Regional grant to design Naugatuck River Greenway sections; RFQ deadline set for Feb. 14

Regional staff told the Feb. 5 meeting that a USDOT discretionary award will fund full design and environmental assessment for remaining portions of the Naugatuck River Greenway corridor.

The project covers roughly 16.9 miles from Greenfield in Naugatuck to East Main Street in Thomaston, with approximately 12 miles of corridor sections that still need design work. Staff said the total design project budget is about $7.2 million, of which the federal share is approximately $5.7 million; state recreational trails money is being used as the nonfederal match. The award is for design only; no construction funds are included in this phase.

Staff said Federal Highway approved the use of state recreational-trails funds as the nonfederal share and granted a tapered-match approach so invoices do not need to follow a strict 80/20 split on every invoice as long as final program shares meet the 80/20 federal/nonfederal ratio. An RFQ for consultants was released in December and the deadline for consultant proposals is Feb. 14; staff said they expect agreements and a possible April 1 start pending final federal execution of the grant agreement.

Why it matters: completing design and environmental work positions communities to move quickly to construction when funding becomes available; the project would connect multiple municipalities along the Naugatuck River and support active transportation goals.

Next steps: staff will finalize the federal agreement, evaluate consultant proposals after Feb. 14 and form a selection advisory board with one member from each participating town and agency staff to oversee design procurement and project oversight.