WeHa Council Seeks 'Cultural' Change On Traffic Safety

WEST HARTFORD, CT — A horrific lead-up to the holiday season in 2022, in which five people died on West Hartford roadways, has led to a more than year-long quest to make the town safer.

And on Tuesday, the West Hartford Town Council voted 9-0 to approve a lengthy and in-depth plan that aims to do just that.

According to West Hartford Mayor Shari Cantor, what was approved on Feb. 27 wasn't just another pledge to improve safety, it was a commitment to changing the culture of the community.

"I think this could be one of the biggest transformational quality of life changes that we have in our town," Cantor said before the bipartisan vote, which was met with firm "ayes." "We need to commit to this, but it has to be a cultural change."

For nearly all of last year, a council-created task force has been working on the plan with the aid of a consultant in what is called the "Vision Zero Initiative."

The goal is simple: to eliminate fatalities and serious injuries by 2033.

With that goal in mind, council members easily said "yes" to the West Hartford Vision Zero Plan 2024."

In-depth and full of charts, the plan's actual focus calls for:

• Establishing policies and programs that aim to reduce speeds, calm traffic and increase safety for all.

• Adopt road design practices that prioritize safety.

• Develop and conduct a multi-media awareness campaign educating the public on "safe roadway behavior."

• And to improve and diversity the way the town obtains and utilizes traffic data to help regarding future decisions on safety.

West Hartford Town Manager Rick Ledwith said, that in 2022, six people were killed on local roadways, with five of those coming during the holiday season that year.

"We all remember 2022, one of our deadliest years on our streets, where we lost six lives as a result of traffic crashes and accidents," he said at the last council meeting.

A horrific fatal accident on Christmas Day 2022 appeared to have been the proverbial straw breaking the camel's back regarding West Hartford's push for safer roadways.

West Hartford was already mourning the losses of two pedestrians struck by vehicles on town roads in the days leading up to the holiday.

Then, on Christmas Day 2022, a violent, head-on crash that morning took the lives of three Hartford residents.

It served as a wake-up call for the council, which created the committee and officially voted to join the Vision Zero movement, which is an international strategy being implemented by municipalities nationally and worldwide.

Cantor said the fundamental issue in town is a very simple one, but one that will not be easy to magically solve: motorists drive too fast.

She said she and other town officials lost sleep over the traffic and safety problems in town.

"Every time my son leaves my house to take a turn on Albany Avenue, I get a little nervous because the cars go too fast," Cantor said.

Ledwith said the town is now creating an advisory committee that will meet regularly on Vision Zero initiatives, with quarterly updates to the council and an annual report to the town.

And the goal, always, is to have a year with no traffic deaths or serious injuries.

That, according to Councilperson Tiffani McGinnis, is something that can be done, as she said Jersey City, N.J., had such a year in 2022.

She and other council members thanked the volunteers on the task force and within the local community who made the Vision Zero initiative happen in West Hartford.

Said McGinnis, "Our town stepped up and decided to see what we can do to make everyone safe."

For the minutes of the Feb. 27 West Hartford Town Council meeting, click on this link.

For the official Vision Zero resolution approved by the West Hartford Town Council, click on this link.

From Dec. 7, 2023: 'One Year After Tragedies, West Hartford Pledges Safer Roads'

From March 1, 2023: 'Bus Driver Hurt In Crash With Tractor Trailer In West Hartford: Update'