Funding for intersection improvements at the intersection of West and Noroton Avenues was one item in a long list of state transportation grants approved Tuesday afternoon by the State Bond Commission.
The Darien project is among more than 100 local roadway projects that would be financed in whole or in part with $51 million from the Local Transportation Capital Improvement program.
Overall, $839 million in various transportation funding was approved by the commission after Gov. Ned Lamont announced he was proposing the spending. The governor serves as chairman of the commission and determines which projects are put on its agenda.
The upgrades are long overdue, Lamont said in an announcement Tuesday. He also said a number of Connecticut transportation improvement projects are expected to be financed through the recently adopted federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
“We are about to enter a new era of transportation upgrades that will finally address some of our state’s most congested areas and transform our roads, bridges, rail, buses, ports, and airports into an efficient network that supports the needs of businesses and the people who live here,” Lamont said.
State Transportation Commissioner Joseph Giulietti said the proposed funding is “an important down payment on Connecticut’s infrastructure future” that will create more jobs. “And most importantly, the State of Connecticut will have an opportunity to secure more federal transportation dollars […] as we move forward.”
Lamont’s announcement included these other proposals for transportation funding:
— A total of $30 million, the first of two annual payments to cities and towns for maintaining local roads.
—$13 million for grants providing 50% of the cost for 24 local bridge projects across the state.
—$12 million for an additional round of grant awards to local projects that improve roadway safety and access for pedestrians and bicyclists. (A total of $30 million was previously given to 90 municipalities for similar projects.)
—$4.2 million to upgrade and install new curb ramps and sidewalks, along with similar improvements. This money is on top of $10 million previously funded by the state Transportation Department’s Americans with Disabilities Act improvement program.
—$2.5 million to match $10 million in federal funds for buying battery electric buses for CTtransit to replace diesel buses.
—”Nearly $4 million to fund a planning and environmental study of I-95 between exits 19 and 27A in Fairfield and Bridgeport,” the news release said. “This study will identify safety improvements along this section of I-95, particularly in the northbound direction.”
Other projects being funded include improvements to railroad stations in Derby and Enfield, a project to improve highways in Meriden, an expansion of hiking trails in Plainfield and Sterling, at the far eastern edge of the state and replacing diesel trains with dual power trains that could run on rails with electric power and without it.