NVCOG board approves application to submit Safe Streets implementation grant for Waterbury’s Thomaston Avenue

The Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments on a voice vote authorized staff to submit an implementation application to the federal Safe Streets and Roads for All program for improvements on Thomaston Avenue in Waterbury and authorized Executive Director Rick Dunn to sign related documents. The board also recorded the city of Waterbury’s commitment to provide the nonfederal match.

The application focuses on the southern portion of the Thomaston Avenue corridor — roughly from the Department of Labor offices down through the West Main Street intersection — and coordinates with improvements funded by a separate RAISE grant. The proposal would use roadway safety-audit recommendations and would add sidewalks, street trees and landscaping, access management (fewer and shorter curb cuts), and roadway-narrowing measures intended to slow traffic.

"We've been working closely with the city of Waterbury on an implementation grant looking at the Thomaston Avenue roadway safety audit," a staff presenter said during the meeting. The board was told the application deadline was next week and that NVCOG staff had most of the planning work completed through the earlier audit.

NVCOG staff said the city committed to the full nonfederal match, described in the application as "just above a million dollars," for a total project cost stated in the materials as $5,133,000. The board voted to authorize submission and to allow Rick Dunn to sign necessary agreements should the project be awarded.

Board members discussed whether the project could be a first phase that would help address safety problems along other parts of the corridor. Staff said the southern segment was selected because it is lower cost and faster to implement and could be coordinated with other, larger efforts in the corridor, including proposals for a turbo-roundabout at the Thomaston/Huntington/Homer intersection and other north-end improvements.

The resolution before the board authorized application submission, signature authority for the executive director, and board support for later implementation if the grant is awarded. No additional municipal funding commitments were required at the moment of application beyond the city of Waterbury’s pledged match.

NVCOG staff emphasized the competitive nature of SS4A implementation grants and noted the region had previously won planning grants through the program. The board approved the motion by voice vote.