Let’s Make West Hartford Center Safer and More Productive Without Spending a Ton of Money

Jay Stange, an advocate for non-motorized transportation and supporting member of Bike West Hartford, authored this Sept 8th op-ed essay in We-Ha.com that calls for improving the design of West Hartford Center. See also Ronni Newton’s prior article about the Wednesday September 21st design workshops on West Hartford Center. In his op-ed, Jay writes:

…Our town staff has begun a process that could make the Town Center of West Hartford more friendly to retail business and safer for non-motorized travelers. There are a lot of possibilities to consider that don’t cost a lot of money. 

I support a car-free LaSalle marketplace (emergency vehicles and deliveries only) from Arapahoe to Farmington. I also support bringing better non-motorized connectivity between Blue Black Square and our traditional Town Center. Right now there is a canyon of arterial traffic separating the two most productive and walkable retail places in our town. We should reduce car travel lanes and modify intersection design to accommodate cars on North/South Main and Farmington in Town Center, but give preference to non-motorized users. 

Graphic by Jay Stange / We-Ha.com