Downtown Crossing New Haven

The Downtown Crossing New Haven initiative is transforming Route 34, an urban-renewal-era highway into a system of urban boulevards that will reconnect New Haven neighborhoods. It will create welcoming streets designed for shared use by pedestrians, bicyclists, and slower-speed motor vehicle traffic. It will also include the first protected bike and pedestrian intersection in the state of Connecticut.

HNTB was engaged by the City of New Haven after they were awarded competitive federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery II (TIGER) grants from the U.S. Department of Transportation to lead the design-build plan for this transformative project.

Meeting all federal and state requirements, the design-build solution included freeing approximately 10-acres of prime land, previously inaccessible due to the highway’s rights of way, for economic development. HNTB outlined a plan to lessen construction impacts by breaking the project into three phases.

For New Haven’s first design-build project and the first municipally led design-build project, a base technical concept was also developed to accompany the design-build RFP, which helped to alleviate ADA, utility, and drainage issues.

This project and team leaders have been recognized as the 2020 Innovative Transportation Solutions award winner from WTS Connecticut.