This winter, the West Hartford officials say they are planning upgrades to five of the town's crosswalks to make crossing the road safer for pedestrians.
“Cars potentially not from West Hartford, they’d don’t really acknowledge the crosswalks and pedestrians if there’s no traffic lights,” said Elena Smith, who lives in West Hartford. “There could be ways for improvement particularly for traffic lights and crosswalks.”
The town will focus on upgrading the pedestrian push buttons to include new features. These features include a vibrant tactile arrow and message tone, according to West Hartford Town Engineer Greg Sommer.
“This gives you that audible reinforcement,” he said. “Lets you know that, hey, you know, time to put down your phone and cross the street.”
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The intersections seeing upgrades include Trout Brook Drive and Boulevard, Farmington Avenue and Quaker Lane North/South, Raymon Road and Isham Road, South Main Street and Ellsworth Road, and Boulevard and Quaker Lane South, which will also receive pedestrian signal equipment.
In addition to the upgraded push buttons, the town will also add sidewalk ramps in places that don’t have them and tactile warning tiles.
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“All of those features together really help with the overall pedestrian safety,” said Sommer. “It’s all incremental improvement were trying to overall get a safer community.”
Sommer estimates each intersection will cost between $15,000 to $20,000 to upgrade and says the funding will come from the Community Connectivity Grant Program through the Connecticut Department of Transportation.
The town says it plans to have the upgrades complete by the summer. The process is currently in the bidding stage.
