NEW HAVEN >> Three days of intense planning and designing with city officials, residents, business owners and engineers brought forth a resounding “yes” to two-way street conversions.
The city announced this month plans to convert one-way streets to allow travel in both directions as part of an effort to improve livability and mobility in the downtown area. Last week, the city invited all residents and stakeholders to share in the design of the streets during design “charrettes.”
The results? Ten possible street conversions and counter-flow bike traffic on select streets.
“What was really great is the discussions that were taking place were really resident-to-resident or resident-to-business owners; it was truly the people who are connected to the issues rather than consultant-driven or city-driven,” he said.
The charrettes attracted pedestrians, bicyclists, drivers and bus riders. With about 15 million trips by people frequenting the area last year, Travers said it is important to look at mobility beyond cars.
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