Committee advances $499,957 consultant contract for Norwalk Citywide Safety Action Plan

The Economic and Community Development Committee voted unanimously on Aug. 6 to forward to the full City Council an authorization to contract with Greenman Peterson Inc. to develop a Norwalk Citywide Safety Action Plan and associated traffic-data platform. Chair Josh called the meeting and presented two linked items authorizing a city contract not to exceed $499,957 and a related contract administration allowance of $49,996.

Nell, director of the Department of Transportation, Mobility and Parking, told the committee the work stems from an earlier Safe Streets for All (SS4A) grant and that staff interviewed four respondents before recommending GPI. "Basically, what I'm requesting is to engage a consultant to complete the Norwalk Citywide Safety Action Plan," Nell said, describing a scope that includes turning movement counts at the city's signalized intersections, a data platform combining crash and street-asset data, and a publicly facing safety analytics dashboard.

Members pressed staff on specifics: how the data could be used by the council, who will collect counts, and privacy safeguards. Nell said the consultant will perform turning movement counts at roughly 142 signalized intersections, lead public engagement and deliver a website-like front end that the city will own and maintain. She added the cameras used for counts will classify vehicle types and not capture faces or license plates; "the city is owning all of the data," she said.

Staff estimated a 12–18 month timeline after contracting, with initial counts planned in the fall to capture school and weekday patterns. The committee's unanimous vote forwards the contract authorization to the full council; the transcript does not record individual roll-call tallies.