Flower Street Crossing Closed for Good

After months of neighborhood organizations trying to fight it, the Flower Street pedestrian crossing in Downtown Hartford was shut down permanently on Monday.

The state Department of Transportation closed it to make way for the new CTfastrak Busway project.

Once the construction is done, it will make taking the bus a lot faster, according to state officials, but those who walk and bike to work said it makes their commute a lot slower.

“This is going to add 15 minutes to my walking commute,” Tamar MacFarlane said. “I live on one side of Asylum (Street) and I work on the other side.”

The state has set up a temporary detour that connects Broad Street to Flower Street, but many said it is out of the way and takes too long. Business owners said the closure cuts them off from the rest of the city.

“They’re chasing people away from us,” Sal Mancini of the Red Rock Tavern said. “Business already went down 70 percent when they closed off the street to cars, and now they’re taking the crosswalk away from us too.”

Officials from the DOT said they are working to build a better, more direct pathway by Thanksgiving.
 

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