Sidewalk cycling is illegal in New Haven, but that doesn’t stop student cyclists. I have seen Yalies bike on the crowded footpaths of Elm Street and Prospect Street, even straight across the grass on Cross Campus. It’s dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists alike. Riding on the sidewalk makes cyclists less visible to cars, increasing the risk of collisions at intersections and driveways. Yale’s sidewalk cyclists, motorized scooter riders and skateboarders rarely yield to pedestrians, who are forced to share the sidewalk with bikes moving three times as fast as them. The scariest part of being a STEM student should be the problem sets, not having to dodge the cyclists gunning down Science Hill. 

And yet, I brought my mom’s old bike down to New Haven at the start of the 2020 school year. I was living in East Rock and wanted a quick way to get to campus. I soon learned how scary biking in the city can be. Cars gave me very little space when passing. At some intersections, I would get off and walk my bike rather than trust motorists to spot me as I turned. I was right to be cautious. In October of that same year, a law school student was killed while biking through an intersection that had already been the site of two deadly crashes. 

I ended every bike ride with tense shoulders and sore wrists from gripping the handlebars so tightly. Biking was the most efficient way to get to campus and the grocery store, but I wished there was a way to feel safer. Bike lanes give cyclists the peace of mind I was looking for, but there aren’t many in New Haven, and even fewer that are protected from traffic. In the absence of designated paths for bicycles, sidewalks seem like the next best thing.

Now I understand: students don’t ride their bikes on sidewalks because they’re jerks, but because they’re trying to navigate a city that’s hostile to cyclists. Whether we’re conscious of it or not, the built environment shapes the way we engage with the world. Supposedly individual choices, like where to live or how to get to school, are often encoded by the layout of the cities we call home. In New Haven, decades of vehicle-centric planning have created a city built for cars, not people. Absurd transit situations are common — the fastest way to make the 2-mile journey from campus to the base of East Rock involves getting on the highway. 

We have the ability to build a city that values the health and safety of our community. Efforts like the redevelopment of State Street have the potential to make New Haven a more bike-friendly city, improving the lives of cyclists and perhaps inspiring more residents to travel on two wheels rather than four. The city should consider more projects that make it easier for cyclists to get around, such as protected bike lanes around downtown, a bikeway to and from Union Station and two-way or contraflow paths for cyclists on the city’s many one-way streets. 

As students who call New Haven home, we should support and join grassroots groups like the Safe Streets Coalition that are working towards a more bikeable future. Better bike infrastructure would mean less pollution, lower noise levels and safe streets for everyone. And pedestrians could finally have the sidewalks to themselves. 

ELIZABETH HOPKINSON is a senior in Jonathan Edwards College. Contact her at elizabeth.hopkinson@yale.edu.