Member of Bike West Hartford and Vision Zero Task Force requests input on a road safety improvement survey. The survey also includes map pins users can deploy to locate and describe safety or road problems. 

Submitted by Jay Stange, Board Member of Bike West Hartford 

It’s been three years since I joined a task force to try and stop a frightening string of deaths and serious injuries on our roads in West Hartford. I was angry and frustrated about our neighbors being killed in preventable crashes, but I didn’t have the ultimate or perfect solution. I just knew I wanted to help. I’m grateful to Mayor Shari Cantor for appointing me as a volunteer member on the Town’s Vision Zero Task Force.

Back in January 2023, the Vision Zero Task Force members sat at a big table in a Town Hall conference room introducing ourselves. There were reporters looking for the next story following a horrific string of deadly crashes. There was an audience. The problem seemed immense and intractable: car drivers speeding and distracted by phones, wide roads with designs favoring high speeds, not enough traffic enforcement to staff every intersection citizens requested, a culture of driving everywhere and too few people willing or able to bike, walk or use the bus.

But staff members and citizen volunteers led by Town Manager Rick Ledwith took the job seriously: write and implement a plan to end deaths and serious injuries on West Hartford roads in 10 years. And we got some help.

A federal grant the Town applied for brought two consulting firms together to guide the meetings and author the Vision Zero plan. Enforcement, Engineering and Education were the key themes to the solution. Data drove every decision. Bike West Hartford, which advocates for walkers, bus riders and bicyclists in town, had a seat on the 19-member task force and this organization worked hard in the community to move the road safety agenda forward.

The Task Force identified the most dangerous corridors in West Hartford and started figuring out how to change them to be less deadly. It took a year to write a good plan and ask the Town Council to adopt it. Many in the community doubted the work, some even calling it the “Zero Vision” plan.

Now, three years later, crashes still take lives and seriously injure our most vulnerable community members. Recently, a 17-year-old Hall High School student was seriously injured near his school off of North Main Street after a football game. Police are investigating it as a hit and run pedestrian-car crash. My 14-year-old daughter crosses North Main on her bike on that same block 2-4 times a day going to and from school and Hall soccer practice.

The good news is Vision Zero solutions are already taking shape in our community. Hundreds of projects have been implemented. Hundreds more are on the way.

There are physical changes to roads, like road diets, protected bike lanes that narrow roadways and forced slower travel speeds so inevitable crashes aren’t fatal. Inexpensive quick builds made of paint and vinyl bollards are being tested all over town to see if they reduce crashes. The ones that work are already being made permanent with concrete. The ones that don’t work are torn out.

Raised crosswalks and flashing pedestrian beacons are being installed all over town. This winter or early spring, automated camera enforcement will begin to fine the owners of cars traveling 10 mph over posted speeds.

There are cultural changes, as well. Several West Hartford schools have parent groups actively organizing bike buses, walk/bike to school days, and safety education after school. Several groups in town, including Bike West Hartford, advocate for bike, walk and bus infrastructure, better safety training, and events to bring folks together to solve this deadly problem.

The next big step is in the hands of our community. Another federal grant has provided funding for an extensive Safe Routes to School Project to improve road safety around all sixteen schools in our town. The project is being led by Toole Design, one of the consultant firms that guided the Vision Zero process. One of Toole’s local managers lives in our town and has kids going to school here. Working with Town Staff, they have developed a Survey.

We need parents and all community members to take five minutes and answer the survey so the Town can focus new safety improvements in the right places. This is the most important thing you can do to help us end preventable road deaths and serious injuries right now.

There is a tool in the survey to put a pin on a map and write 255 characters to describe a safety problem. Add concrete examples of hazards such as missing sidewalks, dangerous crossings, speeding, or unsafe drop off areas. You can also just answer the questions.

Next week the consultant team and town staff will do site visits at the schools to see the problems with their own eyes. A community meeting to summarize what they have learned will come next month.

Please add your voice. All our children need us to get involved. In your responses, please highlight how safer streets allow children’s independence and accessibility for all.

Thank you for helping us get everyone (drivers, walkers, bus riders and bicyclists) safely home in West Hartford.

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