Why is a stretch of Capitol Avenue (from the UHaul building to the intersection with Laurel Street) perpetually covered with litter? I don’t mean a few empty soda bottles or cigarette butts. Garbage. Tires, clothing, broken glass, wrappers, bags, furniture. Why? This road gets considerable traffic, as it’s a major link from West Hartford to downtown. The Connecticut State Capitol is on this street. The Legislative Office Building is on this street.
Last week when many sidewalks were still covered with ice, I had two choices when walking to La Paloma Sabanera: (1) Attempt to walk on the icy, unsalted, unsanded sidewalks and risk falling or (2) Walk in the street and risk getting hit by a car. This choice was compounded by the presence of broken chunks of glass in several spots which could be fallen on. I need to clarify. I am not referring to the smashed window glass which presents a danger, but is basically pebble-sized. You know how in movies there will be a fight at a bar, someone will smash a beer bottle, and then someone else will get threatened or stabbed with the jagged bottle? That’s what I mean. Those were in several places.
I know that graffiti is “removed” (painted over) every so often. That’s nice and all, but after getting through this section of road, I felt the need to be disinfected because of all the litter I stepped on. The spray painted “I tag, therefore I am” announcements are fairly innocuous in comparison with a dirty rank sweatshirt that’s been hanging off a post for months. Near the train overpass, there is an area that resembles a garbage dump. It’s embarrassing.
In downtown I see people sweeping the sidewalks. I can walk about in open-toed heels certain not to step on or in anything that’d send me to the emergency room. I do appreciate this, but I wonder if it’d be possible for these services to extend out into the neighborhoods. We don’t need to be able to eat off the sidewalk, just walk on it in sneakers.
Richard
Thanks for this posting Keri. That area is so bad. Tim and I walk there to get to Real Art Ways and the West End. Impossible after any snow or ice as no one ever bothers with it. Sort of a real forgotten zone. Know what you mean we both feel the need to be disinfected after passing through. We always think will we find a body this time or will something jump out and get us? HA!! Why do we walk there? Because we like it in a way for its weirdness. But it would be even better if the city removed the trash. For as long as we can remember there has been seeping water under the trestle. This is located on the right going east towards Laurel. Get that on your shoes and you may leave the soles behind.
kerri
I have that same expectation of finding a body in that spot. It’s not a comfortable feeling. I would love to see that area behind the fence cleaned up and used as a park of some kind. I’m thinking it could be a Knox Parks project.
meghanquinn
i couldn’t agree with you more kerri. also, what’s up with the (yellow i think) traffic light out under the highway and the (green i think) traffic light out on s. whitney, when you’re going west on capitol? it’s been like that for months!!!
kerri
I think the lights don’t have to be replaced because we are awesomely psychic and can anticipate what the oncoming traffic will do. It’s the same reason why pedestrian crossing signals don’t need to be fixed. Psychic, AND lots of practice playing Frogger in the 80s.
Steve_CTMQ
On a similar note, in a VERY different place, I was up at UConn yesterday for talk and could not believe the amount of litter all over campus. I’m confident when I say the campus is WORSE than Cap Ave.
And I”m not just talking the fringes either, right smack-dab in the middle of campus – for example, I walked in the back of the Torrey Life Sciences building and the trash was just piled up. It was disgusting.
I asked a couple of the professors I was speaking with and they just said that if they (or someone) picked it up, it would be back tomorrow.
Very disheartening. (FYI, if you have a day and 20 large trashbags, you could make at least 50 bucks picking up returnables in Storrs. Start on the road by Huskies and make a loop around campus. Easy money.
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[…] must approve. This is further complicated by coordination (or lack of) with the MDC. (sidenote: the toilet, tire, and couch depository located between Forest and Laurel is apparently state land also. See a trend?) var […]