Hartford HHS committee sends ‘traffic violence as public health crisis’ resolution to council with favorable recommendation; two ordinances postponed

The Hartford City Health and Human Services Committee voted on March 30 to send a resolution declaring traffic violence a public-health crisis to the full City Council with a favorable recommendation.

Councilman TJ Clark, who chaired the meeting, described the resolution as building on the city’s Vision Zero work and said it responds in part to a recent fatal crash over the Christmas period in which a young man was struck and killed and the driver left the scene. Clark said the resolution would prioritize rapid, low-cost safety measures: “...develop a quick build, safety action plan, which is prior prioritizing proven low cost and rapidly deployable safety interventions, which includes high visibility crosswalk upgrades, daylighting of intersections, temporary curb extensions, speed management tools, where permitted…,” he said.

A committee member moved to send item 2.4 favorably to council and another member seconded the motion. The committee approved the recommendation by unanimous voice vote.

The committee also considered two other agenda items but postponed them to the next meeting because their authors were not present. Item 2.2, an ordinance amending Chapter 18, Article 9, Section 18-110 of the municipal code to provide adequate relocation services to displaced tenants (the author, Councilmember Josh Mitchum, was absent), was moved and seconded for postponement and carried by voice vote. Item 2.3, an ordinance establishing a Puerto Rican and Hispanic History and Culture Commission, was similarly postponed after the author notified the committee of their absence.

The resolution calls for coordination among planning, the Department of Development Services (DDS), public works and the highway injury network and asks for a 90-day action plan that prioritizes proven, rapidly deployable safety interventions and evaluates equity impacts. Clark said some of these interventions are already in city plans (Complete Streets and the POCD) and that the resolution seeks to make those steps more visible to the public.

The committee gave the resolution a favorable recommendation to the full council; no final council vote was taken at this meeting. The committee adjourned after announcing that HHS committee meetings will pause in April for budget hearings and inviting the public to the mayor’s recommended budget public hearing on April 1 at Batch Elder School.