“I love this place, I love this street,” Nica’s Market owner Joseph Sabino said.
Sabino has owned Nica’s Market on Orange Street in New Haven for more than three decades.
“It’s very important to keep business, it’s not only business now, it is a friendship, and it’s people I have seen for 36 years,” Sabino said.
Sabino is looking forward to new proposed construction on Orange Street that aims to slow down traffic and create a shareable roadway for drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists. Most importantly, Sabino is happy that parking will remain on both sides of the street, which he said is key to having customers stop by.
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“For me, it’s a great idea to keep the parking, and slow down the speed,” Sabino said.
After receiving feedback from the East Rock neighborhood, city officials created a design plan to build a “neighborhood greenway” on the stretch of Orange Street that expands from Humphrey Street to Cold Spring Street.
“Which would texture the roads, make it a slower street, put in additional pedestrian improvements, safety islands and allow all road users to share the same space,” New Haven Economic Development Administrator Michael Piscitelli said.
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According to the city, drivers and bicyclists would share a slow driving lane and the speed limit would be lowered to 20 MPH. There would also be bump outs, raised traffic calming elements, and the road surface would be colored to alert the community of the changes.
“It’s based on a number of really great European models, so, new for New Haven, and new for Connecticut, but we think is the right solution for Orange Street,” Piscitelli said.
Many local neighbors say it is a great idea for the area and they are looking forward to construction getting underway, which the city anticipates will begin in the fall of 2025.
“It would be modernizing the neighborhood. It would definitely be taking into account that more and more pedestrians are walking, and not everybody is using a car these days,” Sean O’Brien said.
“I think that is wonderful. I think if they can design and implement a plan where it’s safer for people to walk, and to slow down traffic, it is a win-win,” Aidan Stewart said.
The project would be funded through the state, the cost of construction is still being determined.
