The Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) today announced that it has been awarded $6.16 million from the Federal Railroad Administration’s Railroad Crossing Elimination Program to advance safety improvements at railroad crossings along the Hartford Line.
The federal grant, combined with $1.54 million in state matching funds, will support preliminary engineering and final design for the $7.7 million Hartford Line Sealed Corridor Project. This work will prepare the project for construction and advance plans to improve safety for motorists, pedestrians, and rail passengers.
The project covers the Hartford Line’s 35 roadway crossings in Connecticut along the corridor connecting New Haven, Hartford, and Enfield. Approximately 108,000 motorists use these crossings daily, and nearly 203,000 residents live within one mile, including more than 57,000 children.
“This funding will allow us to redesign Hartford Line crossings for today’s travel patterns and improve safety for drivers, pedestrians, and rail passengers,” Connecticut Transportation Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto said. “We thank the Federal Railroad Administration, Governor Lamont, and our congressional delegation for supporting these critical safety improvements.”
CTDOT will design improvements to establish the Hartford Line as a sealed corridor recognized by the Federal Railroad Administration. A sealed corridor uses enhanced crossing protections and selected crossing closures to reduce opportunities for vehicles and pedestrians to enter the path of an approaching train.
Proposed improvements include four quadrant gate systems at 21 crossings, which are expected to reduce vehicle collisions by 95% at each location. These systems block traffic lanes on both sides of a crossing to help prevent drivers from going around lowered gates. During the design phase, CTDOT will also evaluate potential crossing closures and their effects on local access and traffic, along with measures that guide vehicles through crossings and discourage unsafe movements.
Once constructed, the improvements are projected to prevent more than 29 collisions between trains and vehicles over a 20-year period. The project is also expected to prevent more than 1,836 collisions between vehicles near crossings.
By reducing collisions and related service disruptions, the improvements will support more reliable passenger and freight rail service and safer connections to jobs, schools, businesses, and destinations throughout the corridor.
CTDOT Announces $7.7 Million in Federal and State Funding to Design Safety Improvements at Hartford Line Rail Crossings
11/13/2026
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860-594-3062
CTDOTMedia@ct.gov
Twitter: @CTDOTOfficial
Facebook: Connecticut Department of Transportation