Pedestrian Accident Raises Concerns About Safety on Salmon Brook Street

When 17-year-old Tyler Pollock was hit by a car Saturday on a crosswalk on Salmon Brook Street in Granby, it added a new dimension to local concerns about safety on the busy state road

Until now, officials in Granby have focused mainly on concerns about the safety of people in cars pulling in and out of Salmon Brook Park, Town Manager William Smith said.

"There's a lot of traffic at that intersection, which creates a difficult situation for both the motorists and people looking to use the park," he said. Even so, he said, he didn’t know of any major collisions on that stretch of Salmon Brook Street, the local name for state Route 10.

On Saturday, Pollock was hit by a car as he was crossing Route 10 at the crosswalk to Salmon Brook Park. A friend's father had just dropped him off at the Salmon Brook Historical Society parking lot nearby. 

Pollock was listed Monday in critical but stable condition at Hartford Hospital. No charges have been filed in the case.

There is no light at the crosswalk where Pollock was injured, and Smith said it has not been a topic of discussion. There has been talk instead of splitting the vehicle entrance and exit to the park, he said.

"We don't own the property," he said. "We don't have a lot of room to work with there."

Because Route 10, a major artery from Massachusetts down through the Farmington Valley, is a state highway, it’s difficult for the towns it passes through to get changes made.

The town of Simsbury has dealt with similar issues regarding pedestrian safety in the downtown area on Route 10 and at the intersections with the Farmington Valley Greenway.

"We are constantly working with the state to slow down traffic on Route 10," Simsbury First Selectman Mary Glassman said. "It was very complicated and very time-consuming working with the state on this."

Glassman said the town saw the potential for accidents where the rail trail crosses some of the busier parts of Route 10.

"We identified this as a problem very early on," Glassman said.  "From start to finish it took us 10 years to get a crosswalk button in place working with the state."

The town of East Granby has also recognized the potential for an accident at the trail intersections with Route 20 and Route 189.  The town approved the request for additional state funding to add flashing lights at the rail trail crossings to warn motorists about pedestrians and bicyclists. 

 East Granby First Selectman James Hayden said the town was prompted to move on the matter after hearing of numerous close calls.

In Granby, the situation at Salmon Brook Park is somewhat different. There is no bike path nearby and the street does not have sidewalks south of Granby Center. There are, however, condominiums, apartments, and many private home on both sides of the street.

The town of Granby does not have any easy answers to the problem at this point, Smith said, but it will be a topic to address at future meetings.