The West Hartford Center Infrastructure Master Plan is being implemented on LaSalle Road, while Vision Zero Action Plan updates and other road construction projects are happening throughout town.

By Ronni Newton

Summer is prime time for construction – with roadways slightly less crowded due to schools being out of session and residents taking vacations – and many areas of West Hartford are in the midst of large-scale construction projects.

Most visible is the work being done on LaSalle Road as the West Hartford Center Infrastructure Master Plan construction is going full steam ahead – and is at roughly the halfway point for what is being done in 2025 – but there are also projects taking place on roadways throughout town as dozens of action items are being implemented as part of Vision Zero, along with regular annual road paving and reconstruction. Several other projects that have been on the horizon for years may also get underway before the end of the year as well.

West Hartford Center

This is the first year of the two-year project to update sidewalks, street trees, roadways, lighting, and other amenities on LaSalle Road in 2025 and then Farmington Avenue in 2026, as the town implements the long-discussed West Hartford Center Infrastructure Master Plan.

Concrete work and lighting for Phases 1A and 1B have been completed, with the new sidewalks open to pedestrians between Ellsworth Road and the Memorial Road Connector on the east side of LaSalle Road, and between Farmington Avenue and Crush Wine Bar on the west side of LaSalle Road. The sidewalk had initially cut off in the middle of Crush Wine Bar, but that issue was rectified last week and by the end of the week Crush was able to join Àvert in setting up tables for outdoor dining.

The latest update from the town’s construction manager, M&J Engineering, indicated that the current focus has been on Phase 2B – the west side of LaSalle Road between Union Kitchen and Arapahoe Road, where soil cells are in the process of being installed, along with electrical work for the new lighting, and the installation of curbing.

The remaining sidewalk grading and concrete pouring for Phase 2B should take place this week.

The most recent update indicates that the week of July 14 visible commencement of work on Phase 2A – the stretch of the east side of LaSalle Road from bluemercury (at the corner of LaSalle and Farmington) through The Friendly Toast – will get underway, beginning with the installation by contractor Gerber Construction of roughly 150 linear feet of construction fencing. While access to businesses will remain open at all times, the LaSalle Road entrance to the Farmington Avenue parking lot will be temporarily closed off. The other entrance to that lot – on Farmington Avenue – will remain open and the exit onto South Main Street will not be impacted. The initial work on Phase 2A will include storm drainage improvements and the installation of soil cells for the new street trees as well as electrical conduit.

“We recognize that this is a highly trafficked area and are committed to maintaining access wherever possible,” M&J Engineering’s update states. “At least four feet of pavers along the building frontages will be preserved for as long as safely feasible to support pedestrian access to local businesses.”

The construction schedule calls for Phases 2A and 2B to be completed around Aug. 19, with the third and final phase beginning right after that and completed by early November.

Town Manager Rick Ledwith confirmed to We-Ha.com that the 52 new street trees (replacing 36 street trees that previously lined LaSalle Road) will be planted in 2025, which should dramatically soften the current barren appearance of the streetscape.

Road reconstruction and Vision Zero

As planned, the first two weeks of July have brought the installation of many Vision Zero Action Plan safety measures to roadways throughout town.

“We’ve been making progress,” Town Engineer Greg Sommer told We-Ha.com on Monday, noting that most of the planned raised crosswalks were installed the week leading up to July 4th weekend, along with three speed humps on South Highland Street.

Both speed humps and raised crosswalks are three to four inches high and are measures to slow down traffic. The raised crosswalks act as speed humps and are designed to make pedestrians more visible. Many of the locations where raised crosswalks are being installed in West Hartford already have Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFB) in place – devices also intended to increase pedestrian safety.

Additional quick-build safety measures that are part of the Vision Zero initiative have recently been installed – including bollards to create curb extensions at all four corners of the intersection of South Quaker Lane and Kingswood Road, and at the intersection of Westminster Drive and Sedgwick Road – where bright yellow posts create a pedestrian refuge island so that pedestrians have a safe place to wait if they are unable to completely cross the street. During the period of time when pedestrians are walking to and from school, crossing guards will completely stop traffic at this intersection.

In addition, a pedestrian refuge island has been created on Sedgwick Road at Wardwell Road – where a crossing guard will remain during the before and after school period – and a “hardened center lane” has been installed on Sedgwick Road at the intersection of Tunxis Road – which should slow motorists who often make a quick turn heading westbound.

“They look like they are pretty quick and easy to implement, but a lot of planning went into it,” Sommer said of the quick-builds. “We even took out a snowplow on a 90-degree summer day,” he said, noting that the ability of the plow to navigate the South Quaker and Kingswood intersection was part of the planning and the placement of the bollards was altered slightly following the plow test. Once the first set of diverters was installed, however, it’s easier to build out subsequent projects.

Some painting and signage installation remains to be done for the areas that have new raised crosswalks, and Sommer said Public Works will be doing that soon.

Another round of quick-builds will also be taking place this year, including the installation of raised crosswalks on King Phillip Drive at King Philip Middle School and Aiken Elementary School – as part of the completion of the ongoing roadway reconstruction project.

There is also a mini-roundabout being installed on King Philip Drive at Old Meadow – intended to be a permanent rather than a quick-build measure, Sommer said.

Two others will be installed elsewhere in town and tested as as quick-build measures utilizing pavement markings and temporary delineators, including a traffic circle at the intersection of Elmfield Road and Somerset Street. A mini-roundabout will be tested as a quick-build at Mohegan Drive at Brewster, Sommer said.

A portion of Sedgwick Road is scheduled for a full-scale reconstruction in 2026, and those plans remain in the design stage. The stretch west of Sedgwick Middle School – from Wardwell Road to Ridgewood Road – will be restriped with narrowed traffic lanes and the addition of bike lanes, while the area beginning at the intersection of Wardwell east to South Main Street, where the pavement is in poor condition, will be resurfaced and have additional updates made.

While some of the safety measures planned for Sedgwick Road – like raising the entire intersection of Sedgwick and Wardwell – will await the reconstruction project next year, those plans did not pre-empt some of the quick-builds from being implemented this summer. “We wanted to see how the quick-builds would hold up through the season,” Sommer said.

All of the Vision Zero measures – quick-builds as well as permanent changes – are intended to make West Hartford’s roadways safer for all users, and are part of the short- and long-term goals of the Vision Zero initiative, which has the goal of zero deaths and zero serious injuries as a result of traffic crashes within 10 years – which in the case of West Hartford is by 2033.

Everyone wants the town to be safer immediately, but while incremental changes can – and are – being made, everything can’t be fixed  overnight. Education and outreach have been recently ramped up, and through the list serve the town has been informing the community about the addition of safety measures, and also sending out messages about how residents can do their part – including signing the Vision Zero Pledge, putting a Vision Zero magnet on their car, and becoming part of the solution.

On Monday, the below message was sent out by the town regarding speeding.

The measures that are being implemented this summer are intended to slow people down, Sommer said. After being told that drivers were being surprised by some of the raised crosswalks – including the one on Flatbush Avenue near the Glover Soccer Complex – and taking them way too fast, he said those drivers probably won’t do that a second time. “Hopefully it will start to change behavior, he said.

In addition to the work being done as part of Vision Zero, on average the town repaves 8.5 miles of its 217 miles of roadway every year as part of regular maintenance. The second round of road resurfacing is underway – and the town sent out a notice on Monday that if weather permits, milling work will begin on Mountain Road on Tuesday, July 15, beginning at 7 a.m. “Mountain Road, from Richmond Road to Still Road, will be milled, followed by the first course of pavement, and then the top course,” the announcement states. The work is expected to take three days, and motorists are advised to avoid the area and seek alternate routes.

A third round will be scheduled to begin September with those roadways to be announced later this summer.

Cameras and other safety-related projects

Automated enforcement is coming to West Hartford, perhaps by the end of 2025.

The Town of West Hartford has received a $669,007 federal Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant for the speed management pilot program, and the Town Council passed an ordinance this spring permitting automated enforcement of speeding as well as red light violations.

The installation of 15 speed enforcement cameras will come first, and the town has announced the first of two public information meetings will be held on July 30, from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Town Hall Auditorium.

“Our consultant, VHB & VN Engineers, will provide an overview, solicit feedback, and answer questions,” the town said in a news release. The initial public information session will not include a list of the planned locations for the cameras.

The town has also created a web page to keep the public informed of the project.

Once the plan is drafted and recommendations for camera locations are finalized, a second public forum will be held in early September to review those plans.

West Hartford also 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. The grant is in the process of being finalized.

Another effort related to pedestrian safety for the community as a whole is the installation of accessible pedestrian signals (APS), which are in the process of being installed at four locations this summer.

“Accessible Pedestrian Signals (APS) are devices that provide auditory, visual, and vibrotactile information to pedestrians who are blind or who have low vision, who may also have hearing loss, so they can know when they should begin to cross at a signalized intersection. The devices communicate WALK and DON’T WALK at signalized intersections in non-visual formats to pedestrians,” the town said in an announcement accompanied by a photo of crews installing conduit for the system at the South Main Street entrance to the Town Hall parking lot.

Equipment will also be installed at the following locations this summer:

• Farmington Avenue at Quaker Lane South
• South Quaker Lane at Boulevard
• Raymond Road at Isham Road
• Trout Brook Drive at Boulevard

Other long-planned road projects

New Park Avenue is still slated for its long-awaited makeover, Sommer said. The transformation will include a road diet with two-way center turning lane and the installation of a separated bike lane.

Another long-planned project is the replacement of the Fern Street Bridge.

“We are hopeful and are working through coordination issues,” Sommer said Monday. Both projects involve other entities including the MDC and the state, and must be approved by the Capital Regional Council of Governments (CCROG) before going out to bid. There is still some work being done on plans to update the signal at New Park and New Britain Avenue which is in process.

“Both will be bid this season, but [the commencement of work] will depend on the contractor’s schedule,” Sommer said.

He confirmed that these roadway projects are completely independent of Vision Zero and the town’s regular road maintenance work and the funding sources are completely separate.

Also in the pipeline is rehabilitation of Park Road. While that project is a bit further behind, Sommer said, he is still hoping it will go out to bid during this construction season. One of the hold-ups had been discussion with stakeholders of the possibility – which ended up not working out – for substituting of on-street angled parking for some of the parking that’s currently available in small, often awkward-to-navigate lots right in front of storefronts.

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