Making Abbe Road Near East Windsor Safer Not a Simple Issue

The striations on the north-bound lane of the 490s section of Abbe Road in South Windsor near the East Windsor border are telling.

Saturday evening’s motor vehicle accident that resulted in the deaths of two teenagers and left three more injured was not isolated behavior.

Indeed, the comments made by numerous South Windsor and East Windsor residents on Sunday and Monday were eerily similar:

“We used jump that hill when we were that age.”

And the gouges in that section road - from undercarriages of cars hitting asphalt - are proof that many people have taken their motor vehicles airborne at high rates of speed, only without the tragic results.

“I cracked my oil pan [jumping the hill],” said East Windsor resident Michael Resto. “Everybody does it. This road needs to be fixed.”

Resto isn’t alone among those calling for the hill that acts as a launching pad for some to be corrected in some fashion.

“This is a very dangerous road and it’s fun to go fast on,” said Broad Brook resident Janice Warren, who lives at 97 Miller Road, which is what Abbe Road turns into over the East Windsor line.

Warren said that she has heard numerous accidents and seen their aftermaths as a result of people driving too fast.

But while there are calls to make changes in the road, Chief of Police Matthew Reed said that it’s not a simple issue.

Reed said that there are three factors that law enforcement officials consider when investigating a serious accident: the vehicle, the environment (road and weather conditions) and the driver.

The speed limit on the road is 30 miles per hour, Reed said.

“Between 30 and 50 miles per hour, a driver should have no problem negotiating the roadway,” Reed said. “We can’t change the roads every time there is an accident.

“It comes down to the operator of the vehicle driving safely to maintain control of the vehicle.”

With that said, Reed also noted that he would confer with the town engineer to see what, if anything, can be done to make that section of road safer.

Among the things that can be looked at are the road’s sight lines, its marking and signs.

“If there is something to do to make the road suffer, I will suggest it,” Reed said. “I just don’t know if changing the geography is practical. Hundreds of cars travel on this road every day with no problem at all.

“But we don’t have our heads in the sand and we know people take risks here from time to time.”