Windsor Explores New Uses For Broad Street Grants

WINDSOR, CT — Town staff are exploring ways to use Broad Street grant money for pedestrian safety improvements without reducing travel lanes, according to an update Mayor Nuchette Black-Burke shared from Town Manager Peter Souza.

The update comes after voters rejected a $2.91 million Broad Street redesign in May. The Windsor Republican Town Committee is calling for residents to have a say before new plans advance, including a vote on any significant changes.

“Staff does not plan on proposing a reduction in travel lanes,” Souza said in the statement shared by the mayor.

Instead, staff are discussing raised crosswalks, speed tables, raised intersections and rapid flashing lights at certain crosswalks. They are also checking whether grant money could pay to reset the brick strip along Broad Street to eliminate pedestrian trip hazards.

Town Says Federal Funding Was Extended

In the update shared on the mayor’s Facebook page, Souza said the town was notified that Congress acted in September to extend various grant funding authorizations through Sept. 20, 2027, under a continuing resolution.

“The $3 million appropriation for the Broad Street Complete Street project was included in the Continuing Resolution,” he said.

Souza said staff had already been talking with consulting engineers and the Connecticut Department of Transportation about possible uses for a separate $1 million state grant for pedestrian safety work. They will now explore work that could qualify for the federal money under the original grant authorization.

The statement describes options still being explored. It does not announce a final design, construction schedule or new vote.

Souza said he expected more information “in the next 30 days or so” about possible uses of the money, next steps, public input and a timeline.

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Republicans Seek Public Input And A Vote

The Windsor Republican Town Committee said in its own statement that residents should be involved before discussions with CTDOT lead to an approved plan.

“Windsor residents deserve transparency and an opportunity to participate BEFORE plans are discussed or approved by the CT DOT or any decisions are finalized,” the committee wrote.

The committee said a letter accompanied by residents’ signatures had been submitted to CTDOT and the governor’s office. It said the letter requests transparency about Broad Street and the Route 159 corridor, opportunities for residents to offer suggestions before plans advance, and a vote on significant proposed changes.

The committee’s post did not say how many residents signed the letter.

“Residents have a legitimate interest in what happens to their town center,” the committee wrote. “Although these are state roads, decisions affecting Windsor must include the people who live here.”

Voters Rejected The Earlier Plan

On May 12, voters rejected the $2.91 million Broad Street traffic-calming and pedestrian-safety appropriation, with 2,315 voting no and 1,769 voting yes, according to the town clerk’s referendum results. The measure failed with 56.7 percent opposed.

That proposal would have reduced Broad Street to one travel lane in each direction, with center turn lanes and medians, along with bike lanes, parking on one side and shorter pedestrian crossings, as Patch reported when the council advanced the plan in April.

At that meeting, supporters said the changes would make downtown safer and easier to walk. Opponents raised concerns about congestion, emergency access and whether the town was respecting an earlier rejection by voters.

The town’s project page identifies speeding, limited safe crossing opportunities and intersection safety as concerns along the corridor, which runs from the Palisado Avenue and Poquonock Avenue area toward Batchelder Road.

The options Souza outlined would take a different approach to those concerns by retaining the travel lanes. Which improvements qualify for funding, what they would cost and how residents will weigh in remain to be detailed.

For more Northern Connecticut news, follow Patch editor Jay Kenney.