Falls Village, Kent, North Canaan to receive $3.5M in transportation grants

HARTFORD — Residents in the Northwest Corner can expect road, bridge and drainage improvements over the next several years after the state awarded nearly $3.5 million in transportation grants to Falls Village, Kent and North Canaan.

Gov. Ned Lamont’s office announced Thursday, July 23, that Falls Village, Kent and North Canaan are among nine Connecticut towns sharing $10 million through the Transportation Rural Improvement Program, commonly known as TRIP. The state Department of Transportation program helps smaller communities pay for road, bridge and drainage projects that often do not qualify for larger federal transportation grants.

Falls Village will receive $561,600 to replace a bridge and culvert over Wangum Lake Brook on Cobble Road. The project will replace the bridge and the culvert — the structure that carries water beneath the road — to allow more stormwater to flow underneath during heavy rains. State officials said the work is expected to reduce flooding and improve travel along the frequently flooded route between Route 63 and Mountain Road.

Falls Village First Selectman Dave Barger said he was glad the town’s grant application had been accepted. “Now we have to move forward and see what kind of timetable we’re looking at,” he said.

Cobble Road has been closed to through traffic since March when the town closed a separate bridge after an assessment by the DOT identified damage.

A project to repair that bridge, which is much larger than the Wangum Lake Brook bridge and is located about a half mile west, is currently in the preparation phase. At present, Cobble Road is expected to remain closed until 2030 for that rehabilitation, although the timeline could change. Since the bridge is more than 120 feet long, it qualifies for federal funding.

Kent was granted $920,800 for a project to repave Bulls Bridge Road and improve drainage along a stretch from just east of Spooner Hill Road to just west of Old Stone Road. First Selectman Eric Epstein said there is no timetable yet for when construction will begin.

When it does start, “We’ll do everything in our power to keep [the road] from being closed completely,” Epstein said.

North Canaan will receive the largest award in the region — $1.85 million — for a project that will repave roads, repair culverts and other drainage structures, and improve stormwater drainage around North Canaan Elementary School, Town Hall and other municipal buildings. The work will cover Route 7 from the Route 44 intersection to the Massachusetts state line, as well as Bragg Street and Pease Street.

A statement released by Town Hall on Friday, July 24, said the improvements are intended to reduce flooding in problem areas and help roads better withstand heavy storms in the future. First Selectman Jesse Bunce said in a statement that “the grant allows us to make long-needed improvements to one of our Town’s most important transportation areas without placing that burden on local taxpayers.”

Bunce added, “Getting this TRIP funding is going to be a really great way to solve a lot of problems in the town.”