Real Hartford

CRCOG’s Active Transportation Initiative

The Capitol Region Council of Governments has completed their Regional Pedestrian and Bicycle Plan. The goal of the plan is to significantly increase the number of people who regularly use biking or walking as their transportation. On Thursday April 10, there will be a public forum at the Hartford Public Library (6 pm) so that people can give their input on this plan.

Their goals by 2015:

all major commute routes to employment concentrations will have appropriate bike
facilities (bike lanes, bike shoulders, wide curb lanes, or parallel multi use paths)

the East Coast Greenway will be completed through the region

all commercial developments will have safe and convenient pedestrian access

all new residential development will provide the option of non-motorized access to
surrounding neighborhood destinations

standards for bicycle and pedestrian facilities will have been adopted throughout the
region

all the region’s towns will have adopted bicycle and pedestrian plans

bicycle commuting in the region will have increased significantly (to 5000 individuals)

one percent of all non-commuting automobile trips will have shifted to bicycling or
walking (a shift of 67,000 vehicle miles of daily travel.)

a robust regional trails fund will insure the ongoing construction of multi use paths.

It seems that they based some of their goals on the results received on the Active Transportation Initiative Survey that was active from November 2007 to January 2008. In their plan, they also compare Hartford to other metro areas in the country. Madison WI is one place that does much better than Hartford CT when it comes to alternative transportation.

Later in the plan, they outline how to make a case for their goals. They explained that about 30% of the population does not drive, though that does not mean that 30% rely on biking or walking alone.

You can read the full plan on the CRCOG website.

Winter Weather?

A public service announcement for people who seem to have forgotten what needs to be done when lots of snow falls:

-Don’t force all employees to leave at once. It puts many more people on the road at once, increasing gridlock and risk of accident, not to mention road rage

-Send out sand trucks and snow plows

-Take care of the sidewalks. Many people don’t rely on vehicles to get around. Others need clear sidewalks for wheelchairs. Whether or not it’s a legal requirement to clear the sidewalks, I don’t know, and really, I don’t care. This is about being a decent human being. If the city can spend money clearing graffiti, they can spend some on making sidewalks accessible.

-Businesses should be kind and allow residents to use their lots when there are parking bans in effect. When people leave their cars on the street, it interferes with snow clean up. Ever wonder how those rock-solid ice chunks end up in the street? Be a good neighbor.

-If the roads are busy and in bad shape, send out a few cops to direct traffic.

Toni Gold Nails It

Here’s some ink that tells it like it is– The Hartford’s Plan: So Last Century.

A few highlights from Gold who comments on The Hartford’s desire to acquire and destroy:

Many others will talk about the city’s disappearing heritage, the stupidity of tearing it down to save it, the thuggery of The Hartford’s threat to leave the city if its needs are not met, and the crassness of bribing city officials by offering a hard-to-find site for the poor beleaguered Pathways magnet school project.

and

Sure, The Hartford should buy the MassMutual site. But save much of the building, perhaps by putting the school in it, and institute — right now — the kind of 21st-century disincentives to driving that start with charging for parking and more heavily subsidizing transit for employees, and end with developing the site more densely as mixed-use walkable urbanism.

Okay, stop wasting time here and read Gold’s entire article.

Green Friday

The day after Thanksgiving when people go to shop at stores at 4 am, with no regard for the workers who have to get up and be there even earlier than that, is called Black Friday.

A week and a day after Thanksgiving this year Hartford will be having its very own Green Friday.

From 7-9 in the morning, the November Bike-to-Work (”Icebike”) will be meeting up at JoJo’s on Pratt. I don’t work downtown on Fridays, but I’ll admit that I’m tempted to get up early to ride down there before going to my other job. I don’t think I can do this with a clear conscience since it’s only about a mile trip for me.

As far as I know, there’s nothing in particular happening in the middle of the day, but maybe that is when you can familiarize yourself with the issues that the Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice is working on. If nothing else, look at the graphics on the Healthy Hartford website that provide visual explanations of the distribution of poverty in Connecticut alongside information about Hartford’s high asthma rate.

From 6-10 in the evening, the Alchemy Juice Bar will celebrate their grand opening of the Eco Boutique. We can already get some environmentally-friendlier products from Whole Foods, Wild Oats, and Rose Gourmet, but the Eco Boutique will feature items that they do not carry, like organic linens and bedding. The Alchemy Juice Bar and Eco Boutique are on New Britain Avenue near Trinity College and the new ice rink.

Breaking Lazy American Habits

On Tuesday, it took me longer to drive and park for my job that is 1.1 miles away from the house, than it does for me with my job that is about 4 miles away.

Today, I rode my bike instead.

That’s what it comes down to for me– not my environmental guilt, blood for oil guilt, or gas spending—-impatience with a parking garage.

Bike to Work

This Friday is the next Central CT Bicycle Alliance (CCBA) Bike to Work Breakfast. From 7-9 cyclists can enjoy a free breakfast provided outside of the Old State House.

There will be a bus equipped with one of the new bike racks so that cyclists can practice mounting/dismounting bikes. At the Discover Hartford Bicycle and Walking Tour I picked up a brochure that shows people how to do this.

It appears that there will be some kind of Bike to Work event in Farmington too, but the details for that haven’t been made public yet.

Navigating Park Street

A trolley debuted yesterday on Park Street. This is huge! Anyone who’s ever driven down Park knows how congested it can get, but it’s also quite long and not possible for everyone to walk from one end to the other.

For now, the trolley service runs from the start of Park at Main, up to the intersection with Zion.

Hartford–Biked and Discovered

Since signing up to participate in the Discover Hartford Bicycle and Walking Tour, I’ve been biking more often, anticipating the distance of the event. I’d gone on a few trips that were roughly ten miles, and seemed to do fine.

I forced myself to finish the tour, even though I was calculating the odds as they increased, of me being hauled over the Hartford Hospital. It wasn’t just the shame of being at the end of the thousand and some odd cyclists that bothered me. It was the shame of that plus being so young. Participants were of all ages, but many were 45+, and fully kicked my ass. Continue reading Hartford–Biked and Discovered…