Update: News coverage of the last scheduled Vision Zero Task Force meeting on Monday Jan 8th 2024: “Frustration about inaction mounts” with Town of West Hartford, Jan 10th CT Insider news story by Michael Walsh (gift link)
Tragedy struck again on Saturday night in West Hartford, as another pedestrian was killed by a driver, this time on Albany Avenue and Mohegan Drive. While we do not yet know details about this crash, we offer our condolences to the victim’s family, and demand that town leaders take action to improve safety on our dangerous roadways.
Bike West Hartford calls for a 30-day public review period to read the not-yet-released *full* draft of the Vision Zero Action Plan. Also, we ask Task Force members to listen to specific suggestions to strengthen the plan before forwarding it to Town Council.
The last scheduled meeting of the Vision Zero Task Force is Monday January 8th at 5pm in Town Hall Room 400. We are disappointed that the meeting agenda, published only on Friday afternoon, does not make time for thoughtful review and public comment. The agenda states that a “Summary of comments and Action Plan revisions” will be presented at this meeting, but no one has seen *any* revisions, nor have we even seen a *full* draft of the document, as the consultants acknowledged on Dec 6th that the partial draft distributed on that date was not yet complete.
In Bike West Hartford’s mid-December statement, we praised that the first 30 pages of the draft Action Plan acknowledged the serious problem that West Hartford faces with increasing numbers of deaths and serious injuries on our roadways. But we called for ways to strengthen the draft plan:
- Give Us an Action Plan, Not an Audit Plan
- Leaders Promised Quick-Build Road Safety Designs One Year Ago
- Reverse Anti-Walk and Anti-Bike Town Policies and Practices
- Demand a Public Hearing on the Full Draft
Show up and speak up at the last scheduled meeting of the Vision Zero Task Force on Monday January 8th from 5-7pm in Town Hall Room 400. If you cannot attend, email town leaders (and cc: us at BikeWestHartfordInc@gmail.com):
- Mayor Shari Cantor Mayor@WestHartfordCT.gov
- Deputy Mayor Ben Wenograd ben.wenograd@westhartfordct.gov
- Councilor Carol Blanks CarolABlanksWH@gmail.com
- Councilor Alberto Cortes Alberto.Cortes@WestHartfordCT.gov
- Councilor Mary Fay Maryfay4WHCT@gmail.com
- Councilor Tiffani McGinnis Tiffani.McGinnis@WestHartfordCT.gov
- Councilor Debra Polun Deb.Polun@WestHartfordCT.gov
- Councilor Barry Walters Barry.Walters@WestHartfordCT.gov
- Council Mark Zydanowicz Mark.Zydanowicz@WestHartfordCT.gov
- Town Manager Rick Ledwith TownManager@WestHartfordCT.gov
