Did you know that if you sign up for a vaccination clinic at the Convention Center, the only directions they provide are based on the assumption that you will be driving there?
I’m sure this is the case for other places too, and it sucks. There’s no other way to put it. Sorry, not sorry.
This isn’t some car-dependent backwater. It’s downtown Hartford, where it is normal to arrive places on foot, by bus, or by bicycle.
Anyone can search directions or use GPS. The crucial missing piece of information is where exactly in or outside the building is the event happening. Having seen far too many car-centric events during the pandemic that absolutely require vehicles, that do not have accommodations for pedestrians, and/or have degrading options (stand next to the idling car and enjoy those fumes!), I had reason to wonder if this would be taking place in the parking garage or inside, and if indoors, could people walk in off the street like normal, or would we have awkwardly walk or bike into the parking garage and then go through some odd entrance that a pedestrian would never think to use.
So, I had questions but nobody official to ask them to, and it seemed best to simply scout out the site in advance. Who, on vaccination day, wants to deal with any extra hassle? Not me.
Here’s what I know: If you are standing on Columbus Boulevard facing the Convention Center, walk straight ahead, and then just slightly around the building to the right. There are signs guiding you in through a door that is before reaching the parking garage. So, good news.
For those riding, the bike rack has been removed from the Convention Center garage, but there are bike loops at the Front Street development across the street, along with various poles and benches you could lock up to if need be.
Clinics and other providers: please, make the process more transparent. If you want more people to get vaccinated, don’t put the burden on them through opaque scheduling systems and directions . . . especially now that we are in the phase where people who have full time jobs and who are often caring for children and/or parents are eligible.
Linda Pagani
Agree. Not everyone drives to places in Hartford, as you have said. I went to the Convention Center on foot, and couldn’t find the entrance to the clinic, because I approached it from the front, from Front Street, and not the back driveway to the garage. There were a few confusing signs, including one that said the clinic was being held on the top level of the garage. I think that sign has since been removed. I had to ask people who were coming out how to get in. Another person who arrived well before me was walking in circles trying to find the entrance because of the lack of signage.