Yale Steps Towards High Street Conversion

Yale University undertook two weeks’ worth of underground utility ​“exploratory work” on High Street between Chapel and Elm — as it inched towards turning the downtown block into a pedestrian- and cyclist-only plaza, in line with a deal struck by the city more than two years ago.

According to a July 19 memo from the Yale Office of Facilities that was provided to the Downtown-Wooster Square Community Management team, the university undertook that preliminary construction work between July 29 and Aug. 9.

That work — which saw High Street between Chapel and Elm closed during certain parts of the day to vehicle traffic and bicycle traffic, but not to pedestrians — was ​“to prepare for the future pedestrian conversion of High Street,” the July 19 notice reads.

In particular, the ​“strategic and limited exploratory work” included ​“verification of critical underground utility locations.”

The street has subsequently reopened fully to vehicle and bicycle traffic.

The conversion work in question stems from a November 2021 accord that the university and the Elicker administration struck that also saw Yale increase its voluntary payment to the city by $10 million for five years, and by $2 million in the final year of the deal. (The Board of Alders approved the deal in April 2022.)

The High Street portion of the agreement saw the city hand over de facto control of the block between Chapel and Elm, right in the heart of Yale’s downtown campus, to the university, even though the city retained legal ownership of the property.

The university then committed to converting that public street into a new publicly owned plaza open to pedestrians and bicycles, but closed to automobiles. Yale is responsible for designing, converting, maintaining, and controlling the pedestrian- and bicycle-only plaza. The city will still legally own the land.

Top city and Yale officials have previously framed the street conversion as similar to what the university has already done on nearby stretches of Wall Street and High Street, but, with the city rather than the university actually owning the land.

How long exactly will Yale have control over this downtown block? Just for the duration of the six-year agreement? Or for some longer period of time?

City spokesperson Lenny Speiller told the Independent that the duration of this High Street agreement has no definite end date. ​“Yale will maintain this public space for as long as the City and Yale both wish Yale to do so,” he said. ​“It is not limited to the duration of the six-year agreement.”

“The goal is to covert this section of High Street into a vibrant public walkway and a beautiful space that residents, students, and visitors alike can enjoy and that will span the test of time as a right-of-way for people, not cars,” added city Economic Development Administrator Michael Piscitelli.