CT Awards Danbury $40K For Trail Study

DANBURY, CT — The state is awarding $40,000 to the City of Danbury Trail Routing Planning Study.

The grant is being made through the Recreational Trails Grant Program of Connecticut's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. It's part of $3 million in grant funding for twenty projects to plan and design, build, expand, or enhance and improve multi-use trails across the state, DEEP announced on Wednesday.

Funds received through this program may be used for locally supported trails and trail systems, bikeways and multiuse paths. Grant money can be allocated for a wide variety of purposes, including planning, design, land acquisition, construction, construction administration, and publications for bikeways, walkways, and greenways as well as for equipment and trail amenities, such as parking lots, toilet buildings, signs, and benches.

Danbury's grant is earmarked for planning, design, education and outreach for the study.

"As we learned during the pandemic, 2020 brought huge numbers of people out to our state parks, forests, and trails, both long-time and new nature lovers, to access the mental and physical benefits of being in the outdoors," DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes said. "The public continued to utilize the state’s natural resources to their fullest in 2021, so these projects are incredibly timely and will improve our state’s incredible trail system, which benefits our residents and our state’s outdoor economy, and makes our state such an attractive place to live."

The funding for these grants was allocated by the State Bond Commission in July 2021.