As the risk of flooding increases with more frequent and higher rainfall amounts in Connecticut, the NVCOG has partnered with the other non-coastal Councils of Governments in the state to develop a Resilience Improvement Plan for local roads. This plan will supplement work currently underway by the CT Department of Transportation that is developing a similar plan for roads owned and maintained by the state. The Resilience Improvement Plan will assess the vulnerability of culverts and bridges from heavy rail events and identify high-risk areas. The project will develop conceptual improvements to ensure the transportation system is more resilient against heavy rainfall and climate change.
The development of resilience improvement plans is a prerequisite for implementation funding under the PROTECT program, which means that all towns within the four-COG region will be eligible for construction applications in future rounds. This study will not only use data to identify the most vulnerable areas but lay out a path for towns to build the improvements needed to keep the transportation system safe and open.
This study will result in three primary outcomes:
- Data based vulnerability and risk assessment – the project consultant will review all points of road/stream interaction in the study area and, using a data-driven approach, quantify the risk at each location.
- Web-based vulnerability tool – Once the risk assessment is completed, data will be uploaded to a web tool to ensure that information is available in real time that can be updated as projects to address vulnerabilities are undertaken.
- Resilience Improvement Plan – The study will be a complete resilience improvement plan that lays out the priorities for improvement, strategies to fund and execute these improvements, and any additional actions that can be taken to reduce risk.
Public Engagement
The project team will develop a public participation plan for public involvement in the project, including public meetings, strategies to provide ongoing public information, and, by the project’s conclusion, a detailed record of comments and suggestions offered.
Feedback from residents and municipal staff will help direct the work that the project team does identifying the areas of highest risk and developing mitigation strategies that work for each community.
Stakeholder Meetings
The NVCOG will conduct a series of stakeholder meetings to receive input from residents.
Upcoming Meetings
The project team will host a series of meetings providing more information to the public regarding the project’s findings and suggested improvements as work progresses. Based on the project schedule, we anticipate holding the first public meetings in Summer 2025.
Future public meeting information will be posted here.
Stay Updated on Social Media
As the project progresses, staff will provide ongoing updates and insights into the development of plans and results of the environmental assessments. Stay up to date on the NVCOG website and its social media platforms, which include Facebook, Instagram, X (Formerly Twitter), and LinkedIn.
Links to project resources will be published as development progresses.
