I agree! I drive through there each and every day, and it's so ugly now. How about a "Gateway to Downtown" or " Gateway to New Haven" mural maybe: depicting the various neighborhoods and highlights, like Wooster Sq., the Green, East Rock, architecture, etc... Or maybe showing New Haven proper on the side of the tunnel towards downtown, and then Fair Haven highlights right next to it, like the river and boating, the Grand Ave bridge, the old mansions & Victorians, people in the neighborhood, historical scenes, like oystering and lobstermen. Many people never drive past the junkyards, thinking there's "nothing" over our way in Fair Haven.
Step 1 : Remove the interstate highway overpass and abutments to let more light in and make the space feel more open.
Step 2 : Eliminate that portion of Chapel Street and plant some grass and trees to make a pocket park enjoyable for all.
Step 3 : Free pony rides.
what about if neighbors could donate a flower pot or two, and line them up along the inside edge? plants that don't require a ton of sunlight? it would be cool to have all different shapes and sizes. i think if there was a critical mass of pots, theft would be less likely.
or some of the pots could have pinwheels in them, since its always windy under overpasses...
or we could plant some ivy at the very edges, with the eventuality of it growing to cover some of the grey space. it would take several seasons, but it would spread, as long as we hung something for it to attach to...
There is a kind of transitional neighborhood in Atlanta with a (very photographed) overpass. It's really cool. I can't think of the area though. Not having much luch with Google. Anybody know what I'm talking about?
I don't think we should be thinking of every place that is public as a "public space" ...one that is worthy of eventfulness or time spent.
The state won't allow any permanent construction because it will interfere with periodic renovation and they probably avoid painting abutments because once you paint, you have to repaint again and again. You could do something temporary like a farmers market or fair but its a very noisy place and the acoustics stink...and theres little light, so why would you?
The inverse analog of this is NYC's high line, which is only cool because it does exactly the opposite of what ANONYMOUS is suggestion and gets people out of the street caverns into daylight and above the street noise.
For the record, a long long time ago, I used to walk to work alone through this place on Chapel on cold dark days and when New Haven was a much more violent place and it wasn't fun. Even though New Haven is a lot safer today, this place remains a bad place because thats the nature of it.
There are shootings all the time on Hamilton that neighborhood is not going to get any better anytime soon . The homeless shelter projects and strip club bring the wrong element. The scrap metal thieves permeate that area
RobN,
I would agree with you if the underpass was out of the way but as a main connector I think its worth a shot. Love the pinwheel idea Julie. Maybe concrete planter would stand up.
Juli's ivy idea has my vote too. It would take hundreds of years for it to damage anything unlike a building.. I would also like to see abundant lighting too as it is relatively cheap these days.
I walk/run every morning and most days my route takes me under this godforsaken underpass.
It literally divides the haves and the have-nots, with Wooster Square happily on one side and then the Franklin Street Projects, the homeless shelters and the many vacant buildings on the other.
For the folks who live in Franklin Street, it's a middle finger every time they want to walk downtown they have to walk through a glass-strewn, pigeon pooped dark cave to get to the "nice" section of town.
My ideas are straightforward and simple-
First- LIGHTING. Light the heck out of the underpasses. Nighttime AND daytime. Seriously, it will be worth the cost. since rather than tunnels you'll actually be able to see where you are going.
Second KEEP IT CLEAN. This section, because it's dark and gross, motivates people to treat it like its dark and gross, so there are dozens of smashed bottles, and a load of bird poop due to the pigeons that nest there.
Third- if at all possible- SOUND INSULATION. What makes these underpasses miserable is that they are so loud! You can't hold a conversation while walking, and it's as if you have entered an arena when you cross into them.
Sound insulating panels could be bolted onto the girders and reduce the volume of traffic significantly.
Those three things would be inexpensive, wouldn't harm the bridge in any way, and would actually make this section much more pleasant to cross under.
The city is looking to form a redevelopment plan for this area, but I really think that this overpass should be fixed sooner rather than later.
If you guys knew what this area used to be before the highway, you would be orders of magnitude more shocked at how terrible it is now. The attached picture is looking up Grand Avenue and Franklin right next to where this overpass is in 1926. Not a single structure remains from this picture. It was replaced with Ferarros and a few other industrial buildings.
You’re talking about a 60’ wide, 250’ long, 15’ tall space. That’s 15,000 square feet of ground space bracketed by 7,500 square feet of wall surface with probably something like 10,000 square feet of ceiling. You could fit two and a half basketball courts in there.
Joe and Suzy Six Pack don't identify with indiscriminate graffiti as art (I'm sorry to say.) But that doesn't mean it isn't possible. Arts Council has done it. Ideat Village has done it. Cafe Nine and Rob Greenberg did it. Katro Storm has done it.
There is a romantic school of thought that graffiti should be renegade and violate boundaries (which probably isn't going to fly with the state since they have to manage the bridges) and there is another school of thought that graffiti should just go where it can be seen (as every artist wants.)
If a very discreet ribbon of sacrificial paint (to mollify the state) were created on the walls and graffiti artists were allowed in to do what they will in this area it could be cool. I think some lighting would be key so the space doesn’t feel unattended but rather than trying to light the whole space, one could just put some periodic floods on the walls to attract your eyes to the edges of the space.
Would anybody be interested in contributing to a financial reward for a project to improve the underpass if the State was to approve the distribution of the money for implementation.
Even modest lighting could easily run into the tens of thousands of dollars. It might be a more realistic goal to raise funds for the sacrificial base paint (guessing artists will probably bring their own spray?). A 10' tall ribbon over the entire length of both walls would be about 5,000 sf of area and you would need probably about 30 gallons of paint for 2 coats. The sacrificial paints can be on the expensive side (@$50-100/gallon) so you might need to raise @ $2,500.
Busted for donations, sorry, and zero fundraising experience to boot. But count me in to help if anybody knows how to do this. Ideally I would like to see the Lombard @ John St underpass worked into the plan too.
We have a tool that we can put on the site that can take payments as escrow and pay out to the State when we have the money. I can talk to the State about approving such a process. Thanks for the estimates on the materials Rob! If the State does not allow for paint what other suggestions do people have?
It looks like there may be a possibility to move some lighting improvements forward for the underpasses in New Haven. Has anybody seen any interesting solutions elsewhere?
This is an example I saw in Brooklyn.
I bet if we did the fundraising the State would allow us to.
Did you create the request at help.seeclickfix.com for a fundraising button on the Dog Park yet?
You could add that here as well.
I like it -- it has gotten to the point where the graffiti is at critical fill-in, which makes it start to be truly appealing.
I think incorporating the existing graffiti would be a good solution. Paint the top of the overpass a true Robin's Egg Blue. Bring it down the sides just some - to smudged, end, sort of a fade out, jagged edged.
Leave some raw concrete to evoke a sense of void or nice cool pool of shadow to viewers.
Then, put down the brush and walk away - resist temptation to fiddle with everything.
The artists enaged on this should be abstract minimalists to complement the busy graffiti, not respresentational artists.
We are trying to delineate issues that are current and need the city's attention to resolve. Any issues prior to 2013 are being closed. If your issue remains and needs to be addressed by the city, please either re-open or open as a new See Click Fix issue. Thanks.
30 Comments
R (Guest)
detour01 (Registered User)
robn (Registered User)
Step 2 : Eliminate that portion of Chapel Street and plant some grass and trees to make a pocket park enjoyable for all.
Step 3 : Free pony rides.
john (Guest)
BB (Registered User)
juli (Registered User)
what about if neighbors could donate a flower pot or two, and line them up along the inside edge? plants that don't require a ton of sunlight? it would be cool to have all different shapes and sizes. i think if there was a critical mass of pots, theft would be less likely.
or some of the pots could have pinwheels in them, since its always windy under overpasses...
or we could plant some ivy at the very edges, with the eventuality of it growing to cover some of the grey space. it would take several seasons, but it would spread, as long as we hung something for it to attach to...
John (Guest)
detour01 (Registered User)
detour01 (Registered User)
robn (Registered User)
I don't think we should be thinking of every place that is public as a "public space" ...one that is worthy of eventfulness or time spent.
The state won't allow any permanent construction because it will interfere with periodic renovation and they probably avoid painting abutments because once you paint, you have to repaint again and again. You could do something temporary like a farmers market or fair but its a very noisy place and the acoustics stink...and theres little light, so why would you?
The inverse analog of this is NYC's high line, which is only cool because it does exactly the opposite of what ANONYMOUS is suggestion and gets people out of the street caverns into daylight and above the street noise.
For the record, a long long time ago, I used to walk to work alone through this place on Chapel on cold dark days and when New Haven was a much more violent place and it wasn't fun. Even though New Haven is a lot safer today, this place remains a bad place because thats the nature of it.
John (Guest)
BB (Registered User)
I would agree with you if the underpass was out of the way but as a main connector I think its worth a shot. Love the pinwheel idea Julie. Maybe concrete planter would stand up.
Livesinfairhaven (Registered User)
BB (Registered User)
Pedro Soto (Registered User)
I walk/run every morning and most days my route takes me under this godforsaken underpass.
It literally divides the haves and the have-nots, with Wooster Square happily on one side and then the Franklin Street Projects, the homeless shelters and the many vacant buildings on the other.
For the folks who live in Franklin Street, it's a middle finger every time they want to walk downtown they have to walk through a glass-strewn, pigeon pooped dark cave to get to the "nice" section of town.
My ideas are straightforward and simple-
First- LIGHTING. Light the heck out of the underpasses. Nighttime AND daytime. Seriously, it will be worth the cost. since rather than tunnels you'll actually be able to see where you are going.
Second KEEP IT CLEAN. This section, because it's dark and gross, motivates people to treat it like its dark and gross, so there are dozens of smashed bottles, and a load of bird poop due to the pigeons that nest there.
Third- if at all possible- SOUND INSULATION. What makes these underpasses miserable is that they are so loud! You can't hold a conversation while walking, and it's as if you have entered an arena when you cross into them.
Sound insulating panels could be bolted onto the girders and reduce the volume of traffic significantly.
Those three things would be inexpensive, wouldn't harm the bridge in any way, and would actually make this section much more pleasant to cross under.
The city is looking to form a redevelopment plan for this area, but I really think that this overpass should be fixed sooner rather than later.
If you guys knew what this area used to be before the highway, you would be orders of magnitude more shocked at how terrible it is now. The attached picture is looking up Grand Avenue and Franklin right next to where this overpass is in 1926. Not a single structure remains from this picture. It was replaced with Ferarros and a few other industrial buildings.
robn (Registered User)
Guys,
You’re talking about a 60’ wide, 250’ long, 15’ tall space. That’s 15,000 square feet of ground space bracketed by 7,500 square feet of wall surface with probably something like 10,000 square feet of ceiling. You could fit two and a half basketball courts in there.
detour01 (Registered User)
Local artists, plenty of light and regular cleaning (of the roadway) by those of us interested in the project.
Pictured entrance to Krog St Bridge underpass, Cabbagetown, Atlanta, GA
robn (Guest)
Joe and Suzy Six Pack don't identify with indiscriminate graffiti as art (I'm sorry to say.) But that doesn't mean it isn't possible. Arts Council has done it. Ideat Village has done it. Cafe Nine and Rob Greenberg did it. Katro Storm has done it.
There is a romantic school of thought that graffiti should be renegade and violate boundaries (which probably isn't going to fly with the state since they have to manage the bridges) and there is another school of thought that graffiti should just go where it can be seen (as every artist wants.)
If a very discreet ribbon of sacrificial paint (to mollify the state) were created on the walls and graffiti artists were allowed in to do what they will in this area it could be cool. I think some lighting would be key so the space doesn’t feel unattended but rather than trying to light the whole space, one could just put some periodic floods on the walls to attract your eyes to the edges of the space.
BB (Registered User)
robn (Guest)
Ben,
Even modest lighting could easily run into the tens of thousands of dollars. It might be a more realistic goal to raise funds for the sacrificial base paint (guessing artists will probably bring their own spray?). A 10' tall ribbon over the entire length of both walls would be about 5,000 sf of area and you would need probably about 30 gallons of paint for 2 coats. The sacrificial paints can be on the expensive side (@$50-100/gallon) so you might need to raise @ $2,500.
detour01 (Guest)
BB (Registered User)
BB (Registered User)
This is an example I saw in Brooklyn.
Doug Hausladen (Registered User)
BB (Registered User)
Thoughts on how to secure?
Doug H (Guest)
BB (Registered User)
Did you create the request at help.seeclickfix.com for a fundraising button on the Dog Park yet?
You could add that here as well.
BB (Registered User)
Would folks be interested in this for Chapel?
guest (Guest)
Where is this underpass??? It doesn't say.
I like it -- it has gotten to the point where the graffiti is at critical fill-in, which makes it start to be truly appealing.
I think incorporating the existing graffiti would be a good solution. Paint the top of the overpass a true Robin's Egg Blue. Bring it down the sides just some - to smudged, end, sort of a fade out, jagged edged.
Leave some raw concrete to evoke a sense of void or nice cool pool of shadow to viewers.
Then, put down the brush and walk away - resist temptation to fiddle with everything.
The artists enaged on this should be abstract minimalists to complement the busy graffiti, not respresentational artists.
Stängt City of New Haven (Registered User)