How disappointing to see the Norwich City Council shift into reverse and decide not to adequately fix a stretch of road known to generate frequent accidents. Council members feared the process of reconstructing the road would have been too inconvenient.

Following that reasoning, our society would be averse to ever upgrading infrastructure — bridges would never be repaired or replaced, airport terminals would remain static, trains would make due on old track. All such projects cause inconveniences and often major ones, but the results are better and safer transportation systems.

Such it would have been with the Connecticut Department of Transportation’s planned redesign of Route 82 through the city’s major commercial strip, a roadway that has earned the nickname “Crash Alley.”

In March 2016, the council gave the DOT permission to proceed with detailed redesign for the $42 million project, using state and federal funding. Last Monday, however, the council instructed transportation officials to abandon the central focus of the plan — constructing a series of roundabouts to eliminate accident-prone intersections.

The council made the decision after hearing from business owners concerned that the disruptions caused by such a major redesign would discourage customers from venturing on the road and hurt business.

Those concerns are understandable, but critics miss the point that in the end a much improved and safer roadway will be good for business. The alternative Band-Aid approaches proposed, such as added turn lanes, won’t get the job done.

Killing the plan is a victory of sorts for council Alderman Peter Nystrom. A former mayor, the Republican is again running for that top spot. To his credit, Nystrom opposed the plan from the start. Now he has found enough votes to block it, 5-2.

The result is the crashes will continue. According to the accident data base maintained at the University of Connecticut, there have been 282 crashes involving 801 people and 557 vehicles since January 2015.

The DOT plan envisioned a median divider and a series of six roundabouts to replace the traffic-light intersections. Drivers would have had to slow down and merge as they entered the roundabouts, preventing the high-speed crashes now seen. Rather than crossing traffic via a left turn to enter parking lots, another cause of frequent accidents, drivers would have continued to the next turning circle, then driven back on the other side of the barrier to safely enter shopping areas with right turns.

Instead it will be business, and accidents, as usual.

The Day editorial board meets with political, business and community leaders to formulate editorial viewpoints. It is composed of President and Publisher Timothy Dwyer, Executive Editor Izaskun E. Larraneta, Owen Poole, copy editor, and Lisa McGinley, retired deputy managing editor. The board operates independently from The Day newsroom.