The U.S. Forest Service awarded NVCOG a grant to assess, map, and characterize tree cover across the region. A robust tree cover mitigates high temperatures, filters air pollution, and can improve property values and quality of life in urban areas.
A common measure of transportation system performance is vehicle miles traveled (VMT), which looks at the total number of miles driven by personal cars across a given area. A reduction in VMT typically yields benefits for congestion, air quality, and can help reduce costs for drivers.
Project Type: Cleanup Planning
Site specific end-use includes a mixed-use development with both market-rate and affordable housing.
Project Type: Demolition, overseen by Tighe & Bond, began in October 2023.
The Naugatuck Valley Active Transportation Plan (NVATP) will aim to coordinate efforts across our 19 municipal members. By compiling best practices and standards, NVCOG aims to encourage increased access to safe, convenient walking/rolling and biking facilities.
Connecticut was selected to participate in Smart Growth America’s Complete Streets Academy with the cities of Bristol, Middletown, and Waterbury.
The NVCOG and its partner communities, Waterbury and Bristol, participated in the 2023 Complete Streets Academy, enabling implementation of impactful traffic calming projects in the jurisdictions. The Complete Streets Leadership Academies are a National Complete Streets Coalition and Smart Growth America initiative training public employees and officials in Complete Street best practices, intergovernmental and regional coordination, and “quick-build” temporary infrastructure projects on state roads.
Each city installed a temporary project to collect data and feedback about complete streets installations on key state owned routes near their respective Downtowns. This data will be used to inform future designs and improvements to these and similar streets to enhance safety, comfort, and pedestrian/bicycle access.
Bristol implemented temporary pedestrian safety improvements on West Street, including narrowing the roadway and adding visual elements and improved crosswalks near the Boys & Girls Club of Bristol. The NVCOG staff joined Mayor Jeff Caggiano of Bristol and the Connecticut Department of Transportation’s Safe Routes to School office to engage Bristol youth and promote pedestrian safety.
Waterbury’s project made Grand Street a more vibrant, pedestrian-friendly location leveraging low-cost materials like tape, cones, and tubular markers to daylight crosswalks and shorten their crossing distance. The project was in place through late September. Data showed an 11% reduction in traffic speeds within the first two weeks, a crucial step towards enhancing community safety as lowering speeds at the 85th percentile can significantly reduce traffic-related accidents.
The Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRG) are a five-billion-dollar federal program to help state and regional governments reduce greenhouse gases. NVCOG towns are split among several planning regions, each of which is conducting its own GHG assessment and planning GHG reduction measures.
Through a series of state and federal funding sources, the CT Department of Transportation is undertaking a project to upgrade all six Waterbury Line train stations. These upgrades will not only provide a safer and more comfortable experience for passengers but allow the stations to serve as key places within their communities, a source of civic pride and a gathering place for residents and visitors.
Currently Waterbury has the only ADA accessible platform in the NVCOG region. However, this platform is too short for high-level boarding at all doors and lacks amenities and comforts that passengers need. Meanwhile, the adjacent Waterbury Union Station, a spectacular example of New Haven Railroad architecture, is unavailable to passengers, who often have to wait significant amounts of time between trains. Two projects will, together, make the Waterbury Station a better, more comfortable place for riders while also allowing for more frequent and longer trains.
The current platform in Waterbury is only long enough for trains with two cars, and even then only one car can open all of its doors. There are no ticket vending machines currently, and at arrivals and departures the small platform feels crowded. Using state funds added to the federal All Stations Accessibility Award, CTDOT will replace the current platform with one that meets all current standards, including being ADA accessible, 350 long to be able to accept 4 car trains, and equipped with all of the modern station amenities like ticket vending, real time arrival and departure information, and better space for waiting riders. In addition to the functional improvements, the new platform will match the Department’s new platform aesthetic, making for a more attractive station to match the significant improvements that have already been made to station area parking and pedestrian spaces.
The existing Naugatuck Station, located north of Downtown near the site of the historic Naugatuck Station, will be relocated south to a point closer to Downtown and key development parcels.
The new Naugatuck Station, located south of Maple Street and adjacent to Parcel B, will be more visible, easier to access from Downtown, and will help spur economic development in the area. The new station will similarly be built to modern station design standards, including a 350 foot, high-level platform, ticket vending, real-time arrival information, and will be fully ADA accessible. With modern but classic visual elements and consistent signage, the Naugatuck Station will serve as a centerpiece of a revitalized Naugatuck as well as a high-quality connection between the Borough and the Rail Line.
To facilitate the new station, improvements will be made by the CTDOT to Water Street and surrounding on-street parking, and will align with projects currently planned by the Borough for improvements to Maple Street and the surrounding area, will create a mixed-use, walkable neighborhood between Downtown, the East Side of the Naugatuck River, and the new station. Additional connections between the station, Downtown, and the Naugatuck River Greenway will further support these efforts.
Additional information about the project can be found on the CTDOT website here.
The currently proposed site plan, provided by CTDOT, can be found here.
The Town of Beacon Falls will receive an upgraded station built on the site of the existing station. Currently, Beacon Falls has a small, low-level platform, a parking area, and very few other amenities. The station, located across the Naugatuck River from Downtown and the Naugatuck River Greenway, is poorly integrated to the surrounding community and does not provide access to riders with mobility restrictions.
Funded through the USDOT’s All Station Accessibility Program and state matching dollars, the station will receive a new, 350 foot platform , starting near the same southern end of the existing platform and moving north along the parking area. This new platform will be covered, enclosed with a wrap-around windscreen, include real-time arrival information, ticket vending, and an enhanced waiting space, as well as be fully ADA compliant. New visual elements, including wayfinding signage and classic design elements, will better define the station area for travelers and better integrate the Beacon Falls Station with the surrounding businesses, homes, and natural amenities.
The town of Seymour will have an upgraded station built on the site of the existing station. Currently, Seymour has a small, low level platform, a mostly enclosed but not climate controlled waiting building, limited commuter parking, and few other amenities. In place of the existing station, a new, 350 foot platform will be built parallel to Route 115 and the Downtown area. This new platform will be covered, enclosed with a wrap-around windscreen, include real-time arrival information, ticket vending, and an enhanced waiting space, as well as be fully ADA compliant. Landscaping and way-finding will further provide a better and safer passenger experience.
Located between the Naugatuck River and Downtown, the existing Ansonia station is within close proximity to new Downtown restaurants and businesses, expanded housing, and a large industrial development site. Within Ansonia, the new station will be built on the site of the existing station, which is made up of two bus-shelter like waiting areas and a short canopy. Like the other Waterbury Line stations, Ansonia will receive a new, 350 foot platform, starting at the southern end near the gate in the flood wall and moving north to under the Maple Street Bridge. This new platform will be covered, enclosed with a wrap-around windscreen, include real-time arrival information, ticket vending, and an enhanced waiting space, as well as be fully ADA compliant. Landscaping and way-finding will further provide a better and safer passenger experience.
The Derby-Shelton station not only provides access for both communities to the Waterbury Line but serves as a critical juncture for the CTtransit New Haven Division, Greater Bridgeport Transit, and Valley Transit District bus services. The original Derby-Shelton Station, built by the New Haven Railroad, still stands, and though the building is closed to the public at this time the platform is still in service as the current station. The Derby-Shelton Station project is being funded by a RAISE Grant provided by the USDOT, as well as state funds. In conjunction with the ongoing reconstruction of Route 34, the new station will be well connected to Downtown Derby, Downtown Shelton, and the many new residences and businesses within the two communities.
The existing Derby-Shelton station building, empty since the merger that created the NVCOG in 2015, will be restored in close coordination with the State’s Historic Preservation Office. By ensuring that the building retains its historic elements, not only will it provide a safe and comfortable waiting area for passengers but continue to serve as an important and living piece of Derby’s history.
The project will restore interior passenger waiting, including a potential tenant space, public restrooms, and passenger amenities. The new platform will be connected to the indoor waiting space under the existing platform canopy, ensuring that riders waiting indoors have a protected path to trains during inclement weather.
In addition to serving as the train station, the Derby-Shelton Station is also served by the CTtransit New Haven Division and Greater Bridgeport Transit. To better facilitate transfers between these services, new bus bays will be built within the station area, providing dedicated space for passenger boarding and alighting as well as electric bus charging stations.
Throughout the project, a series of public meetings will he held in communities along the Waterbury Line to share concepts and gather feedback regarding station replacements. These meetings will be posted here, as well as to the NVCOG Calendar.
The first public information meeting for any of the Waterbury Line station replacements was held by CTDOT staff on November 15, 2023. The meeting was fully virtual and the recording is attached below.
In support of the Waterbury Active Transportation and Economic Resurgence (WATER) Project, the City of Waterbury and NVCOG will be reporting on several critical performance measures for a five (5) year period following completion of the project. This webpage will contain supplemental information for those performance measures, including images of the project area, raw data collected to support the data provided in the final report, and a copy of the charts and tables presented to the Federal Highway Administration. For additional information or questions about the project, please contact the city of Waterbury. For questions about the data collection efforts, please contact the NVCOG staff contact listed below.
Pedestrian Data – These tables portray the full pedestrian data set as collected by NVCOG staff, as well as expansions to daily, weekly, monthly, and annual estimates.
Bicyclist Data – These tables portray the full bicyclist data set as collected by NVCOG staff, as well as expansions to daily, weekly, monthly, and annual estimates.
Traffic Data – These tables portray the full data set as collected by street side radar counters.
2022 Report to FHWA
Kevin Ellis
Transportation Engineer
kellis@nvcogct.gov
Project Type: Cleanup Planning
Activities: NVCOG’s Revolving Loan Fund Committee has awarded the Waterbury Development Corporation a subgrant for $277,000, joining an initial award of $200,000 to facilitate cleanup planning and remedial activities at 698 South Main Street, Waterbury. This property, nestled between the Naugatuck and Mad Rivers, was once the campus of the Anamet network of factory buildings. The City of Waterbury’s plan for this site includes repurposing the 200,000-square-foot building back into light industrial, rebuilding with mixed-use, and adding a 0.45-mile expansion of the Naugatuck River Greenway, a multi-use trail that will provide opportunities for exercise, active transportation, and recreation while raising property values and connecting regional economic corridors. The Anamet complex is the subject of extensive ongoing investment, including $10,000,000 from state and local partners. Once completed, the site is expected to yield $100,000,000 in private investment.
Project Status: Environmental assessment activities within the high-bay building are complete and ongoing across the site. Remedial activities have commenced. The City has demolished the remaining three buildings on site. An RFP for a developer has been completed, with responses currently under review.
Project Type: Assessment
Activities: The Regional Brownfield Partnership has awarded
NEST, formerly the Neighborhood Housing Services of Waterbury a $100,000 subgrant for environmental assessment activities at 526 North Main Street, Waterbury. Data will be used to determine the scope of required remediation on-site. The proposed redevelopment of this former industrial site consists of a 100+ unit apartment building with commercial space on the first two floors. NVCOG’s portion of environmental testing is complete; however, the Neighborhood Housing Services of Waterbury have decided to fund supplemental testing to close out data gaps privately. Elevated levels of
PCBs, PAHs, and asbestos have been identified.
Project Status: Assessment work is complete. The Neighborhood Housing Services is closing remaining data gaps while the environmental firm Arcadis prepares the site to become eligible for supplemental funding from the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development.