Yield Industries secures a $4.2M contract for Torrington's Railroad Square Revitalization project. Funding from DECD, CTDOT and city bond. Plans include parking expansion, greenway extension, road upgrades and public walkways.
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Warner Theater in Torrington, Conn.
Officials in the town of Torrington, Conn., have awarded a contract worth approximately $4.2 million to Yield Industries for the community's Railroad Square Revitalization project, CT Post reported March 22, 2025.
Town leaders are now awaiting approval by the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD), said Paul Kundzins, Torrington's city engineer and deputy public works director.
Yield Industries is an excavation contractor based in Torrington.
"Construction will begin as soon as we can mobilize," Kundzins told a recent meeting of the Torrington City Council. "The project is required to be completed by the end of this calendar year, so we're going to be done. [It will be a] busy, busy summer."
The Railroad Square Revitalization project will be funded by a DECD Community Challenge Grant, the City of Torrington Pavement Management Program Bond Fund, and the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) Town Aid Road program.
Yield's $4.1 million bid, with $207,355 for contingencies and quantity fluctuations, was the lowest one the community received for the project, he said.
"The bids came in very favorably — actually under the engineer's estimate," said Kundzins. "[They] came in 6 percent under and were even under the DECD funding. So, we were very pleased with the results."
The overall project also includes the replacement of the railroad platform and construction of a canopy at Railroad Square, for which a $632,967 contract was awarded to Bloomfield's Millennium Builders Inc. in January 2025.
That contract constitutes the remainder of the effort, which encompasses facelifts on Water Street from Prospect Street to the railroad tracks, John Street from Water Street to Mason Street, Mason Street from Prospect Street to Church Street, and Church from Mason Street to Migeon Avenue.
Greenway Trail to Expand to Christmas Village
The work also will include the extension of the Sue Grossman Greenway from Water Street to 160 Church St. along railway tracks beside Torrington's Christmas Village and on to a new parking lot nearby, Kundzins said. The greenway will come close to linking the greenway at the Riverview parking lot behind the library with only a small gap along a portion of Prospect Street.
John Street also is due to get road, sidewalk and crossing upgrades.
A 10-ft.-wide trail will be added along John and Mason streets and a pedestrian promenade is to be installed at 136 Water St., resulting in a public walkway between the train station, greenway and other green spaces that will include new benches, trees and landscaping.
When passengers disembark from the train arriving from Thomaston, they will be able to use the walkway to reach John and Mason Streets, CT Post noted.
The Torrington improvement effort also will include some road reconstruction and the installation of new sidewalks, lighting and drainage fixes. For instance, John Street will be converted to a one-way roadway with new granite curbing, sidewalks and lighting; Mason and Church streets will also be partially reconstructed and get new curbing.
Expanded Parking Key Part of Torrington's Redesign
As designed, the Railroad Square Revitalization project will see crews paving a new parking lot behind Christmas Village with room for 70 vehicles. The surface lot will be used by teachers at Vogel-Wetmore School, who currently park off Mason Street, next to the Northwest Connecticut YMCA.
Once it is completed, the new lot will free up the one on Mason Street for public use, Kundzins said.
Torrington Mayor Elinor C. Carbone noted at the city council meeting that she has always heard about the need for more parking downtown, including from management at Torrington Savings Bank, who bemoan the lack of parking whenever she meets them.
"There is such a high demand for parking spaces," she said, adding that if the town's historic Yankee Pedlar Inn is redeveloped, it, too will need parking.
A small pocket park next to Christmas Village, with areas set aside for food trucks at the intersection of Church and Mason Streets, is also part of Torrington's revitalization efforts.
According to Kundzins, construction of the train platform and canopy should also be starting soon.
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