East Granby awarded $1.5 million state grant for Route 20 sidewalks

East Granby’s first selectperson announced the town has been awarded a $1,500,000 state grant to build sidewalks along Route 20, both sides of East Street and down Nicholson, connecting residential areas to the town center.

"We have been awarded the 1,500,000," First Select person Jason Hayes said, noting the award was received and that the transportation committee must sign a final approval letter. The work is intended to link sidewalks “from either end of School Street” and connect neighborhoods near Planet Fitness and the new 120-unit development to the town center, Hayes said.

Hayes said the project would provide walkability for about 338 homes and described the grant as wrapping Route 20 "around the Planet Fitness, the old Craft Plaza, down Nicholson to the new 120 units." The town also has roughly $257,000 remaining from a prior connectivity grant; Hayes said plans submitted to the state would use about $230,000 of that balance to extend sidewalks from School Street past Higley to Sanford.

Hayes described a favorable traffic-warrant outcome for Route 20, saying East Granby "qualified on all 3 levels for the traffic warrant study" — a result he called rare. The project now awaits the state’s review and the town’s transportation committee must complete a final sign-off before work can proceed.

If approved, the sidewalks will link multiple neighborhoods to the Mary Ellen Brown Community Center and other town facilities. Hayes said the town will report updates as the state completes its review and the transportation committee executes the approval letter.

The board did not take a separate vote on the grant award during the meeting; Hayes announced the award and the next procedural step was for the transportation committee to sign the final approval letter.