Abstract:
Decades ago, Farmington Avenue in Hartford, Connecticut was an elegant thoroughfare on which Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe and other notables had their homes. While the Twain and Stowe houses remain as major tourist attractions, the Avenue is now a major arterial, carrying heavy automobile, bus, truck and pedestrian traffic, and home to major corporate offices, professional offices, small retail businesses, multi-unit residences, restaurants, and gas stations. It retains only a glimmer of its former elegance and is considered dangerous because of large volumes of speeding traffic. The Farmington Avenue Alliance, a coalition of residential, business and institutional stakeholders, was formed in 1996 with a mission to revitalize Farmington Avenue. The coalition hired an urban planning consultant who presented a conceptual plan embodying the new Farmington Avenue to the community in early 2002. While most of the plan was met with enthusiasm, there was concern over the three roundabouts at major intersections recommended by the consultant. This paper discusses modern roundabouts: what they are and what they are not, safety and traffic flow issues, and how pedestrians are accommodated. It describes the work the Alliance is doing to address community concerns and build public support for the plan. This is an ongoing process, which will ultimately lead to a "new" Farmington Avenue.
