Confusion and Poor Compliance at the HAWK Crossing Everyday Engineering 2024-06-15 | After my last couple of videos about this trail crossing in Cheshire, CT, I returned again to watch the intersection operate and see how different transportation users respond to the HAWK beacon and hazardous chicane gates. I found that compliance with the HAWK among everyone was poor, which is a clear sign that the design of this crossing is problematic, and that the chicane gates still do not do anything to increase safety and should be removed.The Town of Cheshire and CTDOT (as it’s a state road) need to recognize that the HAWK is not the right solution here, acknowledge their mistake and cut their losses, and either make this a safer unsignalized crossing or install a normal traffic signal as I proposed in my previous video.
State Street Project - Construction Update 11 Everyday Engineering 2025-06-11 | First update video for the Phase 2 work through the rest of downtown! In this video we’ll see many reconstructed sidewalk ramps as well as excavation to prep for future asphalt bike lanes.
Water Street Cycle Track Project - Finished! Everyday Engineering 2025-06-04 | A new multi-use path is now open in New Haven, connecting a couple existing paths as well as the new routing for the East Coast Greenway. Since the last update video, concrete was poured, asphalt was paved, and new line striping on both the path and the road was installed. Completed in May, now open to enjoy!
Naito Parkway Cycletrack & Traffic Signals Everyday Engineering 2025-06-01 | Ride along the Naito Parkway cycletrack in downtown Portland, OR, with stops at a few locations to check out intersections and cool traffic signal designs. This was built in the last few years to formalize a quick-build seasonal cycletrack in the road into a permanent year-round facility.
Blumenauer Bike/Ped Bridge and Traffic Signal Everyday Engineering 2025-05-27 | A car-free bridge over I-84 in Portland, OR with a cool intersection and traffic signal layout.
Modal Filters and Diverters for Bike Routes Everyday Engineering 2025-05-26 | Take a look at some real examples of modal filters and diverters on neighborhood greenways in Portland, OR. These simple solutions limit car traffic on local streets to help create safe bike networks without needing to reconstruct entire roads. Many different types of these treatments exist and can be mixed and matched based on your city’s overall street network.
Bikeway Signal Separation in Chicago Everyday Engineering 2025-05-18 | Intersection of Dearborn (2 way cycle track on the left) and Randolph (1 way cycle track on the right). Dedicated turn lanes and turn signals to separate conflicting bike and vehicle movements. Also a pretty cool protected intersection made of concrete islands between the bikeways and crosswalks.
Grand Opening of the Farmington Canal Trail in New Haven Everyday Engineering 2025-05-10 | The long-awaited Phase IV extension of the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail in downtown New Haven, CT is now open! This linear park now continues past Hillhouse Ave, goes underneath Temple St and Whitney Ave, and surfaces at Grove St. The new routing lengthens the overall rail trail, which continues up to Northampton, MA. Additionally, this segment provides more off-road mileage for the East Coast Greenway between Maine and Florida.
Fixing a Street Destroyed by Urban Renewal - New Haven’s State Street Project Everyday Engineering 2025-05-06 | Urban planners of the 1980s thought that tearing down half of the buildings along State Street through downtown New Haven and widening the road to 100 feet across would revitalize the city. Spoiler: it made it worse. Now, a project is in place to fix the mistakes of the past and return State Street to a modern version of what it used to be.This video provides a brief history of State Street, its context within the city, and why it's now undergoing a major change. Then, we'll take a walking tour from south to north through the project area and discuss all the different improvements at each intersection.
Water Street Cycle Track Project - April 2025 Everyday Engineering 2025-04-13 | A few more weeks of progress on the 2-block bike connection in New Haven. With the majority of the curb, base material, and utility adjustments all set, next up will be concrete work and eventually final paving.
LPI Crossing with Pedestrian Reservice Everyday Engineering 2025-04-12 | New concurrent + LPI crossing at Chapel St & College St in New Haven, CT as part of the upcoming two-way conversion project. Used to be an exclusive crossing phase. If a pedestrian misses the first walk phase they can hit the button and it will come up again during the Chapel St phase.
New Concurrent + LPI Pedestrian Crossing Everyday Engineering 2025-03-31 | Chapel St & York St in New Haven, CT. Signal used to have an exclusive ped phase and has been converted to concurrent + LPI in advance of an upcoming two-way street conversion project. Signal heads replaced as well with a new vertical arrow for one-way York St. New touchless ped buttons too.
Water Street Cycle Track Project - March 2025 Everyday Engineering 2025-03-24 | Project overview and initial construction update on some new infrastructure in New Haven, CT. This cycletrack will extend from State Street & Union Avenue to Olive Street and help link some existing and planned off-street bike paths together.
An Engineer’s Review of Venice Avenue, Florida Everyday Engineering 2025-03-18 | Venice Avenue is the center of activity of the city of Venice, Florida. After spending a few days walking, biking, and driving this street, I analyzed all aspects of the street’s design from the lane configuration, to the pedestrian crossings, to the sidewalk amenities, and more.
Two Plans for Stratford, CT’s Main Street Everyday Engineering 2025-03-09 | Main Street through Stratford, Connecticut runs between a dense collection of shops and restaurants and a town green. However, almost all of the right-of-way is dedicated to either moving or parking cars in this center of the community. I document what I find to be the deficiencies of the street from a pedestrian point of view, and show two plans for how this street could be reconfigured - one from the town itself as their chosen design, and one that I drew up on my own.
Right Turn Signal Separation for Trail Crossing Everyday Engineering 2025-03-04 | Protected right turn signal and blank out NTOR when the pedestrian crossing is active for the Legacy TrailMcintosh Rd @ Palmer Ranch Pkwy, Sarasota, FL
Ringling Blvd Bike Lanes - Sarasota, FL Everyday Engineering 2025-03-04 | Recent bike lane installation in conjunction with a road diet and new roundabouts in downtown. Makes it easy to get from the Legacy Trail to the waterfront! However, the transitions at roundabouts felt a bit uncomfortable, either merging back into traffic quickly or joining the sidewalk. But a great improvement over the previous 4-lane roadway with no bike facilities, and the lanes appeared to be getting well used! Also, take note of the raised islands for bus stops, stormwater basins, and in-road flashing crosswalk lights.
Edgewood Ave Cycletrack - Full Inbound Ride Everyday Engineering 2025-01-19 | Biking the 2-mile cycletrack eastbound from the Westville neighborhood to Downtown in New Haven, CT. The project added a continuous buffered two-way bike lane, pedestrian ramp and signal upgrades, and bike signals with video detection.Longer waits at traffic signals have been edited out to keep the video concise.
Pedestrian Bumpouts for Crosswalk Safety Everyday Engineering 2024-12-28 | New sidewalk work at Mechanic St and Lawrence St in New Haven, CT to reconstruct the intersection corners with ADA ramps and curb extensions, including a bioswale. Plus, an open streets pilot program that created a pedestrian plaza on a section of street that was encouraging high vehicle speeds in the area.
Valley Street Traffic Calming Project Everyday Engineering 2024-12-25 | A tour of the finished construction project on Valley Street in New Haven, CT which involved a $2m redesign of the entire 1.2-mile street to address speeding concerns, improve pedestrian safety, and realign some overbuilt intersections.
Temporary Two-Way Bike Lane for Construction Everyday Engineering 2024-12-16 | On Broadway between Ames and Galileo in Cambridge, MA. The previous one-way bike lane that I start out in is shifted to the opposite side of the street to accommodate the large construction zone on the north side, while vehicle traffic is now one-way facing the camera. This was such an interesting layout to see as it appears all the signal work to make this happen just involved swapping some signal lenses in a creative way. It’s cool to see a city take such detailed measures for bike access through work zones like this, as most American cities would just install a “bike lane ends” sign and hope they figure it out.
Davis Square Traffic Signals Everyday Engineering 2024-12-16 | A variety of all types of traffic signals at the Davis Square intersection in Somerville, MA. From what I’ve heard, this new configuration was installed early in 2024 along with bus and bike lane improvements. The first clip shows a transit signal, flashing yellow arrow, and green ball signal in addition to a pedestrian LPI. The second clip has a bike signal with a right turn signal separation, green arrows, and a flashing yellow u-turn signal. These clips were only from 2 of the 5 approaches - a very complex signal!
New Parking Protected Bike Lane on Grove St in New Haven Everyday Engineering 2024-11-16 | 3 blocks of Grove St in downtown New Haven CT were repaved and restriped as part of routine pavement maintenance. The traffic department revised the cross section of the street to restripe it with a new bike lane, using excess width from previously too-wide vehicle lanes. There are also improvements to bus stop markings, crosswalks, daylit no parking zones, and accommodation of existing food truck vendor parking spots. This section of Grove St is currently part of the East Coast Greenway route as well.
Derby CT Route 34 Widening Project - November 2024 Everyday Engineering 2024-11-04 | Another project check-in while passing through the area. All the new lanes are now open to traffic and the new signals are almost fully installed. Sidewalks and streetscape are looking good while construction continues on some of the side street approaches.
Large Traffic Signal with FYA Everyday Engineering 2024-09-23 | CTDOT has recently installed new signals along the Berlin Turnpike on these massive mast arm assemblies (arms the same diameter as the shafts). Supposedly it’s for hurricane wind resistance and to hold future signal equipment, as the turnpike passes by CTDOT headquarters and they are using the corridor to test new technologies. This intersection at the northern CTDOT headquarters driveway also appears to be the first implementation of flashing yellow arrow in the state, which the DOT is looking to incorporate into future signal installations moving forward.
Hartford & New Britain, CT Complete Streets Tour Everyday Engineering 2024-09-17 | A group of Connecticut residents spent a day walking around Hartford and New Britain to see what each city is doing to create streets and public places that work for everyone. We saw quick-build installations, full reconstructions, and learned about future plans as well.Thanks to Grace and Kerri Ana (Hartford) and Jack (New Britain) for sharing their knowledge of their cities!
Will Burlington’s Champlain Parkway Fix Traffic? Everyday Engineering 2024-09-05 | This new, limited access road in Burlington, VT is an interesting dynamic between two schools of thought -- the old planning style of the mid-20th century in running freeways through central business districts in order to provide easy access and manage traffic, and the 21st century goals of complete streets and removing high volumes of traffic from residential neighborhoods. Will this new road be able to achieve all those goals and become a model example? Or will history continue to repeat itself and simply introduce more cars into an urban area without solving any traffic congestion problems?----------Sources:http://www.champlainparkway.comvtdigger.orgWPTZ NBC 5 Burlingtonaaroads.com/interstate-guide/i-189-vtVT Historical SocietyTown Meeting TV
Milling & Paving as Pavement Preservation Everyday Engineering 2024-08-01 | We typically think that repaving roads is just to smooth them out for a more comfortable drive, but it also holds an important function as preventative maintenance to keep the foundation of the road intact.
New Traffic Signal with Hot Pedestrian Button Everyday Engineering 2024-07-30 | MLK Blvd & Temple St in New Haven, CT. The signal equipment was actually installed a couple years ago, but only recently switched from flashing mode to full operation now that the development and new sidewalk across the street are complete.The signal rests on green for MLK Blvd but the pedestrian phase only comes on when the button is pushed. Because Temple St is one way and there is no pedestrian conflict when MLK has a green, the pedestrian button is a "hot button," meaning it activates immediately. My understanding is that as long as the MLK green is not about to time out to serve cars waiting on Temple St, the pedestrian button will remain hot, otherwise pedestrians will have to wait for the next cycle.
New Traffic Signal for Two-Way Conversion Everyday Engineering 2024-07-11 | South Frontage Rd @ York St in New Haven, CT. The mast arm furthest from the camera was recently installed to convert the one block of York St under the parking garage to two-way traffic (previously two northbound lanes). The new southbound signal phase operates concurrently with the existing northbound phase.
Hamden, CT Rain Garden - 1 Year Later Everyday Engineering 2024-07-06 | This huge rain garden at Town Center Park was constructed about a year ago, and looks incredible now that all the plants have been established. This installation of stormwater management treats runoff from a nearby road before it flows into a brook, and replaces what used to be just an empty grass area.
Southington CT Trail Extension Everyday Engineering 2024-06-16 | This new section of the Farmington Canal Trail adds another mile+ and helps close the gap in Southington. Only a few more miles need to be built until the trail is fully continuous from MA to the CT shoreline
State Street Project - Construction Update 10 Everyday Engineering 2024-06-14 | Phase 1 of the State Street project is complete! Northbound bike lane paved and raised crosswalk at Trumbull Street installed and striped. New traffic pattern for all modes of transport is now in place as we await final design of Phase 2 to continue the project south through downtown.
How to Fix the Farmington Canal Trails Worst Crossing Everyday Engineering 2024-06-10 | In reference to my previous video about a new installation of chicane gates on the Farmington Canal Trail in Cheshire, CT: youtu.be/XUIQ1wtRdsYI came up with two potential redesigns that the town could consider to fix the actual safety issues posed by high speed vehicles at this crossing location. Punishing rail trail users through performative safety theater while the roadway itself goes unaddressed is misguided, and I hope the town will make some actual substantive changes at this crossing.
Derby CT Route 34 Widening Project - June 2024 Everyday Engineering 2024-06-08 | Checking in on this big project which widens the old two lane road to four lanes and updates all the streetscape. I was here last year when everything was torn up and came back to see the progress. As I have mentioned in previous videos about this road, the town of Derby thinks pushing more cars through here will help revitalize the town, but in my opinion, even with the very beautiful streetscaping, it will do the opposite.
State Street Project - Construction Update 9 Everyday Engineering 2024-06-04 | The highway on ramp gets reconfigured with new curb, RRFBs are installed, and the traffic signal at Audubon St comes down as the intersection is converted to two-way stop control
Hazardous Gates Installed on a Multiuse Trail Everyday Engineering 2024-06-01 | These new gates on the Farmington Canal Trail at W Main St in Cheshire CT are hazardous and inaccessible. Who thought this was a good idea?
Removing an Old Traffic Signal Everyday Engineering 2024-06-01 | Signalized intersection being converted to two way stop control with RRFBs and medians for pedestrian crossings. New roadway alignment no longer warrants the signal, and it’s not worth the cost to fully replace as it was in need of some major repairs. We’re keeping the vertical masts in place as they have street lighting on top.State St @ Audubon St, New Haven, CT
New Vertical Arrows at No Left Turn Intersection Everyday Engineering 2024-05-27 | Vertical arrow lenses have been added to the New Haven Downtown Crossing (Route 34 at Orange St) intersection to reinforce that no left turns are not allowed from any direction. The intersection was designed this way to reduce the number of phases, cycle time, and most importantly conflicts. But drivers do not care and often make left turns to get to the highway quicker.The intersection was originally installed with the blank-out, illuminated no left turn signs, even though the prohibition is 24/7 and regular metal signs would have been sufficient, and probably more visible. The new green vertical arrow is now standard installation around highway ramps in CT, but the yellow and red vertical arrows are non-compliant, and apparently, not effective at all. The video also shows a driver proceeding through the red and getting stuck between multiple lanes of exiting highway traffic.
West Haven Beach St Reconstruction Everyday Engineering 2024-05-27 | This roadway project is providing flood protection for the shoreline as well as improving transportation options for all users
Pedestrian Intersection Improvements Everyday Engineering 2024-05-25 | Checking out some sidewalk and crosswalk work at the new entrance to a rail trail
State Street Project - Construction Update 8 Everyday Engineering 2024-05-21 | Work has now started on the east side of the road, improving the geometry at the Audubon St intersection, setting the new curb for the northbound bike lane, and building a pedestrian median at Trumbull St.
Biking Along Vancouver’s Cycletracks Everyday Engineering 2024-05-14 | Exploring the city via bike and pointing out some of the elements that are being used for the bike infrastructure
Bike and Car Traffic from the Burrard St Bridge Everyday Engineering 2024-05-12 | This bike lane over the bridge in Vancouver BC is said to be the busiest in North America. Protected signal phasing for turning vehicles and bikes, and a separate right turn “slip lane” for bikes to bypass the traffic.
Ketchikan, AK Noncompliant Traffic Signal Everyday Engineering 2024-05-12 | Dock St @ Front St, vertical arrows are used to reinforce that no turns are allowed from this direction, but yellow and red vertical arrows are not allowed per the MUTCD
Vancouver Bike Lanes and Protected Intersection Everyday Engineering 2024-05-12 | Riding along some separated cycletracks in downtown and observing the protected intersection of two cycletracks at Richards and Dunsmuir
