City Paves Streets, Considers Bike Lanes

A city-contracted truck removed the top layer of asphalt from Mead Street, kickstarting New Haven’s summer season of tearing up and smoothing out roads.

“It’s one of our favorite times of year,” Mayor Justin Elicker said just before the action, at a Monday afternoon press conference announcing the start of the season. City officials met on the sidewalk of Mead Street, between Judson Avenue and Derby Avenue.

Mead is the fourth of 46 streets to be milled this summer, which is the step in the re-paving process in which the old asphalt is removed in order to prepare for the new asphalt. The City of New Haven has set aside $2.8 million for this infrastructure repair project. The full list of streets to be paved can be found here and seen at the bottom of the article.

New Haven has 237 miles of streets, which, according to Elicker, need repairing ​“every 12 – 15 years.” Each summer, a ​“thoughtful process” weighing factors like road conditions, location, and ​“equitable treatment” culminates in a Resources Allocation Committee (RAC) decision on which streets get re-paved. The RAC is composed of four voting members: city Chief Administrative Officer Regina Rush-Kittle, City Engineer Giovanni Zinn, Westville/Amity Alder Richard Furlow, and Dwight Alder Frank Douglass.

Milling is expected to take three weeks, while paving, which will begin after milling and on a slightly overlapping schedule, is expected to take six or seven weeks.

Elicker and Director of Public Works Michael Siciliano told residents to be sure to obey posted no-parking notices, which go up 24 hours before milling or paving begins. ​“Sometimes it can be a hassle,” Elicker said, but, Siciliano added, ​“the end result is well-worth” the parking-based inconvenience. As the press conference wrapped up and the milling began, Elicker’s own car had to be moved out of the way.

The milling process has been contracted to Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc., while the paving will be done by asphalt producer and contractor Tilcon. The asphalt that gets stripped off the street during milling is repurposed into a material called Recycled Asphalt Pavement (or RAP), which can then be put ​“right back into the street” during paving, according to Brian Garrity of Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming.

“Asphalt is the most recycled product in the world,” he said.

It’s unclear how many of the re-paved streets will be re-lined to add bike lanes, but city Director of Transportation, Traffic & Parking Sandeep Aysola told the Independent that the city is ​“evaluating the feasibility of adding bike lanes within existing right of way” along Cedar, Central, Norton, Hillside, Prospect, Mitchell, East, Blatchley, Audubon, Grove, and George streets. The final list, however, is subject to change.