We were fully into December when the hardened centerlines with bollards arrived. These help to keep motorists in their lane and less likely to make wide left turns.
Now, within mere weeks, more safety equipment has arrived and the intersection of Broad and Capitol looks like a proper obstacle course.
There has been snow since both sets of treatments have been added; everything was fine. Turns out you can make significant improvements to roadways in December in New England, if there’s political will.
The latest installations are curb extensions (bulb-outs) that help to tighten right turns.
Those familiar with this spot know that most motorists intending to turn north onto Broad Street from westbound Capitol Avenue had not been so much as slowing before making their turn, and those who had were mainly looking left to see if turning would get them t-boned; rarely would a motorist look right to see if they were about to drive directly into a pedestrian.
While the new intersection goodies aren’t a silver bullet, they could prevent a number of collisions like the one we saw here in February 2023 where someone trying to illegally pass another vehicle by the intersection sideswiped that car and then went on to strike a vehicle being turned right onto Capitol Avenue: 
They could prevent crashes like this one from October 2017 in which a driver decided to make a left turn wherevs.
Having obstacles could slow those traveling straight through the intersection, reminding those who just exited the highway that they are now on city streets and should act right. These straighten out the casually reckless drivers a bit, and that matters because this is a densely populated neighborhood with foot traffic at all hours.
In the photo above you can see that a CTtransit bus is making the left turn onto Broad Street. Professional drivers can handle tighter turns.
If you want to be more informed about street changes in Hartford, or if you want to gather information that might help you improve conditions in your own town, consider attending a few Complete Streets Task Force meetings. The next one is scheduled for February 10, 2025 at noon, online.
