Patricia Brulotte was struck and killed on Oakwood Avenue in West Hartford last week.

Spero Makris and Linda Hanson, longtime friends of Patricia Brulotte, place flowers at the utility pole near the intersection where she was struck last week. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

By Ronni Newton

A pair of white sneakers – ghost shoes – now hang from a utility pole at the intersection where exactly three days ago, 87-year-old Patricia Brulotte of West Hartford was struck while walking. She succumbed to her injuries and passed away the following day.

The incident occurred at Oakwood Avenue and Saint James Street, at 5:06 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 8, and at that very same time of day on Monday, a vigil was held at the corner to acknowledge and memorialize Brulotte’s death on one of the town’s roadways.

“I think this shows how much the town cares about making our streets safer for all of us, and I really look forward to continuing the work we’ve done in West Hartford and trying to make sure that something like this ever happens again anyplace else in town,” said Mary Donegan of Bike West Hartford, which organized the vigil. A group of about 30 people, that included Mayor Shari Cantor, Deputy Mayor Ben Wenograd, and Town Manager Rick Ledwith, gathered Monday evening. Donegan, who was also a member of the town’s Vision Zero Task force that launched nearly two years ago, called for minute of silence to honor Brulotte.

Mary Donegan of Bike West Hartford, speaks at a vigil for Patricia Brulotte on Nov. 11, 2024. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

The group stood in front of the utility pole at the corner near where Brulotte was stuck, where several bouquets of flowers were placed below the shoes along with a heart with the words “Rest in Peace.” A few who knew Brulotte shared some thoughts.

Susan Wiley said she worked with “Patty” for a number of years in the Berkshire Hathaway real estate office, “and you couldn’t have met a nicer, kinder lady – and I use that word in the old fashioned term – anywhere. We’re all just in shock and she will be greatly missed in our office.”

Susan Wiley, who worked with Patricia Brulotte, speaks at a vigil memorializing her on Nov. 11, 2024. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

Brulotte was still working as a real estate agent when she passed away.

Another woman said she had been friends with Brulotte for years. “We had never ever seen a classier lady than Patty. She was so helpful, so friendly, so respectful.”

Standing at the corner of Oakwood Avenue and St. James Street, a longtime friend of Patricia Brulotte said she was classy, and always helpful andrespectful. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

Lynn Levine said she didn’t know Brulotte but is a big walker around town and has been almost hit several times. “I think that is something we have to fight for,” she said of safety measures. “I think we all have to lobby the town. … Let’s try work on her behalf to make it safer for walkers to be here. That’s my plea.”

Lynn Levine speaks at the vigil for Patricia Brulotte. In the background are Brulotte’s longtime friends, Spero Makris and Linda Hanson. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

Spero Makris and Linda Hanson placed one of the bouquets of flowers at the base of the utility pole, and held each other close. They had been friends with Brulotte for about 25 years. “We were just with her two weeks ago,” Makris said. “We just had dinner,” Hanson said.

“She was very quiet,” said Makris. “A great person. … It comes under the life isn’t fair category.”

On Nov. 11, pedestrians wait to cross at the corner of Oakwood Avenue and St. James Street in West Hartford, where 87-year-old Patricia Brulotte was struck by a vehicle on Nov. 8, 2024. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

Ledwith said the crosswalk across Oakwood Avenue, at the intersection where Brulotte was hit, was one of the areas targeted for a rectangular rapid flashing beacon (RRFD). As one of 70-plus “quick implementation” items on the Vision Zero Action Plan, the devices, which flash brightly when pedestrians are looking to enter the crosswalk, are already in place at multiple sites around town over the past few months. The one at Oakwood and St. James was on the list, but had not yet been installed.

Brulotte was the second pedestrian to be struck and killed by a vehicle in West Hartford in 2024. In January, 80-year-old David Goldfarb  sustained fatal injuries when he was crossing Albany Avenue near Mohegan Drive.

Memorial to Patricia Brulotte at the corner of Oakwood Avenue and St. James Street. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

There were no fatal motor vehicle-related incidents in West Hartford in 2023, but the prior year there were six fatalities. In a period of eight days in December 2022 five people died in town and another was seriously injured as a result of motor vehicle-related incidents. As a result of those tragedies, and at the request of the mayor, the town formed a task force – of which Donegan was a member – and launched a Vision Zero initiative in early 2022.

The West Hartford Town Council adopted the Vision Zero Action Plan on Feb. 27, 2024 – becoming the first municipality in the state to reach the significant milestone toward the goal of eliminating fatalities and severe injuries on West Hartford streets by 2033. The Action Plan, Ledwith said as the Council prepared to vote on its adoption, “focuses on making data driven decisions, redesigning our streets for our most vulnerable users, centering equity in all of our decisions, and engaging our entire community and focusing on accountability.”

On Dec. 20, 2022, at approximately 5 p.m., 89-year-old Eugenia Yurovsky of West Hartford was struck and killed in a hit and run collision near the intersection of Boulevard and Whiting Lane. The driver and vehicle have still not been located or identified. The following morning, a rally for safe streets was held at that location and ghost shoes remain hanging on a utility pole at the site.

Ghost shoes hang from this post at Boulevard and Whiting Lane, commemorating the death of an 89-year-old woman at this location in a hit and run incident in December 2022. The crosswalk now has a rectangular rapid flashing beacon installed. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

“We appreciate what the town has done, and we look forward to just continuing to work to make sure that the street belong to everyone – runners, and walkers, and bikers, and cars,” said Tracy Frankel, a member of Bike West Hartford along with her husband, Ethan.

The Frankels helped organize the vigil and create the memorial to Brulotte on Monday.

“I hope we got the point across,” Ethan Frankel said. “I think we’re in a better place than we were when we met like this on Boulevard two years ago. I think things are happening,” he said. “I don’t think our purpose is saying that the town’s not doing what they need to do. … But we also can’t ignore the fact that this happened so we need to keep our foot on the gas with the direction we’re going. I think we’re going in the right direction.”

Street design, attitude, enforcement are all part of the solution. Ethan Frankel said he calculated today that without traffic lights it would take just 6 minutes longer to go the 7-mile length of West Hartford at 45 miles per hour than at 25 miles per hour. “How do you beat some people over the head with the reality that they’re not gaining anything by driving like maniacs?” he said.

Ghost shoes are part of the memorial to Patricia Brulotte at the corner of Oakwood Avenue and St. James Street. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

A crowd gathers for a vigil at the corner of Oakwood Avenue and St. James Street in West Hartford, where 87-year-old Patricia Brulotte was struck by a vehicle on Nov. 8, 2024. Photo credit: Ronni Newton

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