Reconnecting Communities Initiative

The City of New Haven is seeking qualifications for a multi-disciplinary team to deliver a comprehensive Reconnection Plan along I-91 in New Haven, Connecticut. The selected team must demonstrate experience in community-driven planning processes with a high level of technical capability to work in a diverse urban environment with a commitment to integrating climate adaptation, resilience, and equity into infrastructure and project planning. This project is funded primarily with a $2 Million Reconnecting Communities Pilot planning grant from USDOT, with a period of performance of 2 years for this planning process.

The City envisions this effort as a strong partnership with the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) to ensure that the future of I-91 in New Haven continues to provide access to the City and function within the broader regional highway system, while also supporting the City’s goals for housing, sustainability, resiliency, neighborhood revitalization and reconnection, and transportation efficiency & safety, in part through land reclamation, and enhanced transit, pedestrian, and bicycle connectivity.

The effort is designed to investigate and develop a comprehensive and strategic Plan for improving mobility, land use, environmental conditions, economic vitality, and neighborhood cohesion along the I-91 corridor through the City of New Haven. The study will align with both New Haven and CTDOT’s vision, while adhering to FHWA’s requirements for implementing feasible improvements through transportation planning best practices, FHWA’s Planning & Environmental Linkages (PEL) and the federal National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Frameworks.

New Haven’s I ‑ 91 Neighborhood Reconnection Initiative seeks to address and repair the long-term impacts of interstate highway construction on surrounding communities by exploring and identifying transportation issues and priorities along I-95 and the surrounding ½ mile buffer of collector and arterial surface roadways. The City has long been at the forefront of urban renewal, most notably during the 1960’s when it became a "Model City" as part of a federal initiative to address urban poverty through redevelopment. This vision of progress, however, came with significant costs. Like many American cities, New Haven was one of the first to experience the deep, often painful impacts of highway development, which severed neighborhoods, displaced thousands of residents, and exacerbated economic decline in communities now isolated from downtown and key amenities.

Today, the City has the opportunity to engage residents and stakeholders in identifying solutions that address not only the physical separation created by I-91, but also its broader impacts on mobility, land use, environmental conditions, economic vitality, and neighborhood cohesion from Exit 1 at the I-95 interchange to Exit 8 at the northern end of the study area (see Attachment "G" in Attachments Section).