The Town of West Hartford Engineering Division sent this Sept 2nd response to the WH Pedestrian and Bicycle Commission (WHPBC) regarding their August 26th public meeting to discuss the New Park Avenue Complete Streets Project, funded by $3.8 million in state grants.
The WHPBC requested the public meeting in their July 25th letter with specific recommendations to calm traffic and improve safety for vulnerable users along this busy four-lane road. In support of the WHPBC recommendations, Bike West Hartford board members issued our August 2022 call-to-action with a one-page summary map, shown below.
In the Sept 2nd letter, the WH Engineering Division promised “to further review” two of the WHPBC’s recommendations: “the inclusion of bike lanes or a cycle track south of Trout Brook Trail to New Britain Avenue” and “the inclusion of a two‐way cycle track between Trout Brook Trail and Talcott Road (in lieu of bike lanes),” as well as “the interface between those two project elements.” The WH Engineering Division will continue to seek input from other stakeholders, “including adjacent properties and Public Works,” and will share its review with the WHPBC and other stakeholders as soon as it becomes available, prior to advancing to the 70% semi-final design stage. See the full PDF version of the Sept 2nd WH Engineering Division letter.
Bike West Hartford strongly encourages the public to continue to send input about the project to WH Town Engineer Greg Sommer (Greg.Sommer@WestHartfordCT.gov), WH Assistant Engineer James Brennan (james.brennan@westhartfordct.gov), New Park Avenue Complete Streets Project (newparkavenue@westhartfordct.gov), WH Town Manager Rick Ledwith (TownManager@WestHartfordCT.gov), with cc: to us at BikeWestHartfordInc@gmail.com.