Glastonbury Got Easier to Walk This Year. Here's Where the New Links Go.

South of the Old Cider Mill, Main Street sits in a different place than it did a year ago. To fit a 5-foot concrete sidewalk on the west side of Route 17, the Town shifted parts of the road as much as 9 feet to get around slopes that were too steep to build on. The sidewalk opened on July 16. It was the final phase of a long effort to connect South Glastonbury to the sidewalks that run north to the town center.

With that gap closed, the town's walking work has moved to the crossings. Three projects reached residents this year, and each one targets a spot where someone on foot has to cross traffic moving at highway speed.

The last stretch of sidewalk, and the light that came with it

The Main Street Sidewalk Phase 3C project covers the stretch between the Old Cider Mill and Chestnut Hill Road. The Town's project page calls Route 17 there "a high-volume, high-speed arterial roadway." The goal was to give people safe walking access to the South Glastonbury village center and its grocery store, bakery, banks, churches and restaurants.

Those places have names. Brookside Market, the full-service grocery at 874 Main Street, lists hours of 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Harpo's Bakery & Cafe in South Glastonbury serves baked goods, breakfast sandwiches, and a lunch menu with sandwiches, pizza and soups. At the north end, the Old Cider Mill at 1287 Main Street is run by Riverview Farms. CT Insider's October fall-destinations roundup describes its fresh-pressed cider, animals, pumpkins and weekend hot apple fritters. The season winds down this time of year, so check with the mill before you walk over. Just past the mill, Earle Park at 1325 Main Street has wooded trails along Holland Brook and sits next to the CT Audubon Center.

The detail that matters most to anyone walking this route is at the intersection, not on the sidewalk. The project rebuilt the signal at Main Street and Chestnut Hill Road/Red Hill Drive to add a Lead Pedestrian Interval, triggered by a push button. When the button is pressed, walkers get a few seconds to step into the crosswalk before cars traveling the same direction get a green light. The project also added ADA-compliant curb ramps and crosswalks at that corner.

The Town said in July that a few items were still on its punch list, including painting the sidewalk markings at that intersection and restoring the gravel laydown area at Earle Park/American Legion Hall. CTDOT had not yet given final acceptance of the intersection work and repaving. The state paid for 100 percent of construction through its LOTCIP grant program.

Five crosswalks with no traffic light

The second project picks up where the sidewalk work stops. On October 21, the Town announced a pilot putting high-visibility pedestrian flags at five mid-block crosswalks, scheduled to go in the week of October 26. The Town said it chose the locations based on how many people cross there and how fast cars are moving.

The last column shows where this is heading. Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons are planned for the first four locations, and the flags will hold those spots until the beacons are installed. The Town will collect feedback before deciding whether to keep the flags and whether to add them elsewhere.

Here's how it works. Take a flag from the holder, carry it where approaching drivers can see it, and leave it in the holder on the other side for the next person. The Town's announcement puts its caution in bold:

"Carrying a flag helps increase visibility, but it does not guarantee that a driver has seen you or will stop."

The Town also reminds drivers that Connecticut law requires them to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks whether or not the person is carrying a flag, and to never pass a vehicle stopped at a crosswalk. Patch covered the pilot the same evening it was announced.

Two of these crossings lead somewhere specific. The one north of Hubbard Street is next to Hubbard Green at 18 Hubbard Street, home of the Glastonbury Historical Society's Museum on the Green at the corner of Main and Hubbard. The New London Turnpike crossing at Center Village / Fox Run Mall serves The Shoppes at Fox Run at 55 Welles Street, which is anchored by Whole Foods Market and has restaurants including Uchu Peruvian Cuisine, Siam Glastonbury and Pokeworks.

The roundabout takes on a harder junction

The third project is the biggest and the most car-focused, but walkers are part of the plan. CTDOT Project 0053-0189 is rebuilding New London Turnpike between Sycamore Street and Oak Street. The project adds a roundabout where the Route 17 southbound Exit 35 ramp meets the turnpike and redesigns the junction where Oak Street, William Street and New London Turnpike meet.

For drivers, the change came on October 1. The left-hand Exit 36 off-ramp from Route 17 southbound closed permanently and is being removed. The Town's notice sends former Exit 36 drivers to Exit 35, through the new roundabout, and east on New London Turnpike. The turnpike closed between Oak Street and the Exit 34 northbound off-ramp from October 9 to 12 so crews could demolish a bridge.

The old ramp crossed over New London Turnpike on one bridge, and a second bridge carried Route 17 northbound over the ramp. CTDOT's 2022 public-meeting minutes date the structure to 1952. They rated the bridge carrying Route 17 northbound a 4 on a 0-to-9 condition scale, noted significant deck deterioration, and listed a posted vertical clearance of 14 feet 3 inches.

The same minutes explain why the five-way junction is getting a roundabout and not a traffic signal. A signal had only a small edge during the future evening peak, and the roundabout came out well ahead at other times of day. CTDOT also listed pedestrian benefits, including shorter crossing distances and proposed pedestrian-warning lights. At that meeting, a business owner from nearby One Stop Plaza asked about bicycle and pedestrian safety. CTDOT replied that it had added a sidewalk on the north side and would look into warning lights.

CTDOT awarded the work to Richards Corporation for $14,533,419 on July 8, 2025. The state's September advisory gives October 2027 as the completion date. That means drivers and walkers on this stretch will deal with construction for most of another year.

What's on the November calendar

Smaller projects are filling in the neighborhood sidewalks too. The Town's annual sidewalk repair schedule, posted October 21, runs through November, weather permitting:

1. Week of October 26: Farmstead Lane
2. Week of November 2: Uplands Way and Autumn Lane
3. Week of November 9: Belle Woods Drive, Duxbury Lane, Barrington Way and Lexington Road
4. Week of November 16: Carriage Drive

If you live on one of these streets, the sidewalk out front may be blocked for part of that week.

The bigger pieces are still in progress. The Phase 3C intersection is waiting on state acceptance. The flashing beacons at four of the five flag crossings have no announced installation date. The roundabout zone has eleven months of work left on its schedule. The flag pilot is the piece residents can shape right now, since the Town plans to use feedback to decide where the flags go next. Questions, feedback, or reports of missing flags go to the Glastonbury Police Department Traffic Unit or the Town Engineering office at 860-652-7735.

I've worked in Greater Hartford for close to four decades, and changes like these, a new sidewalk, a beacon at a busy crossing, show up in everyday life before they show up anywhere else. If you're curious how Glastonbury's new walking routes connect to the streets you know, or what's coming next on your side of town, I'm happy to talk it through. Shelby Muraski | Let's Connect