New climate debate issue: Safer streets

Concerns over rise in bicyclist, pedestrian fatalities have become upfront part of argument for multistate transportation initiative

Early on the morning of Sept. 19, a driver struck and killed two people on I-91 near Wethersfield who were standing outside their vehicle due to a previous crash.

On the night of July 29, a 14-year-old riding her bike on

Route 81 in Haddam was killed by a hit-and-run driver.

Both casualties are part of a slow rise in fatal accidents involving cars and people not in motor vehicles. And that is giving advocates for the controversial Transportation and Climate Initiative another weapon in their fight for Connecticut to join the multistate effort.

“TCI so frequently gets framed in one way but part of that money can absolutely be used to make roads safer for everyone in all of our communities,” said Kate Rozen, a Woodbridge resident and

cyclist who continues to press the General Assembly to pass TCI legislation.

The regional climate initiative aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by setting a cap on the amount of emissions generated by gasoline and diesel fuel, then selling the rights under the cap to companies that distribute motor fuels. It is projected to increase gas prices by 5 cents per gallon, possibly as much as 9 cents, though opponents have said the increases — which they call taxes — could be higher.

The estimated $90 million a year the TCI would raise for Connecticut could be spent in myriad ways including cleaner buses, air quality monitoring, electric vehicle charging equipment, broadband subsidies and also bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements.

Supporters of TCI have framed the issue as an urgent need for Connecticut and surrounding states to do their part for climate change; and as a way to slow vehicle pollution, especially as it affects Black and Latinx communities in cities disproportionately. But so far, they have failed to gain a vote in the General Assembly and the measure is not up for debate in the special legislative session Monday and Tuesday, as they had hoped.

Now the concerns about the rise in bicycle and pedestrian calamities with motor vehicles has become a more up-front part of the TCI argument — and at the same time, as a crisis that needs attention with or without TCI.

“It’s absolutely more visceral to people,” Lori Brown, executive director of the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters, said of framing TCI as a way to address bike and pedestrian safety. “It affects them every day.”

Democratic leaders in the General Assembly said they haven’t ruled out the possibility of convening a special session on TCI between now and the regular legislative session in February. Gov. Ned Lamont, who unsuccessfully pushed the plan to join TCI during the regular legislative session in the spring, said recently the votes are there to pass it — but that is a matter of debate among top lawmakers.

Republicans say there are other ways to fund bicycle and pedestrian safety measures if that’s a priority.

Incidents on the rise

In 2020, Connecticut reported 63 pedestrian fatalities — the highest in the past five years, according to preliminary data from the state Department of Transportation. The number of pedestrian deaths in Connecticut has increased by 53 percent since 2009, while all other traffic fatalities increased by just 2 percent, according to the DOT.

The DOT reported six bicyclist deaths last year, up from three in 2019.

As of August of this year, 35 pedestrians and one bicycle rider had died, preliminary DOT data shows.

Nationally, the number of pedestrians getting killed has also jumped — increasing by 21 percent between 2019 and 2020, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.

“Everybody is affected by it,” said Kerri Provost, a Hartford resident and biking activist. “All ages. From toddlers to the very aged, and people from all walks of life.”

Provost, who describes herself as joyfully car-free, spent last year tracking traffic fatalities involving pedestrians and bicyclists in Connecticut — an effort she’s continued into 2021.

Using news articles, UConn’s Crash Data Repository, obituaries and police reports, Provost compiles the deaths, pins the locations on a map, and includes as much information as she can find about what happened, including the details of the roadway.

Adding the recent deaths of the two Massachusetts residents killed in the Wethersfield hit-andrun, Provost included a note in her database: “There do not appear to be any breakdown lanes on this stretch of highway, and no place people can safely stand if needing to leave their vehicles.”

‘It’s the same intersections’

These improvements need more than dedicated funding, they also require political will, Provost said, citing the grisly hit-and-run of a bicyclist on Wethersfield Avenue in Hartford, which led city officials to put up a bike lane.

“It took that to get our one piece of incomplete but somewhat barrier-protected infrastructure in Hartford,” she said.

In Connecticut cities such as Hartford and New Haven, about 30 percent of households don’t own a car, according to Rozen. These residents, who are also disproportionately impacted by air pollution that’s resulted in higher asthma rates, could benefit from better infrastructure for biking and walking so they can move through their communities safely, she said.

Rozen has recent, first-hand experience In July, she was hit by a motorist during her bicycle commute home from New Haven to Woodbridge. She was not badly injured.

Kai Addae, a New Haven resident and a member of the Safe Streets Coalition, said when looking at traffic-related fatalities occurring in Connecticut’s cities, “it’s the same intersections, the same roadways that aren’t getting redesigned.”

“Every year people are dying at the exact same spots,” said Addae who is also program director of the Bradley Street Bicycle Co-op.

Push for redesigned streets

While TCI has been promoted as a way to address urban air pollution and invest in mass transit and more environmentally friendly transportation options, “less attention has been given to the equally important health epidemic of deaths by cars,” said Mary Donegan, an urban and community studies professor at the University of Connecticut.

Fifty-percent more people are dying from cars than a decade ago, Donegan said. Data also shows that Black men are four times more likely to die than white men, she said, which, she said, underscores that bicycle and pedestrian safety is also about racial and social justice.

That will be part of messaging when TCI supporters gather at the state Capitol on Oct. 2 to call on legislators to bring up the issue in a special session. “Cyclists and pedestrians of all ages will be traveling in from across the state,” an event flyer says.

They envision the funding be used for better sidewalks and barrier-protected bike lanes as well as redesigning streets, including adding roundabouts, to slow down drivers.

‘The money is there’

Republicans, who’ve claimed victory for stopping TCI, continue to hold rallies across the state characterizing it as just another tax on state residents, particularly middle- and low-income residents.

Asked Friday how the state could address pedestrian and biker safety without funding TCI, Senate Republican Leader Kevin Kelly of Stratford said “if this was a priority for Democrats, this should have been in their budget.”

Lawmakers could use some of the revenue generated from the new highway usage tax on large commercial trucks — estimated to raise about $90 million per year, like TCI — to fund bikeways and other improvements, Kelly said. Republicans strongly opposed that measure, which passed this year.

“Not to mention, we have $5.4 billion coming from Washington,” he said, referring to the federal infrastructure package that Congress has yet to pass. “Of which, $3.3 billion is set aside for road construction, which would address issues like bicycle and pedestrian safety. So, the money is there.”

Sen Will Haskell, D-Westport, among the leading proponents of TCI in the state legislature, said it’s a “sign of the times” that the climate initiative has turned political despite its appeal across party lines. Massachusetts, which is represented by a Republican governor, has signed on to the climate compact, he said.

“TCI is about recognizing transportation isn’t just about wider highways,” he said. “We have to think about transportation in the 21st century.”