The Town of West Hartford is embarking on a project to redesign LaSalle Road and Farmington Avenue in the town’s center. The most universally agreed upon factor in the discussion is that the area needs to be spruced up. There have been meetings, workshops, and surveys. You can head over to we-ha.com to read about various discussions: September 2022, January 2024, and February 2024 (many, many thanks to Ronni Newton for the countless hours she puts in to covering the myriad events in our town).
One of the sticking points is whether cycling infrastructure should be included in the designs (for pedestrians, sidewalks are included, and widened in some of the versions). In the most recent iteration, much to the consternation of West Hartford’s cycling community, bike lanes were completely eliminated from the plans. It was reported that the owner of Hartford Baking Company questioned whether people bike in West Hartford.
I wish I had a number for him. But I can tell him this: many people in West Hartford who bike also enjoy bread and pastry. If we have to take a different block to get through the Center, we aren’t going to stop at his bakery to buy them. Just some (ahem) food for thought.
People ride bikes for a variety of reasons. Some are out for a pleasure cruise, others are exercising, or commuting. All want and deserve to be safe. Just as there are requirements for crosswalks and handicap parking spaces, there should be requirements for – at the very least – bike lanes. I could go on about that, but my purpose today is discuss how many people ride in West Hartford.
Sunday morning I went out to do errands. I like to take an occasional rest day from the bike, so I walked. Along the way I decided to take photos of all the cyclists and bikes I saw. There was at least one cyclist who rode out of view before I could take a photo (and sitting here typing this, I looked out the window and saw two people ride by on the street behind my house). Most of the photos were taken from a distance, but wheels are visible in all.
There wasn’t anything special about this morning. It wasn’t school vacation, nor was there a special event like Celebrate! West Hartford or Center Streets. People were biking in West Hartford. The sky was cloudy and the temperature hovered around 50′. Had it been 75′ and sunny, I guarantee there would have been even more people out.
Providing more cycling infrastructure will bring additional people out on their bikes. This has benefits for everyone’s health, as well as for the environment. However, it’s not entirely an “if you build it, [they] will come” situation. As you can see from the photos, we are already here.
I’m going to provide a few bonus photos. One is from last Monday at the Mandell Jewish Community Center, located in a part of town with even less cycling infrastructure.
None of these answers the question as to how many people cycle, but they do demonstrate some of those who do: voters…
…and superheroes.
Let’s provide all of these people, no matter the number, with a safe way to travel through the center of West Hartford, and the rest of town.
Of bicycles and archives 
Thanks so much for this!! That’s my son’s tricycle in front of Barnes and Noble haha. I live half a mile from the Center and never drive. Always walk or bike. -Jason Wang
I loved seeing the tricycle there!