A Critique and Alternate Proposal for Route 34

By Jonathan Hopkins, Contributing Writer

This special report reviews the history and origins of Route 34, an urban renewal-era highway project that divides the City of New Haven. We look at current proposals for its redevelopment and offer an alternative.

Click on the image above to enlarge it and view the alternate concept, which is described in detail below.

Cornerstone of Civic Improvement: History of Route 34

In the early 1900s in New Haven, George Dudley Seymour and other civic leaders commissioned a study on the problems and possible solutions for New Haven, at the time a rapidly-growing industrial powerhouse and largest city in Connecticut. Following the national City Beautiful Movement, a leading architect and landscape architect were selected to complete the report. In 1910, Frederick Law Olmsted and Cass Gilbert released the Report of the New Haven Civic Improvement Commission. The report was well received in the urban design community, but was mostly ignored under the Republican leadership in City Hall, though some provisions were eventually implemented.

The Report predicted increases in population and accompany traffic, which were fairly accurate considering the population growth that occurred in Greater New Haven over the next 50 years and the demand on city streets that resulted from that growth. The Report also contained nearly 100 suggestions for improvements, upgrades and projects for the city to pursue.

Among Olmsted and Gilbert's suggestions was a detailed plan for a boulevard and plazas connecting the Green to the Train Station through the Oak Street neighborhood - a plan that, in some ways, may be considered an early predecessor of the Route 34 project. The project would involve acquiring private land and demolishing properties for the creation of a wide public right-of-way that would be lined with high-value new properties. Other suggestions included expanded rail facilities, expanded trolley service and property line setback enforcement to allow for the widening of thoroughfares to meet future demand.

Without the implementation of these suggestions, rapid industrial growth continued and many of the problems outlined in the 1910 Report got worse, such as back alley tenements, traffic, and development of valuable open spaces. By the 1920s, traffic moving between Boston and New York was highly congested in the center of the city where old streets had great difficulty circulating large numbers of cars.

In 1937, a traffic study was released that showed traffic demand on various streets, most notably along Water Street and Tomlinson Bridge. Road building projects such as the Parkway system under the New Deal opened up rural land for large lot development of upper class housing, which further raised demand on city streets. With a clear pattern of automobile suburbs popping up, by the 40s it became obvious that the city streets - as they existed - would not work for a new living arrangement. Plans emerged for highways around the periphery of the city to supplement the parkway network, but with the election of Richard Lee into the Mayor's Office and the passing of the National Highway Act in 1956, those plans changed.

Following the Highway Act, work began on building two Interstate highways through the city to ease travel between Hartford, Boston and New York as well as induce suburban shoppers to come downtown. At the same time, another State funded highway was planned to connect the Naugatuck Valley to downtown New Haven - a highway that became known as Route 34. A housing study completed by HANH provided the excuse necessary to condemn vast swaths of homes and businesses for demolition and replacement. A large area of land was cleared for the highway, but only the eastern half, from I-95/I-91 up to York Street/Air Rights Garage, was actually built.

By the 1970s, funding for the Oak Street Connector had run dry after the neighborhood was demolished and the entire length of highway was never completed. In the 1980s North Frontage Road was extended to the Boulevard, which was simultaneously going under ConnDOT "improvement" projects that dramatically widened the road.

The construction of the Pfizer and Lot E buildings in the 2000s ensured that the highway could never be continued beyond the Air Rights Garage. By this point, and to this day, the City of New Haven has been looking into developing the western part of Route 34 with biomedical facilities and housing.

City Proposal for Route 34 East: "Downtown Crossing"

Rebuilding the eastern half of Route 34 has presented more challenges than the western half, not the least being the presence of an existing, "trenched" (below grade) highway segment that will have to be removed, covered or rebuilt. Following several failed attempts to "cover" the eastern half of the highway from Air Rights Garage to I-95 with buildings such as mega-shopping malls, City Hall has moved to create a more realistic development strategy for that area as well. The segment has been renamed "Downtown Crossing" in respect to its nature as a key crossing point between the Downtown core, the medical and hospital complex, and train station.

In 2007, the Future of Route 34 Corridor Study was released, which analyzed traffic and possible road configurations and development parcels for the area. The Study provided several alternative design possibilities for at-grade streets that could carry the highway traffic and also open up space for development lots (Future of Route 34, pgs.48-58).

The option that called for the widening of North and South Frontage Roads and the elimination of the suppressed highway (Future, pgs.66-68) was expanded on by the city and presented to the public through a series of meetings and presentations. The plan has remained quite similar over the years - from the 2008 New Haven Future Framework (pgs.13-21) document to the most recent public presentation on February 15, 2011.

While the city has not officially submitted a final design concept, the fact that the plan has changed so little since 2007 leads one to believe that the city prefers a certain plan. A more recent traffic study with future demand projections was recently completed and will be used by the city to determine the number of lanes required under typical traffic planning standards for their preferred design concept. An upcoming meeting in June 2011 will reveal the results of this new traffic study and the potential impact it will have to the previous designs that the city has presented to the public.

The plans thus far (left) have called for the replacement of the suppressed highway with underground parking access roads, widened North and South Frontage Roads, on-street bike lanes, convertible parking lanes, and large development blocks for medical-related facilities, office, retail and residential buildings, and perhaps facilities for the new Gateway Campus. Sections of the roadway may be as wide as 5 travel lanes going one-way and there will be no curb bump outs because there is no dedicated on street parking.

On-street bike lanes are unlikely to work on the proposed road system because it is generally very unpleasant for even experienced cyclists to travel with cars when there is more than one lane moving in the same direction. Therefore, it is difficult to imagine that less experienced or agile riders like children and the elderly will be able to use the street.

Another issue will be how entries and exits for the underground garages will be resolved. Gaps in the urban fabric can decrease pedestrian use and lead to low desirability for commercial retail thereby yielding lower revenue for the city. However, negative impacts of a continuous and active street facade can be mitigated by narrowing the entry and exit points.

The lack of dedicated on-street parking also brings high speed vehicles closer to pedestrians, which increases the sense of risk posed to pedestrians on the sidewalk. On-street parking also is conducive to spontaneous, opportunistic shopping while providing that necessary pedestrian and outdoor seating buffer. These problems can be addressed with changes like narrower travel lanes, wider sidewalks, cycle tracks, bus-only lanes, and design details that help orient people and create a sense of place.

If transit, biking and walking become more viable transportation options in the city, there is also a chance that travel lanes can be turned into dedicated parking spots with curb bump outs or sidewalks can be widened because there is a lot of flexibility with wide streets for later adaptation. Other public suggestions for "Downtown Crossing" have included continuing the highway under a decked-over development area, which would allow for narrower surface streets, but would also create undesirable conditions - worse than the garage exits and entrances - where the highway ramps surfaced.

Additional plans for narrower streets with parking and bike infrastructure have also been presented, but it is unclear whether or not a 2 or 3 lane street could carry the 3,000 vehicles per hour (Future, p.41) that travel on each of the North and South Frontage Roads at peak times. A vision like that could eventually be reality, but it seems that the traffic demand is too high currently; especially without adequate alternative transportation infrastructure in place to allow for the street grid to successfully absorb the spill-over traffic.

Fundamentally, short blocks in the downtown make sense and fit in with the circulation pattern that exists North of George Street. However, the largest problem with the City's current proposal is not in the Eastern section of the plan, but what occurs to the West of the Air Rights Garage.

Current City Plans for Route 34 West

South Frontage Road turns into Legion Avenue on the western section of Route 34, while South Frontage rips through the West River and Dwight neighborhoods by bisecting streets, and creating a dangerous speedway that is difficult to cross in order to access the open green space. The city's preferred MDP plan (at left, click to enlarge) for Route 34 west calls for two, one-way streets each with 2-3 travel lanes and turning lanes. Pedestrians will be expected to walk next to high-speed cars. This plan has been rejected by the public, and put on development hold for the time being.

An alternative plan, designed by Yale Urban Design Workshop (YUDW) has emerged from the community that calls for the creation of a two-way roadway for Legion Avenue so that the divided West River neighborhood can be sewn back together with itself and the Hill.

The plan, west of Orchard Street, is quite fitting for the neighborhood as it provides through traffic's needs without sacrificing a pleasant space for the residents. However, east of Orchard, the roadways must maneuver to create a two-way street by bisecting a long block. This is done because the plan assumes that North Frontage Road will continue past Howe Street.

Putting Civic Improvement First: A Proposal for a Stronger Urban Place

The multi-billion dollar investments for I-95 in New Haven raise serious questions as to whether or not the city and State can afford to continue a car-dependent pattern of suburban growth. It likely is not possible to continue widening roadways, especially in the downtown where property is very expensive. A new living arrangement must begin to emerge in order to allow the city's infrastructure to meet the diverse demands of the public. The era of demolishing large swaths of neighborhoods to be replaced with car infrastructure is over and our planning standards should begin to reflect this.

With that in mind, there is another option, which builds upon the idea of a two-way Legion Avenue that continues beyond Orchard Street to the east all the way to the highway bridge over State Street. Under this proposal, the Hill, West River and Dwight neighborhoods would once again be connected with ample new development lots lining Legion Avenue and many side streets. Near the existing Air Rights Garage, South Frontage Road (Oak Street) would also be widened to accommodate two-way travel and dedicated on-street parking with curb bump outs. A cycle track running parallel to these streets could be created on the sidewalks.

East of Howe, access lanes for parking, biking and local traffic would be created in order to allow a multiway boulevard. The advantages of a boulevard are that it separates local traffic from through traffic, while also not sacrificing the quality of the pedestrian realm or the functionality of the central roadway. A right of way of at least 70 feet is required for a 7 lane two-way street with a central median/turning lane. An additional 16 feet would allow for on-street parking, or 25 feet would allow for access lanes of a multiway boulevard.

Air Rights garage would need to be demolished in order to make this section of the proposed Avenue or Boulevard possible. The displaced parking spaces can be relocated largely underground throughout Route 34 west (a feature that the City has already included within its plan, in part due to the need to preserve an access route for trucks to reach the Hospital's loading docks without using surface streets). They can also be provided on-street, and in new developments that incorporate garage parking into mixed-use projects.

Temporarily, the proposed two-way road could split before Air Rights Garage and reconnect passed it until funding is secured for the demolition (see Route 34 Corridor Study p. 54 and the preferred neighborhood plan for Route 34 West by Yale Urban Design Workshop).

The structure for the underground parking garages can also extend beyond the building line to help support the sidewalk and roadway so that less dirt infill is required to make up for the larger right of way of South Frontage Road. In this scenario, it would also make sense for the the facade of buildings above the ground level to project over the sidewalk creating an arcade because trees would not be able to grow in the limited space provided if the underground parking extends under the sidewalk.

Legion Avenue would become a 5 lane two-way street with a central median/turning lane and on-street parking with the cycle track continuing to the Ella Grasso Boulevard. The Boulevard would benefit from a redesign that incorporates a central median, cycle track, narrower travel lanes and the removal of highway-grade geometries and metal guard rails.

North Frontage Road west of Howe can be removed and east of Howe, it can be turned into a narrow alley way for underground parking access and truck drop-offs. It is important that transit also be incorporated in to any plan that is accepted because of the enormous space-saving, traffic relief, health and storage benefits that result from transit use. Eventually travel lanes can be turned into bus-only or trolley lanes.

This new proposal also calls for the creation of usable public spaces in the form of a park and a square enclosed by mixed-use buildings and houses. It will also be important to incorporate civic buildings into the area for residents as well as public buildings for community meetings. The entry into the neighborhood from the west should be greeted with a large public or civic building - church, school, etc - surrounded by green space. This would bridge the naturalistic boulevard with the more urban neighborhoods.

Legion Avenue should be lined by residences as well as corner stores, and other shop fronts especially closer towards downtown. There should also be a job center in the neighborhood for existing residents as well as employment for future residents. The area east of Air Rights garage should be developed with courtyard buildings that incorporate offices, retail and various residential units in order to provide families with private open space while maintaining a downtown scale of street frontages.


In the 2007 Route 34 Corridor Study, a multiway boulevard was proposed (pgs.55-57) but it had an enormous scale that was unnecessary and the design of it was quite ineffective. A much smaller multiway boulevard or avenue would work well in this area of the city to move through traffic while not creating a hostile pedestrian environment.

Conclusion: Learning from San Francisco's Boulevardization Project

In the city's public presentations, an image of Octavio Boulevard in San Francisco has been used to show design inspiration. Octavio Boulevard is a multiway boulevard designed by Allan Jacobs to replace a torn-down elevated freeway. It has human-scale proportions and moves through traffic efficiently.

In The Boulevard Book, the author explains how the Jacobs design firm butted heads with the planning department of San Francisco who were weary of access lanes, narrow travel lanes, parking and the idea of not having a freeway (Boulevard Book, pgs.238-243). The public supported an at-grade design, which was able to incorporate new development lots left over from the unneeded width of the previous freeway right-of-way. Even against the opposition of conventional planning wisdom, the design for a modest, but authentic boulevard (images of which planners in New Haven have used in public presentations as examples of good design) was created with the support of an involved public and informed design team.

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Bibliography

Cecil Group, Inc. Route 34 West Municipal Development Plan: Draft Plan Concept (March 5, 2008)

Clough Harbour & Associates LLP. Future of Route 34 Corridor Study (October, 2007)

Connecticut's Aerial Surveys. Connecticut State Library website

Dana, Arnold Guyot. New Haven's Problems: Whither the City? All Cities? (N.p. New Haven, 1937)
as sourced from...
Rae, Douglas. City: Urbanism and Its End (Yale University Press-New Haven, 2003)

Economic Development City of New Haven. Route 34 East New Haven Downtown Crossing Public Meeting (November 16, 2010)

Gilbert, Cass and Olmsted, Frederick Law. Report of the New Haven Civic Improvement Commission (New Haven, December, 1910)

Jacobs, Allan; MacDonald, Elizabeth; and Rofe, Yodan. The Boulevard Book: History, Evolution, Design of Mulitway Boulevards (MIT-Cambridge, 2002)

Langdon, Philip. 'Cycle tracks' in cities could save bicyclists lives New Urban News (May 4, 2011)

Lusk, Anne. Risk of injury for bicycling on cycle tracks versus in the street (February 9, 2011)

New Haven City Plan. Future Framework (September 25, 2008)

New Haven City Plan. Plans and Projects City of New Haven website

Redevelopment Agency City of New Haven. Dwight Renewal and Redevelopment Plan (August, 1966)

Route 34 East New Haven Downtown Crossing website