Jack Dougherty: Read Kerri Provost’s July 12th RealHartford post, which takes a closer look at 237 reported crashes of motor vehicles with pedestrians, cyclists, and other people in West Hartford over the past seven years, and asks: “Is West Hartford’s public safety outstanding?” After reviewing patterns regarding the types and locations of crashes, and questioning the degree of safety in this suburb, Kerri offers this conclusion:
Trying to move drivers as quick as possible from suburban home to urban job is an old model. Old. We have long outgrown this. Our roads should reflect this shift in values.
There is no sidewalk along parts of Trout Brook Drive, Asylum Avenue, Albany Avenue, Farmington Avenue, and New Britain Avenue.
There should be one north-south and one east-west bike route in town that is safe enough for both a 7-year old and a 77-year old to use, which connects them with actual amenities (library, grocery store, drug store, etc.). These should involve regional cooperation so that infrastructure does not die at the town line.
Two complete routes.
Sidewalks and adequate lighting on major routes.
Start there.
Jack: See more of Kerri’s insightful analysis and recommendations in this July 12th post on Real Hartford, and also Kerri’s June 2022 Open Letter to the Town of West Hartford after the motor vehicle crash that killed pedestrian Bob Oneal in West Hartford Center. See also my May 2022 post about the West Hartford Crash Map.