State Sen. Derek Slap and the rest of the West Hartford legislative delegation have announced the state will allocate $1 million to the town’s plan to improve roadway safety.

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By Ronni Newton 

West Hartford’s Vision Zero Action Plan, which was adopted by the Town Council in late February, will receive $1 million allocated from the state’s soon-to-expire American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, state Sen. Derek Slap and the rest of the town’s legislative delegation announced in a news release late Tuesday.

State Reps. Jillian Gilchrest, Tammy Exum, Kate Farrar, Bobby Gibson, and James Sanchez, along with Slap, all supported the use of the state’s ARPA funds for West Hartford’s Vision Zero Plan, which is the first to be adopted in the state.

The town’s FY25 included an appropriation of $1 million “to begin implementing physical modifications to roadways, intersections, and pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure that were recommended in our Action Plan,” Mayor Shari Cantor noted, but those funds will be used for other purposes thanks to the funding coming from the state. West Hartford’s plan is closely aligned with the goals of the state’s Vision Zero Council, Cantor said.

The ARPA allocations, as part of HB 5523, passed the House 103-48 on Tuesday afternoon, and passed the state Senate 26-10 late Tuesday night, May 7. The current legislative session will end on May 8.

“Improving safety on our roads for motorist, pedestrians, and cyclists is a top priority and something I regularly hear about from constituents,” said Slap in a statement. “This funding will go directly to making our roads safer for everyone and improving our quality of life. I’m grateful for the partnership with the Town Council and Mayor Cantor for highlighting the needs for these funds and ensuring that they will put to great use.”

“Accidents and pedestrian deaths are on the rise throughout our state, and it has been proven that implementing structural and policy changes have the potential to decrease this sad statistic,” said Gilchrest, who applauded the Town Council for moving forward with the Vision Zero plans.

“Pedestrian safety should not be aspirational, which is why I welcome this critical community investment in the West Hartford Vision Zero Plan,” said Exum. “West Hartford was the first community in Connecticut to adopt a Vision Zero Plan. This funding will help bring that plan to fruition, so that we can make streets safer for pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, and public transit users alike.”

Farrar noted that any life lost in a traffic crash is unacceptable, and praised the town for being the first in the state to adopt a Visio Zero Action Plan. “In line with our state’s own Vision Zero Council, the West Hartford blueprint is a data-driven approach that can reduce crashes,” she said. “As a member of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, I’m pleased to deliver $1 million in funding to pursue immediate projects on our roadways that will make our town a safer and more livable community for all.”

“Safety has been and will always be a top priority, and this new investment in the Vision Zero Council embodies our commitment to the public,” said Sánchez. “We have an amazing opportunity to directly address on-going road and pedestrian safety concerns in West Hartford and surrounding communities,” adding that the funding “is imperative to kick start programs that will contain a wide range of strategies to promote better policy, safer design, and more awareness surrounding road safety.”

Gibson added, “West Hartford has made traffic safety a priority. This funding will allow the town to overhaul its infrastructure so human lives are prioritized.”

Cantor said obtaining the additional funding is a “game-changer” for the town. “It enables us to advance our Vision Zero goals of eliminating deaths and serious injuries as a result of traffic crashes by 2033, and provides funding for over 70 projects identified in our Vision Zero Action Plan to be completed by FY ’25.”

Cantor expressed her thanks to the governor as well as to the local delegation for all of their efforts in securing the funding through the state’s ARPA monies. “This is a tremendous accomplishment that will be felt for years to come as our Vision Zero projects become reality.”

The overall goal of West Hartford’s Vision Zero Action Plan is “eliminating fatalities and severe injuries on West Hartford streets by 2033” –10 years from the commencement of the process, which began shortly after multiple deadly crashes in 2022, and includes more than 70 action steps that will be taken in 2024. The town has hired Parker Sorenson, who served as one of the consultants in the development of the Vision Zero Action Plan to oversee the implementation of the program.

The Vision Zero Action Plan, West Hartford Town Manager Rick Ledwith told the Town Council when he presented it for adoption in February, “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.”

The following are the five underlying principles that guided the development and implementation of the Vision Zero Action Plan:

• Deaths and serious injuries caused by traffic crashes are preventable;
• Human life and health should be prioritized in all transportation systems and all aspects of transportation planning and design;
• Human error is inevitable and transportation systems should be forgiving;
• Transportation planning should focus on system-level changes to influence all individuals behavior; and
• Speed is a highly important factor in crash severity.

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