Cora Chenier is a proud and happy walker.
The coronavirus pandemic has been hard on everyone, but especially on elementary school children. It’s an age of rapid development – intellectual, social, and emotional. When students had 3 days per week of “virtual” classes from home, learning was limited. Children’s development was restricted just when it needed stimulation through adventure, growing independence, and socializing with classmates. Continue reading
First Selectman Ryan Curley was the first to sign the Pace Car Pledge.
By Amanda Foley
Portland’s Complete Streets Group (CSG) invites Portland residents to participate in the Pace Car program by signing a pledge to drive safely, courteously, within the speed limit, and to share the road with pedestrians and cyclists. A Hartford Courant article published on 3-19-22 stated that the number of pedestrians struck and killed by cars on Connecticut roads has more than doubled in the past 10 years. Factors cited include speeding and distracted driving. Portland Complete Streets Group has introduced this Pace Car program as a traffic calming initiative to address these factors. Continue reading
The grassroots activism to make our streets safer and more comfortable for walkers, bicyclists, wheelchair users, and users of public transit is the “complete streets” movement. Middletown, Portland, and Durham have Complete Streets groups working with their respective towns to achieve improvements that make our streets complete in that sense – suitable for all users.
Streets, after all, are by far the largest public spaces. They should not be just for moving motor vehicles, but for active transportation (meaning, by muscle power) and community gathering. When people are walking, they meet, speak, and achieve a sense of belonging. Here are some exciting news items. Continue reading
Portland’s Complete Streets Group has put together an in-town bike route for people who want a less strenuous ride, mostly flat, and want to stay near the town center. Below is an image of the route, but if you want to view it on Google Maps and zoom in for fine details, here is the link.
Upgrading the Berlin Court Tunnel is the key to improved bike-ped transportation in Middletown’s North End. At the moment, the tunnel is a rather forlorn and unimproved underpass next to the railroad tracks under Newfield Street, near the Water & Sewer Department on the east side and Veterans Park on the west side. But it’s the safest and easiest way for pedestrians and bicyclists to cross Newfield Street, and it is heavily used.
Another improvement for pedestrians and bicyclists would be a pedestrian and bicyclist bridge from the end of Jackson St. across the Coginchaug River into Veterans Park. The old stone bridge abutments remain from a bridge at this location many decades ago. The Jonah Center began a conversation with the City in 2013 about these potential bike-ped infrastructure possibilities.
The city has now decided to renovate the Vets Park pool, construct a splashpad, and begin design and construction of the Newfield Corridor Trail, which brings into clear view the relationship these projects have with each other. Director of Public Works Bill Russo described the tunnel and bridge access route together as “an important part of the puzzle and just as much a top priority as the pool and splashpad. Those [facilities] are going to be a magnet for kids and families. I don’t want anyone from the North End having to cross Newfield Street in the middle of that high-speed traffic. Plus, this will let people walk or bike to the drugstores and other businesses around the intersection of Washington and West Streets without having to get on Route 66.”
These are exciting plans, and we are delighted about Director Russo’s enthusiasm for them. But they are still plans, and the public needs to express support for them so that they become reality over the next few years. The map below shows how many potential routes and destinations would be served by these improvements.
(Below: map showing overview & with planned or possible trail routes.)
Overview showing how the Berlin Count tunnel is the key link for bike-ped traffic crossing Newfield St.
Citizens may express their support for these key bike-ped improvements by emailing Director Russo at [email protected] , members of the Common Council at [email protected], and Mayor Ben Florsheim at [email protected].
Additional details and information: Making the Berlin Court Tunnel more useful and appealing involves improved approaches from both sides, a sturdier fence or other barrier inside the tunnel to separate it from the railroad tracks, and a gradual ramp to replace the steps on the west side. Director Russo envisions the new Jackson St. bridge as part of a 10-foot-wide, multi-use trail crossing the river to Walnut Grove Road in Veterans Park, recrossing the river via the footbridge behind Palmer Field, and leading to the intersection of Washington and West Streets.
Funding for engineering and design of both the tunnel and bridge projects would most likely come from the 2015 Parks Bond, but construction costs could be supplemented through the road bond portion of the 21st Century Infrastructure Development Bond that will be on the Nov. 3 ballot in Middletown.