MIDDLETOWN, Conn. — Main Street in Middletown is generally busy with pedestrian traffic but it’s also busy with cars—and safety tends to be a concern.
"In talking with the business community, we identified pedestrian lighting as a major concern and identified a pedestrian-level light at a signalized intersection as a concept that hasn’t really been fully explored," said Howard Weissberg, deputy director of public works for the city of Middletown.
That prompted the city to try out that option by adding lights 15 feet above the crosswalk at the intersection of Main and Grand Streets to serve more than one purpose.
"Illuminates the pedestrian and makes them much more visible to motorists and also hopefully encourages pedestrians to use the crosswalk to cross only during the pedestrian phase," Weissberg said.
For now, the lights are a pilot program funded by a grant and part of a Complete Streets effort with the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CT DOT).
"The idea of Complete Streets is that our roadway system is there to work for everybody. So it’s not just moving cars it’s looking at pedestrian infrastructure, bicycle infrastructure, and ways to make that road, that route, safer for everybody," said Josh Morgan, a spokesperson for the CT DOT.
The year 2022 marked the deadliest year for pedestrians in Connecticut in decades where more than 70 people were killed.
The work to make the roads safer around the state is ongoing.
"Building sidewalks, upgrading crosswalks and pedestrian crossing technology, improving lighting and adding illumination, where maybe some didn’t exist before," Morgan said.
In Middletown, some residents said other improvements made in the past have made a difference.
"When they changed the crosswalks I thought it really made it much easier and safer to cross," said Francine McKiernan of Middletown. "They made like a bump out so that you can see down the road easier. So even if the light does say it’s OK to walk, you can make sure that people have stopped," she said.
The hope is that the new lighting will be the beginning of more similar changes.
"We want to keep everybody that’s walking safe we want more people walking the streets, people do here and crossing is very important because we have stuff everywhere," Weissberg said.
The lights will be up until the end of the month while the CT DOT does an evaluation. The goal is to make them a permanent fixture and use them at other intersections along Main Street.
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