Consultants from VN Engineers on Tuesday presented the City of Torrington’s Safety Action Plan, funded through the federal Safe Streets for All (SS4A) grant, summarizing crash data, public outreach results and recommended actions to reduce traffic deaths and serious injuries.

The plan identified 65 locations in Torrington that make up a citywide high‑injury network — about 22 roadway segments and 43 intersections — and recommends a mix of systemwide actions (education, enforcement, signage) and corridor‑specific countermeasures for sites such as East Main Street and Prospect Street. "The ultimate goal for this is to prevent death and serious injury on roads," VN Engineers consultant Nancy Datta said.

The report combines crash records and public survey responses to prioritize investments. Datta said the Northwestern Hills Council of Governments data showed 72 fatal crashes across the 21‑municipality region from 2019–2023, with 20 of those fatalities occurring in Torrington; the plan also tallied 48 pedestrian injury crashes and 16 bicycle crashes in the city during the same period. Datta said about 41 percent of injury crashes occurred in four census tracts identified by the Connecticut Justice Reintegration/Justice Screening Tool as having higher socioeconomic burdens, and that seven of Torrington’s 20 fatalities were clustered in those tracts.

The plan groups recommendations by scale. Systemwide measures include education campaigns about speeding and sharing the road, targeted enforcement (including noting Connecticut’s red light/speed camera pilot), improved signal visibility and retroreflective signal backplates, and access management to reduce conflict points. Corridor examples:

- East Main Street: Datta said the corridor has many access points, frequent left‑turn conflicts and pedestrian desire lines (including the area in front of Target). Recommendations include clearer lane signage, more visible signals and new crosswalks at high‑demand crossing locations. For one commercial driveway near BJ’s, the plan suggests converting the access to right‑in/right‑out or restricting left turns and using flexible posts to limit conflict. "That access point is so close to the intersection. It just creates a very dangerous situation," Datta said.

- Prospect Street: The plan recommends improving pedestrian visibility, adding signage, evaluating pedestrian hybrid beacons and considering lead pedestrian intervals at signals to give pedestrians a head start. The plan also suggests bicycle facilities or shared‑lane markings where feasible.

Consultants said they intentionally prioritized lower‑cost, maintainable measures where possible so the city can implement some countermeasures without waiting for major federal funding. Datta noted the SS4A grant paid for the action plan itself and cannot be used to construct all recommended projects. "This grant was specifically for this action plan. So this grant does not allow to use that money," she said when a resident asked whether remaining grant funds could pay for construction.

Public engagement and funding were recurring themes in the discussion. VN Engineers said the city received 322 public survey responses and conducted outreach at events including the Watermelon Festival and a downtown walk. Several residents pressed for implementation funding and asked how many businesses were contacted; consultants said downtown Main Street businesses and other local stakeholders were approached during outreach. One resident who identified riding a bicycle frequently described Prospect Street as dangerous where a painted bike lane abruptly ends; consultants acknowledged those discontinuities were noted in the survey and included in corridor recommendations.

City staff described next steps. The assistant city planner said the plan is intended to be returned to the city council for adoption so Torrington can reference it when pursuing construction funding. "Short term, we're gonna bring this back to council to adopt this plan," said the assistant city planner. Staff also said an existing Technical Advisory Committee and a community advisory committee will continue to coordinate implementation, and that several departments (planning, engineering, police traffic, economic development) will report on progress. City engineer Paul Kunzins described recent street‑geometry pilot work and explained the rationale for narrowing intersections and removing slip lanes to slow vehicles and make pedestrian crossings shorter. "If you can make an intersection smaller, what you do is you introduce everybody that stops can see everybody around it much clearer," Kunzins said.

Longer‑term geometric projects such as roundabouts or major reconfigurations were included in the plan as conceptual, higher‑cost solutions that would require CT DOT coordination and separate funding. Consultants said Connecticut DOT has a statewide roundabout program and that such projects can be safer but are expensive and require public acceptance.

The plan is intended to support future grant applications and city budgeting. Staff and consultants emphasized that coordination with the Connecticut Department of Transportation will be required for state roads and larger improvements. The presentation closed with staff expressing intent to incorporate the plan into the forthcoming comprehensive plan update and to pursue grant opportunities that align with the plan’s prioritized list of countermeasures.

Ending: The Safety Action Plan provides a prioritized set of locations and low‑ and medium‑cost countermeasures the city can reference when seeking funding; Torrington staff said they will present the plan to the city council for formal adoption and continue coordination with CT DOT and local stakeholders.