HARTFORD, Conn. — A series of roads in Hartford will be closed for President Joe Biden’s visit to Connecticut on Friday.
Hartford Police, in conjunction with the U.S. Secret Service and Connecticut State Police, will be closing several streets around the State Capitol.
Capitol Police said due to the impact of road closures and the lack of access to the State Capitol Complex, the Capitol Building, the Legislative Office Building, and the Legislative Office Garage will be closed to the public on Friday.
They also expect traffic to be extremely congested in and around the Capitol area in downtown Hartford.
Starting on Friday at 9:30 a.m. these are the roads that will be closed:
- Broad Street at Russ Street – No northbound traffic
- Broad Street at Asylum Avenue – No southbound traffic
- Broad Street at I-84 East on-ramp – No southbound traffic
- Capitol Avenue at Oak Street – No westbound traffic
- Capitol Avenue at Lawrence Street – No eastbound traffic
These roads will see intermittent closures starting around 11:00 a.m.:
- Maxim Road
- Reserve Road
- Airport Road
- Brainard Road
Police are asking that motorists avoid the areas. All local roadways in the City of Hartford are expected to be reopened by 2:00 pm.
These roads will be impacted at UConn:
- The McMahon/South parking lot and loading dock, all loading zones along Gilbert Road, the HEART House parking lot, The Dodd Center lot, and the Budds Building parking lot will be closed on Friday.
- The roof and upper level of the South Garage will also be closed beginning midday.
- The Student Recreation Center will be closed beginning at 10 a.m. Friday and will remain closed through late Friday afternoon following the conclusion of the event at The Dodd Center. This is in addition to the closures of Homer Babbidge, Whetten, and Bousfield.
- While other buildings in the area of The Dodd Center will remain open, access may be restricted to doors facing away from The Dodd Center, including in the West Campus residence halls. The buildings will be accessible, but the doors that can be used will be restricted.
- Gilbert Road will be closed beginning at approximately noon on Friday through the end of the event at The Dodd Center late Friday afternoon.
- There will be other temporary, intermittent road closures in the area of The Dodd Center during Friday afternoon.
- Jim Calhoun Way will be closed Friday afternoon and evening as part of First Night.
Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said the city is thrilled and proud to welcome President Biden.
“The Build Back Better Agenda would make early learning experiences and that childcare experience available to so many more residents here in Hartford, Connecticut and across the country," Bronin added. "That’s important because it creates a head start for kids and it also gives parents the ability to go to work and to afford to ensure that their kids are in a safe environment where they’re learning from the earliest age."
Hartford Police Chief Jason Thody says it is a large undertaking to bring a president into the city.
“But there’s no better practice than this weekend with the Hartford Marathon. We just finished shutting down several streets and securing areas and making them safe.”
Biden also plans to visit UConn in Storrs on Friday afternoon for the dedication of a human rights center named after former U.S. Senators Thomas and Christopher Dodd.
The Dodd Center for Human Rights serves as an umbrella home for the school’s human rights programs. It had been known as The Thomas J. Dodd Research Center since its opening in 1995 and was named for the late senator who also was a lead prosecutor for the Nuremberg trials after World War II.
UConn’s Board of Trustees voted in August to change the name to the Dodd Center for Human Rights to recognize the work of both senators and their families.
Doug Stewart is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dstewart@fox61.com.
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