The light on Harrison at Fountain is timed to turn green when the light on Fountain at Phillip turns red. However, the distance between the two streets (the length of the Post Office) is too long. This makes every car that scoots through at Phillip run a red light in front of Harrison (where the light is green). Someone is going to get killed here!

Does someone have to die to get this fixed?! Today I had an incident at Harrison trying to turn left. I had children in the car. My light turned green. A school bus (didnt get the #) and a Poland Spring truck came treadging through the light (going up Fountain towards Emerson) after my nose just entered the intersection. I had to slam on my breaks to avoid being cremated. WHEN IS THIS GOING TO BE ADDRESSED???!?!?!?! I called the people in charge immediately and the guy who is responsible for the timing of the lights has heard my plight. I don't know if he will actually do something but SOMETHING REALLY needs to be done before someone gets killed!

Exactly my point Anonymous and what I told the guy at traffic. Harrison needs to stay red several minutes after Fountain turns red so that traffic can pass through this very wide intersection.

What drivers forget is that there is another stop light at the corner of Harrison and Fountain which, if obeyed, would prevent this from happening but it seems no one sees it so cars that are leaving the curb in front of the post office feel that have the right of way and continue through the intersection.

The light on a vertical pole at Harrison seems to confuse folks and was added relatively recently.

There is very mixed opinion on the "illegal" parking. Many believe these spots should be available.

Offset intersections are always trouble.

I'll contact TT&P about light timing options.

NHTA did replace the missing no-turn-on-red sign for eastbound Fountain at Alden.

Actually RJ, the light - going up Fountain towards Dayton - in front of the post offices changes red at the same time that Harrison light turns green. There is no delay. There needs to be a red light delay of all lights before Harrison turns green to give the Fountain traffic to pass through the very large intersection. This bus and Poland Spring truck where at the light before the post office, they were not originally parked in front of the post office.

We also need to start getting the police to issue tickets for cars parking in front of the post office. This is a no parking zone and people continue to be lazy and not give a crap. Maybe if we start issuing tickets that will change.

Thank you for the clarification. I assumed the bus and truck ran the red light at Phillips/Alden which would indicate they also ran the one at Harrison. Didn't realize the two lights at Harrison were not on a delay.

City's signal engineer made some timing changes here today. Please let us know if they're helping.
Email me via my website: www.dildine25.org

Great! Will check it out tomorrow!

Installing bollards and/or striping a clearer no parking zone (combined with ticketing) would eliminate the illegal parking activity here.

Regarding the ticketing -- illegal parking that endangers others, either by blocking sightlines or obstructing crosswalks, should have a far higher fee assigned to it.

Many injuries and even some deaths in New Haven have been caused by illegally parked vehicles that obstruct visibility, and a $30 fine is not nearly high enough of a penalty for these cases.

I would support lowering fines for parking meter violations and dramatically raising them (e.g., to $200) for violations that have the potential to cause serious injuries or deaths.

In the longer term, reducing speeds on Fountain and Alden to speeds that are appropriate for a densely-populated urban core with a nearby school would also help, as it would provide drivers and pedestrians with more reaction time and significantly reduce the severity of crashes. We should petition the DOT to design Fountain Street in a manner that is compatible with the city's Complete Streets Order.

Remember this is a State Road and will require CT DOT cooperation we've had some trouble getting. I would however very much like to improve this relationship and need to reconnect with a couple individuals I met at a YNH sponsored traffic safety summit in the spring.

people who park in front of the post office just pull out and go, not concerned with the traffic lights. The officers really need to start ticketing the cars that park illegally. This also happens with cars that are both parked too close to the corners across the street and also block sight lines.

I saw a family almost get run over here last week by a driver running the red light, many seconds into the white "pedestrian phase" sign.

TT&P Signal Division, please acknowledge this issue!

In the short-term, the solution seems to be to at least add a few seconds to the light at Harrisoon to turn onto Fountain so that the intersection can be "clear" of Fountain Street traffic before the light turns green.

Parking enforcement will help, too, but some longer-term solutions need to be looked at as well with regards to the No Parking zone in front of the post office. If the safety of the intersection is paramount, which it should be, bollards blocking off the area, as suggested above, or a large bumped-out section of the sidewalk there, or even a curbed and striped area might be the way to go. Not sure there is a safe way to have this function as a "load zone", which is essentially what it is now.

It would be nice of the Postal Service could place boxes at an alternate location nearby so drop-offs to their boxes would not be right on Fountain. Maybe a cut-in on Philip or Harrison or both or some other creative solution?

I was made aware of this on Wed at the CMT meeting. I am currently addressing it. Spoke with Post office and having them notify patrons as well as ticketing the illegally parked vehicles.
Also I am ticketing cars running the red light on Fountain at Alston. Currently out here (5:30pm) during what I imagine is a busy time when most violations occur. I will continue to monitor this issue.

I just noticed the officer out there watching the light. The bigger problem is during the day. Cars parked just about everywhere...around corners, handicapped, double parked, and basically in the intersection from all directions. You name it.

Running the red light is from all directions also. Harrison, Alden and fountain. The right on red off of Harrison is a big problem also. You get the speeder up fountain and the illegal right turn off of Harrison is a problem waiting to happen.

This is still happening. We need another solution? Not sure what that is yet...

This problem keeps getting worse. I see that the police monitored it a year ago, but why can't we put some clear paint over the no-parking areas? People are stopping in the middle of the intersection, then driving as other cars are going on the green. Pushing a stroller here is risking my kids' lives.

It continues to be a hazard. I cross here daily on foot. There needs to be a delay (or longer delay) after light on Fountain for cards heading west turns red before Harrison turns green so that cars heading west can clear intersection before cross-traffic or pedestrians enter. Second, there needs to be a no-stopping-here box in front of the Post Office for cars that enter intersection heading west on Fountain but then come to the red facing them at Harrison and stop, which blocks the intersection. It is too confusing for visitors and even some locals do the wrong thing. And no stopping in front of Post Office anyway -- can Postal Service put boxes somewhere else nearby, as that is the main attraction for illegal standers.

Still an ongoing traffic and safety issue each day. Please reinforce the ticketing, and if possible, add barriers to parking in front of the post office! Also, if the Post Boxes were placed somewhere within the actual PO parking lot on Philip Street, fewer people would be tempted to stop there.

This was originally posted FOUR YEARS AGO!!!! Why is this taking so long?!

Why does my post keep getting deleted? "This was originally posted FOUR YEARS AGO, why has this not been solved?"

Again, no action on this ongoing issue! This is a constant problem - people parking in front of the post office attempt to drive away whenever traffic permits. My car was nearly hit this week while I drove through the green light from Harrison Street, because a person was pulling out from illegally parking in front of the post office. They looked confused and surprised that they didn't have the right of way.

There are two schools in this area with children walking or riding bikes with their parents, and often having to dodge cars at this crossing. THIS IS A MAJOR SAFETY ISSUE. It is illegal for cars to park there. WHY aren't they being ticketed and towed?

I spoke up in person about this at one of the community meetings several months ago, and the local Police Sgt said that this issue is very devisive and that I would have a hard time getting this enforced. This was astonishing... there is a clearly marked No Standing sign in front of the post office -- why would the police NOT enforce it?

A suggestion, in addition to the Jersey Barriers mentioned above. Move the post boxes into the parking lot of the post office. It would be a safer way to allow for easy access to the boxes, and not put in peril the safety of the people who move through this confusing intersection each day.

How'd this turn out for all the hand-wringing ?
LOL