Governor Dannel P. Malloy today announced that twenty projects in towns and cities across Connecticut will receive nearly $11 million in funding under a competitive grant program that will support transit-oriented development (TOD) and responsible growth, targeted at boosting economic activity and creating jobs.
Three of the twenty communities are members of WestCOG, Danbury, New Canaan, and Westport. Their grant awards total over $800,000.
The grants come under the state’s Responsible Growth and Transit-Oriented Development Grant Program, which is administered by the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) and relies on a combination of funding from the Responsible Growth Incentive Fund and the Transit-Oriented Development and Pre-development Fund.
“Investing in transportation is critical. Transportation and the future of our economy are fundamentally linked. Our focus is on not only improving overall quality of life for residents in these areas, but also encouraging economic development by making our towns and cities more accessible,” Governor Malloy said. “These grants will help us take another step towards making our state more competitive.”
“The grants announced today will make Connecticut a better place to live, work, and compete in the 21st Century. These projects will improve pedestrian connections, increase multimodal transportation options, encourage infill development and discourage sprawl. And they complement the historic investments being made in public transit under the Let’s Go CT! initiative,” OPM Secretary Ben Barnes said. “By promoting transportation alternatives, the projects will decrease emissions and road congestion in high traffic areas. This is the type of critical funding that we must continue to invest in our towns and cities.”
The grants announced today for the WestCOG Region include:
- Danbury – Downtown Transit-Oriented Development Planning Study: $225,000 to conduct research on land use and transportation conditions in the downtown, and issue recommendations to further transit-oriented development, responsible growth, and infill development in the City’s downtown area. The planning study will also focus on analyzing existing transportation modes of ridership and provide recommendations that promote intermodal coordination and co-location of transit services
- New Canaan – Downtown Pedestrian Loop- Weed Street Sidewalk Connection: $150,000 to construct sidewalks and crosswalks along a portion of Weed Street between Elm Street and Irwin Park. The proposed walkway is within a half mile from the train station and downtown. The walkway aims to enhance pedestrian access to the train station and decrease the demand for motor vehicles.
- Westport – Saugatuck Station Area TOD Master Plan: $440,000 to fund a detailed master plan of the Saugatuck Station Area including an existing conditions analysis, public outreach, district planning, identification of partnerships, and preliminary design. The plan is focused on improving the Saugatuck area in a manner that will benefit local residents, new residents, commuters, and businesses.
For more information on the other winning projects, see the Governor’s press release.