all times. Since we are talking hypothetically here, my ideal solution would be to keep the summit road closed and have a shuttle that brings people from the lower lot to the summit. That would also solve the litter problem and allow walkers/joggers/bikers to have a more enjoyable experience on the summit road.

If you had a shuttle service you are putting people at greater risk to catch the virus

XYZ, I'm at a loss as to why you going on about this. Right now, all the roads are closed. When the world changes and decisions are being made to re-open the roads, my suggestion was to keep the cut through road (English/Farnum) closed. Not one word was written by me about the summit. You were the first person to comment on this post and you were incorrect in your assumption. You did not read or did not understand my post. This has lead to a lot of unnecessary back and forth. No one wants to close the road to the summit. It was not suggested. If you don't understand what roads I was talking about, please look at a map. I think we can move on from talk of the summit. It's a moot point. It will most definitely be opened by the park.

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