Waterbury West Main Street Corridor Study

Final Report

The completed, final report is now available for review here and on the West Main Study website. In 2022, the City of Waterbury was awarded a RAISE Grant from the US Department of Transportation to implement aspects of this study, along with phase II of the Naugatuck River Greenway within the city, connecting the currently open phase along South Main Street to Downtown via West Main Street.

Project Overview

NVCOG is leading the West Main Street Corridor Study in coordination with the City of Waterbury and the CT Department of Transportation. The purpose of the study is to develop an in depth understanding of the challenges and opportunities of this stretch of road from Route 8 to the Waterbury Green and develop solutions that improve safety for all users including pedestrians, cyclists, public transit riders, and drivers.

Project Details

West Main Street is a short corridor in an urbanized area that sees significant use. The block-by-block street character varies significantly ranging between two and six lanes. The street includes a variety of land uses, a railroad bridge, an incomplete sidewalk network, some on-street parking, several signalized intersections, and several difficult pedestrian crossings. It’s an important corridor that serves as a primary surface street connection across the Naugatuck River into downtown Waterbury. The street also connects several regionally significant employers and destinations, including UConn Waterbury, Waterbury Hospital, St. Mary’s Hospital, the Basilica, and several other large religious establishments, as well as the Waterbury YMCA, the Mattatuck Museum, several state offices, and the seat of local government.

Overall, the purpose of this study was to develop a conceptual plan and recommendations for the corridor that will address safety and traffic flow concerns while providing for improved pedestrian, bicycle, and transit-user accessibility.

We will examine the impacts of reducing lane widths in certain sections of this corridor, also known as a “road diet” to accommodate increased pedestrian space, safer crossings, and appropriate transit stops and flows including the potential for a bus-only lane or a shared bus lane.

The final product will be a full study of our findings along with several conceptual drawings detailing what improvements are needed to create a safer environment for all users, better traffic flow and encourage economic development.

Fuss and O’Neill is the primary consultant leading the study. Currently, we are in the “Existing Conditions” phase of the project, collecting data and community input to learn as much as we can about the challenges and opportunities of this corridor.

Community Input

We are actively seeking community input for how we can better accommodate walkers, transit riders, cyclists, drivers and parking along West Main Street. There are still ways you can provide us with your input:

Please take our survey in English or Español.
Try using our interactive map feature on the West Main Street website where you pinpoint areas of concern.

Public Meeting Dates

Our final public meeting was held on Wednesday, October 27th. We held our first virtual public meeting on Tuesday, January 12, 2021 from 5-7 pm. Check out our website to watch the presentation or review meeting notes. We held our 2nd virtual public meeting on Wednesday, April 14th from 5-7 pm.

The final public meeting recording can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCqSpfDaDiU

Our 3rd Project Advisory Committee Meeting took place on Tuesday, September 28th. The slides from this meeting can be found here:

PAC Meeting

Staff Contact:

Josh Lecar
Assistant Planning Director
jlecar@nvcogct.gov