The Frog Hollow neighborhood just got hotter thanks to the recent addition of these fine quick-build treatments at the intersection of Broad Street and Capitol Avenue.

This has been one of the dicier crossings thanks to the caustic combination of proximity to interstate ramps, presence of a gas station on one corner, nearby parking for the State Capitol and Armory complex, and the decision by a former engineer to widen what was an already too wide intersection. These ingredients make drivers extra impatient, and in addition to routine recklessness, motorists cutting across lanes to get in and out of the gas station has been common.

Maybe that era is coming to an end.

The new look at all legs of the intersection is officially called hardened centerlines. These raised humps follow the yellow centerlines and are bounded with yellow vertical delineator posts, making lane divisions more visible while discouraging fast speeds.

I don’t know if this counts as revenge served cold, but after West Hartford’s decision-makers were taken to task yet again following two needless pedestrian deaths on their roads in November, their Town Manager was quoted as saying: “As we head into the winter now, you know, there will only be so much we can do from a construction standpoint.”

Our sexy new infrastructure in Hartford did not even show up until after nearly all flowers had withered, until after the first shovelable snow of the season, until after I had to take my long underwear out of storage, until after flowers had dropped. We got our upgrade when it was damn cold. But, maybe weather and gravity work differently in Hartford than they do in the suburb to our west?

This kind of safety improvement is possible when decision-makers have the guts to use quick-builds which are comparatively inexpensive and fast to install.

And, if you take a look at the pavement, you can see markings which hint at other incoming additions.