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New Milford council approves Elm Street easement, $200,000 safety-plan steering committee and Brookside bridge application
Summary
The New Milford Town Council approved an easement with Danbury Hospital for East Street/Elm Street intersection improvements, formed a steering committee for a $200,000 Safe Streets for All safety action plan, and authorized the mayor to sign a local bridge program application for Brookside Avenue with construction costs noted. Council also approved related transfers and grants.
The New Milford Town Council on April 27 approved a sequence of public-works actions aimed at reducing traffic congestion and advancing infrastructure repairs, including an easement for intersection improvements, creation of a safety-action steering committee tied to a federal grant, and authorization for bridge program funding.
Council voted to accept an easement with Danbury Hospital to widen the East Street/Elm Street intersection and add left-turn lanes as part of LOTCIP project L095-0005; staff said the easement payment to the hospital is $3,802. Chuck Ballard of Public Works described the project as necessary to reduce congestion and enable safer left-hand turns.
The council also approved forming a steering committee to implement a comprehensive Safe Streets for All (SS4A) safety action plan tied to a $200,000 grant, with a proposed town match of $40,000. "SS4A is a federal program — basically a Vision Zero program," Chuck Ballard said, describing the committee’s role to solicit a consultant, map safety needs and return a prioritized plan for public review. Council named Victoria Carillo (Grants and Compliance Specialist), Chuck Ballard (Public Works), Pam Murphy (Town Council) and Lieutenant Lafont (Police Department) to the committee.
In a separate action the council authorized Mayor Pete Bass to sign the local bridge program application and related agreements for the Brookside Avenue bridge (bridge number 09028). The updated cost estimates provided to council listed construction at $987,448 and inspection at $288,061.80. Public-works staff said contracts were signed and work is expected to require a mid-summer closure with completion targeted for winter.
Councilors also approved routine budget adjustments tied to these and other operations: an $86,000 transfer into public-works winter overtime (sourced from three public-works line items) and a $9,400 personnel transfer to support a planned HR hire and overlap training. Finance staff told the council the transfers comply with charter and ordinance requirements and were presented for council approval.
Why it matters: the package advances both near-term construction (intersection and bridge work) and planning capacity for safety projects that could unlock larger implementation grants. The SS4A plan, if completed and adopted, positions the town to apply for future federal funding for implementation projects identified in the plan.
Next steps: staff said they will proceed to solicit a consultant for the SS4A plan, complete final easement paperwork for East/Elm and pursue reimbursements and supplemental applications for the Brookside bridge. The steering committee will develop the safety action plan and return to the council for public review before the town applies for follow-on implementation grants.
