Jason Wang a member of the board of Bike West Hartford, shared a presentation advocating for various quick-build measures during the Town Council’s Community Comment session on March 25.

By Ronni Newton

Resident and Bike West Hartford board member Jason Wang addressed the Town Council Tuesday night during a scheduled “Community Comment” session, representing the nonprofit organization in calling for the implementation of “quick-builds” as soon as possible – actions which he said are low-cost methods that are proven to increase road safety.

During the Town Council meeting that followed, Town Manager Rick Ledwith stated that a supplement to the recently-released Vision Zero Annual Report has been in the works and is being finalized, incorporating many of the types of quick-build projects mentioned by Wang.

“In late 2022, we decided collectively, as a town, that it is no longer acceptable to continue losing member of our community to car crashes,” Wang said, noting the tragic incidents that occurred on West Hartford roadways – six fatalities in 2022 that led to West Hartford’s adoption of Vision Zero. While there were no deaths on the town’s roadways in 2023, three pedestrians died after being struck in 2024.

Wang, at the time representing only his personal opinion, wrote an editorial published by We-Ha.com last month urging the town to move “faster and smarter” to immediately implement engineering solutions, including curb bump-outs and raised crosswalks, measures which have been taken in Hoboken, NJ – a city that has successfully implemented Vision Zero. Wang said he recently visited Hoboken and spoke with city staff, who recommended targeting the highest risk and highest need areas.

Now, speaking on behalf of Bike West Hartford, Wang on Tuesday shared the organization’s vision for 2025. “We strongly recommend that West Hartford proceed with quick-build curb extensions immediately in a staged fashion, starting with what we call Priority A, which is school zones, overlapping with the High Injury Network.” The High Injury Network (HIN) is a Vision Zero term defined as a “prioritization tool to focus on streets with crashes resulting in a high number of fatalities and serious injuries.”

There are approximately 36 intersections that Bike West Hartford considers Priority A, Wang said, including roads that serve Charter Oak, Hall, Sedgwick, Duffy, Smith STEM, and Whiting Lane schools, “which we believe can and should be done by the beginning of summer.”

Priority B includes 37 intersections in school zones that are outside of the HIN, and the Priority C, Wang said, are locations on the HIN but not in a school zone.

The intersection of Sedgwick Road and Westminster Drive/Lemay Street, which is a busy intersection with students walking to both Sedgwick Middle School and Duffy Elementary School, is an example of the type of crossing that would benefit from quick-build curb extensions. The measure could decrease the distance for pedestrians on the north side of Sedgwick Road crossing at Lemay, for example, from 38 feet to 20 feet, and altering the turning radius would make pedestrians in the intersection more visible to drivers, he said.

“Very simple curb extensions really cost about $400 for flex posts … We can do this for our children, for our community, today,” said Wang, noting that he personally has obtained 27 flex posts. “This intervention is simple, inexpensive, and highly effective.”

In addition, the crossing distance on Sedgwick Road from Westminster Drive is currently 48 feet. A refuge island – another quick-build measure that creates a safe and visible place so that pedestrians can cross part-way and then wait to complete their crossing – would mean that “suddenly, our children and families only need 12 feet, followed by a break, followed by another 12 feet” to traverse that intersection. A similar approach could also dramatically reduce the crossing distance from one side of Westminster to the other along the south side of Sedgwick Road.

Wang said it would cost just a few thousand dollars, even offering to work with other citizens to do it themselves at no cost to the town.

“We call on our town leaders to get quick-build curb extension onto the ground in priority locations, Priority A by summer,” Wang said, using inexpensive flex posts.

He also noted that Bike West Hartford supports raised crosswalks, as well as other traffic calming interventions to slow traffic and increase safety.

“We know the problem areas, we know the solutions, we have the money. The cost of doing nothing is far greater than the cost of intervention,” Wang said. “The time for action and implementation is now,” he said, receiving a round of applause and a standing ovation from fellow Bike West Hartford members and others in the audience.

While Community Comment is not the opportunity for the Town Council to interact with the public, Mayor Shari Cantor did note that Ledwith’s Town Manager’s Report included an update on Vision Zero action items that are being discussed by the Council’s Community Planning & Economic Development Committee (CPED).

In that report, Ledwith said that the supplement to the Vision Zero Annual Report is still in draft form and will be discussed with CPED at their April meeting and then rolled out.

The supplement identifies 25 locations for the implementation of curb extensions, and other quick-build items being proposed for various locations in town that include hardened centerlines, pedestrian refuge islands, median islands (which are not associated with crosswalks), mini-roundabouts, and neighborhood traffic circles.

“We will hit the ground running in the next few weeks,” Ledwith said, and while the draft plan identifying locations is not ready for release to the public, he did tell We-Ha.com that the Sedgwick Road and Westminster Drive area is a priority for curb extensions as well as pedestrian refuge islands.

The town has some materials on hand already, and will be purchasing more, Ledwith said, and the quick-build projects will be implemented on top of the other planned Vision Zero Action Plan items.

West Hartford received a nearly $3.2 million SS4A grant in 2024 for a “Vulnerable User Safety Program” that includes an 18-month automated red light camera enforcement program at eight intersections in town, as well as other quick-build and permanent safety improvements to sidewalks and roadways. That grant, like many federal programs, has been put into limbo and is awaiting final approval from the Federal Highway Administration, and Ledwith said he has not heard much from the FHA in the past few weeks.

The status of the grant “will not prevent us from moving forward,” he told the Council, and if necessary funds will be made available through the Capital Improvement Program as well as money the town will receive from the speed enforcement program, which can fund the red light camera program as well as future Vision Zero projects.

Once approved by CPED, there will be a map on the Vision Zero webpage indicting the locations of the quick-build projects as well as updates to other projects.

As for the status of the speed enforcement camera program, Ledwith said there are several steps left prior to implementation, which is planned for later this year. A hearing is scheduled for April 8 on an ordinance, which must be approved by the Town Council, and then incorporated into a specific plan, identifying the locations for cameras. A consultant is being hired to assist with that plan development, which is required by the state to be presented at two public meetings that the town will hold over the summer.

The timeline includes adoption of the final plan by the Town Council at its first meeting in September, and then approval by the Connecticut Department of Transportation as well as the FHA. He has been assured that those two final steps “will be quick,” Ledwith said.

Like what you see here? Click here to subscribe to We-Ha’s newsletter so you’ll always be in the know about what’s happening in West Hartford! Click the blue button below to become a supporter of We-Ha.com and our efforts to continue producing quality journalism.