Torrington — The city will seek state planning funds for a key missing link of the Red Mountain Trail after the City Council authorized the mayor to submit a Recreation Trails Program grant application. The application requests $81,750 from the state, with a 20% cash match of $27,250 to be paid from TAR account funds.

Assistant City Planner Nate Nardi Cyrus told the council the proposal would fund planning and permitting for a bridge crossing at a historic rail bridge and sidewalk connections on Newfield Road that would link the trail from North Elm Street through the Newfield Road area to Winstead Road. “This is a continuation of the Red Mountain Trail project that we had applied for about 3 years ago,” Nardi Cyrus said, describing the earlier grant that carried the project through initial planning and design.

Council members asked whether the grant would include pedestrian crossing improvements and how the trail would terminate at Newfield. Nardi Cyrus said the planning grant focuses on the bridge crossing and immediate sidewalk connections; further improvements on privately owned land across Newfield Road would depend on negotiations with the property owner and potential easements. He told the council the ideal final trail would be a 10-foot-wide multiuse path but the immediate planning phase will at minimum establish sidewalks on Newfield Road and a design for crossing the historic rail bridge.

The council approved the authorization by voice vote. The planning grant would cover planning through permitting so the city could pursue implementation grants in later rounds.

Next steps: staff said they will submit the state grant application and, if awarded, return to the council with the planning scope and schedule.