[ This piece appeared in the Windsor Journal on December 18, 2024 ]

Several years ago, I sat down at The Bean with a cup of coffee and a laptop to write a letter to our town manager, urging him to consider bike lanes in the design of the Broad Street reconfiguration (commonly called the road diet). A few paragraphs in, a loud bang outside was followed by sirens. A man on a bicycle had been struck by a car at the intersection of Maple Avenue and Broad Street. An ambulance soon arrived to take the bicyclist to the hospital, leaving behind bits of broken headlight, the man’s bike, and blood splatter on the pavement.  
 
Scenes like this are all too familiar in the Center. Every day, ten thousand cars drive down Broad Street. Seven out of ten don’t stop in the Center—they’re just passing through. About one-third of these drivers exceed the 35 mph speed limit. That may not sound especially fast, but it has serious safety implications for our neighbors. Higher speeds mean drivers have less time to react, leading to more accidents. Multiple travel lanes encourage passing, speeding, and chaotic traffic flow. Unsurprisingly, Broad Street and other state roads in Windsor Center see dozens of crashes each year, many involving serious injuries.  
 
Higher speeds also lead to deadlier accidents. For pedestrians struck by cars, the chance of surviving decreases by 40% when the car’s speed increases from 30 mph to 40 mph. This is the environment many of our neighbors must navigate daily. Residents cross Broad Street for basic services: to visit the post office, file permits at Town Hall, or pick up prescriptions. Children cross the road to reach the Windsor Public Library after school. Families in the Center who walk their children to daycare on Palisado Avenue must traverse 50-foot crosswalks at busy intersections where cars can turn right on red, even during walk signals.

If we do not act, this problem is likely to get worse. Cars are getting bigger, and drivers are becoming ever more distracted. We can’t police our way out of this problem, and it won’t resolve itself. The core issue is the road’s design. It was built to move vehicles through town as quickly as possible, and it’s doing exactly that. Residents and visitors injured in crashes, parents afraid to let their children walk or bike in the Center, disabled residents forced to cross dangerous intersections for basic necessities; all are collateral damage of a design that prioritizes vehicle speed over our safety.  
 
We can do better. The Town Council is currently considering The Broad Street Traffic Calming and Pedestrian Safety Project, which includes essential safety upgrades: reducing Broad Street from four lanes to two with a center turn lane, bike lanes, roundabouts, and sidewalk bump-outs with shorter crosswalks. These design elements have been studied extensively for decades at both the federal and state levels. The evidence is clear and overwhelming: these changes save lives and improve safety for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers alike.  
 
The town’s top priority must be the physical safety of the people who live here. Please vote in favor of the The Broad Street Traffic Calming and Pedestrian Safety Project on February 11th, 2025.