ROAD CLOSURES & DETOURS: Downtown Crossing Construction News for Monday, May 18

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Downtown Crossing Phase 2

Welcome to this week’s new subscribers to Downtown Crossing construction news!

Construction of Downtown Crossing Phase 2, the reconnection of Orange Street, began in Spring 2019 and is planned for completion in summer 2021.

As we enter the second year of construction, work areas will be more intense as the new intersection is built to reconnect Orange Street across the former Route 34 highway. As a result of larger and more intense work areas, there will be increased impacts to commuters.

In addition to the latest construction and project news, this newsletter provides information on underutilized driving routes into Downtown New Haven as well as public transit options for travel to, from, and within New Haven.

With the increased traffic impacts expected this year, now is the perfect time to experiment with alternate driving routes and/or public transit options that may ease your daily commute. Please see the articles near the bottom of this email for more information on alternate driving routes and public transit options.

Construction News & Schedule

for the two-week period of

Monday, May 18 - Friday, May 29, 2020

Overview

Over the next two weeks, Downtown Crossing Phase 2 will progress to construction Stage 7. Work areas will shift locations and the beginnings of the new Orange Street intersection will be built. As a result, the upcoming two-week period (Monday, May 18 - Friday, May 29) will feature the permanent closure of a portion of North Frontage Road, a temporary closure of a portion of Orange Street, and lane shifts on MLK Boulevard and on South Frontage Road. Please see below for full details. A rendering of traffic patterns for Stage 7 is included below.

PERMANENT CLOSURE: PORTION OF NORTH FRONTAGE ROAD

The portion of North Frontage Road that begins at Water Street and ends at Orange Street behind the Knights of Columbus tower will be permanently closed to provide space for the new intersection that will reconnect Orange Street to South Orange Street across the former Rt. 34 highway. This permanent closure will take place on or about Wednesday, May 27 ^th as weather conditions may delay the closure by a couple of days. A map indicating the portion of North Frontage Road to be permanently closed is included below.

TEMPORARY, PARTIAL CLOSURE & DETOUR: PORTION OF ORANGE STREET

Half of the block of Orange Street, between MLK Blvd. and George Street, will be temporarily closed for approximately two months to allow for construction. This temporary closure will take place on or about Wednesday, May 27 ^th as weather conditions may delay the closure by a couple of days.

During this temporary closure, drivers will not be not be able to turn left onto Orange Street from MLK Blvd.

A detour will be put in place to allow access to this block of Orange Street. Drivers on MLK Blvd. will take continue on MLK Blvd. and then take a right at Church Street, another right onto George Street, and then a right onto Orange Street to access the Knights of Columbus parking lots and/or Coliseum site parking. On-road signage will alert drivers to the detour.

As a result of this detour, vehicles that typically turn onto Orange Street will now remain on MLK Blvd for another block until turning right onto Church Street. The extra traffic on MLK Blvd., coupled with the traffic light at Church Street, is likely to cause traffic congestion and delays. Please consider an alternate route to access this area. Alternate route options are listed in articles towards the bottom of this email.

A map indicating the portion of Orange Street to be temporarily closed is included below.

Lane Shifts

Beginning the week of Monday, May 18, lane shifts will occur on MLK Boulevard and on South Frontage Road as construction work progresses to Stage 7 and moves into a new area. When this occurs, driving lanes will be re-striped and motorists will travel along the same roads, just on lanes that will be shifted from their previous locations. On-road signage will alert drivers to this change and the lane re-striping should make it easy for drivers to adjust.

Lane Closures

Throughout the two-week period of Monday, May 18 - Friday, May 29, 2020 , various single lane closures may occur on the following roads to accommodate construction:

Inbound & Outbound Service Drives: that provide access to parking under 100 College Street and onto the Air Rights Garage
State Street at North Frontage Road: near the intersection of Union Avenue and Water Street
South Frontage Road: between South Orange Street and College Street
Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard: between Orange Street and Church Street

Work Hours

All Downtown Crossing related work for this two-week period ( Monday, May 18 - Friday, May 29, 2020) is scheduled to occur during daytime work hours. Daytime work hours are weekdays between the hours of 7 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Any construction work that may impact traffic flow will not occur between 7 and 9 a.m. or between 3 and 6 p.m. on Monday through Friday.

Road signage will alert drivers and pedestrians to work areas and lane closures.

Please pay attention to this signage, slow down, and stay safe!

Road Closures

Construction Work Areas & Travel Lanes

The traffic pattern illustrated below will be transitioned to incrementally during the week of May 18 and be fully in place by May 29

Pedestrian Detours

Pedestrian Detour at the Union Avenue Underpass

A minor pedestrian detour went into effect on Monday, March 9, 2020 and will last for approximately two months until mid-May. The pedestrian detour is in place to accommodate the installation of a public art project on the west side of the Union Avenue underpass, where Union Avenue meets North Frontage Road, State Street, and Water Street. Pedestrians will be able to access the area simply by using the sidewalk at the east side of the bridge.

Below:

Photo of the vicinity of the Union Avenue underpass pedestrian detour
Rendering of "Lighting Your Way" be Sheila Levrant de Bretteville of Site Projects New Haven.

Pedestrian Detour around South Frontage Road

A pedestrian detour is in place to accommodate construction on South Frontage Road near Church Street. The detour went into effect on Tuesday, August 13, 2019 and will last for approximately one year, until the summer of 2020. Signage directs pedestrians to a safe route around construction; a map of the pedestrian detour is included below. Pedestrians are urged to follow the detour to stay safe as construction is in progress.

Below: South Frontage Road Pedestrian Detour . Red area is construction zone, green shows pedestrian detour around construction.

Avoid Delays:

Transit options to, from, and within New Haven

Avoid the stress of driving and travel delays due to highway congestion — explore transit options to, from, and within New Haven!

Transit to/from New Haven

Metro North : – New Haven Line Service between New Haven and shoreline towns to the west and NYC.

Shore Line East : Service between New Haven and shore line towns east to New London.

Hartford Line : Service between New Haven and Springfield, with stops in Meriden, Wallingford, Berlin, Hartford, Windsor, and Windsor Locks.

Transit within New Haven

Free Downtown/Union Station Shuttle : Free shuttle runs between New Haven’s Union Station and seven Downtown New Haven locations, Monday-Friday 6 AM- 10 PM.

Bike New Haven : Rent, ride, and return at convenient locations across the city. Great option for the last mile!

CT transit Bus Service : Local bus service throughout New Haven and surrounding towns.

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Avoid Delays: Alternate Driving Routes

Alternate Driving Routes

To avoid delays due to construction, consider entering or exiting the highway outside of the project area. There are many options that avoid Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and South Frontage Road, yet still provide easy access to Downtown New Haven. Consider experimenting with these travel options. Try them out and let us know what you think!

Some options to explore:

Enter or exit I-95 on Long Wharf/Sargent Drive, utilizing Sargent Drive and Brewery Street to Water Street to access Downtown.

Enter or exit I-95 on Long Wharf/Sargent Drive, utilizing the Church Street Bridge to access Downtown.

Enter or exit I-91 on State Street

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