Most interesting about the public meeting attended by a dozen people tonight was the total omission of Senator Fonfara’s bold move to re-open Flower Street. His provision, which was voted through by State Senate and House on Tuesday night as part of a bond package, states that the north-south street which runs parallel to Sigourney and Broad, must remain open to vehicular traffic for a minimum of twenty hours each day. Currently, the street is barricaded in the middle, not allowing even emergency vehicles through.
The public meeting focused on the initial design phase of streetscaping around what will be the Sigourney Street New Britain-to-Hartford Busway station, with changes mostly planned for areas at and south of that platform. The presentation and conversation covered potential changes elsewhere in Frog Hollow, including along Capitol Avenue and Broad Street.
City of Hartford, TPA Design Group, Greater Hartford Transit District, and CTfastrak/CT DOT were all at the table, with GHTD and TPA leading most of the presentation. As hopeful as anyone wants to be about change to what currently showcases poor design and maintenance, the cynicism that comes with years of seeing people fall through on promises was evident in public discussion. For some, it seemed like after the DOT presented designs, the City came forward with designs for the same areas. Are we spending money on duplicate services? Who takes the lead? What falls to the side? In this case, we learned that the DOT has no money marked for Capitol Avenue streetscape improvements; the City is leading all of that.
But most of what came out of this meeting was the sense that there are many unknowns, such as what is happening with the proposed roundabout for Sigourney/Park Terrace and Russ Street. Sandy Fry of GHTD — the organization that she said is serving as an extension for the City — stated that this “should be moving before long,” but right now, as with most things, the money is not there.
Bump outs, also known as curb extensions, are being considered as traffic calming measures for the intersections of Laurel and Hawthorn, along with Laurel and Capitol. Cyclists at the table opposed these, as they mean a sudden loss of travel lane for those on bikes. Fry explained that when done right, curb extensions are not dangerous. But one only look at Park Street or the reconfigured Farmington Avenue in West Hartford to see examples of this being done without consideration to non-motorized traffic.
An extension of the bike lane on Capitol Avenue is being considered, but nothing sounds definite there. It depends on if there is room, we were told.
The possibility of painting bikes on Putnam Street, but not an actual designated lane, was mentioned.
No specifics about Broad Street from Capitol to Park unfolded, as the focus was supposed to be on the Sigourney Street area, but we did learn that the temporary paint for the bike lane on Broad from Capitol to Farmington will be getting redone soon (no date provided) and in green.
Improvements for pedestrians are just as up in the air as those for cyclists. The photo above shows how north-south access promises to be safer for pedestrians, but for those seeking to use the south side of Hawthorn, good luck.
A crosswalk may be added near Piggy’s, at the corner of Laurel and Hawthorn. It was unclear whether or not a crosswalk is planned mid-block on Hawthorn to get people safely from the south side to Imlay. It sounds like the State is designing this, but the State’s plans were not available at this meeting, a source of frustration for those trying to comprehend all proposed and planned changes for this area.
There are plans to add lights along the south side of Hawthorn. Additionally, there will be new lights on the Sigourney Street bridge that passes over Capitol Avenue, along with lights in the underpasses on Capitol.
Among other ideas for streetscape improvements: low maintenance greenery, new sidewalks, bike racks, and signage. David Corrigan of the Frog Hollow NRZ suggested using the coquí as neighborhood identification on the signs, which led to hilarious confusion, and eventually, to schooling the planning folks on the coquí. (Full disclosure: I chirped like a coquí thinking that would clarify matters. It did not.)
You’ll know more when we know more.
In the meantime, the State Department of Transportation will be holding a public information meeting on May 12 about potential options for the pedestrian and cyclist bridge on Flower Street. The “open house” portion is from 5:30-6pm; presentation begins at 6:15. This will be in the Lyceum at 227 Lawrence Street. It is open to the public.
Justin Eichenlaub
“If there’s space…” Of course there is space. We have so much space on our roads in the U.S. The phrase they should be using is: “If there is political will,” or “If there is a public support” for better ped and bike infrastructure. Thanks for the thorough report on this meeting! – J
Tony C
Thanks for the heads up on the info session and Fonfara’s legislative language. CT DOT made their job unnecessarily difficult by not working a creative solution on Flower Street.
I’ll spread the word on the info session. Glad that the public input and disclosure is required. Hopefully these approaching infrastructure changes in Hartford will improve conditions and step back towards streets for humans. Community input on the projects is key.