PRESS RELEASE.

Roberto Alves Releases Plan to Support and Maintain Danbury Infrastructure

DANBURY, C.T. — City Councilman and Democratic Candidate for Mayor Roberto Alves today released his plan to support and maintain Danbury’s infrastructure. Alves' plan takes a global approach to address road conditions and flooding, transportation and walkability citywide, quality of life, and community conservation.

“The conditions of our roads and pipes, our transportation networks, our public spaces, and more affect not only our property values, but it affects our bottom line -- this is a quality of life issue,” said Councilman Roberto Alves. “It’s going to take a thoughtful, creative, and cost-effective approach to address our city’s infrastructure needs, present, and future, and as Mayor, I’m not going to sit back and pave the same roads every few years and call it a job well done. I’m going to be proactive, and seek collaborative, creative solutions while keeping taxes low.” Concluded Alves.

Alves’ plan, which can be seen below highlights the need to address present and future infrastructure needs using ARP funds, and partnering with state agencies to obtain grants geared toward making Danbury more walkable and bike-friendly. The plan also addresses the need to update pipes and how the city can make roads more resilient to prevent and mitigate flooding in Danbury’s most flood-prone areas, and better manage stormwater drainage.

Alves Plan to Support and Maintain Danbury’s Infrastructure

It’s no secret that the key to the success of any city is a solid, consistently maintained infrastructure. Everything from our roads, to our facilities, water supply, pipes, electrical grid, to our train tracks, and more affects our property values and our quality of life. Danbury can and should expand our capabilities as a community by supporting infrastructure upgrades.

Strategically apply ARP funds to update our pipes, our drains, and broadband while working with state partners to obtain grants like the Urban Act Grant Program and the Community Connectivity Grant Program (CCGP) to proactively address our city’s walkability while becoming more bike-friendly, map tourism and cultural assets, and assess climate vulnerability -- including flooding

Make our roads more resilient, especially in flood-prone areas by upgrading stormwater drainage and storage systems, using permeable paving materials, and assessing road elevation

Work with the CT DOT to enter into Public-Private-Partnerships (P3s) to rebuild local transportation and connectivity

Lobby the state to complete the I-84 project in a timelier manner than the proposed 20+ year projection

Utilize available grants, like the CCGP, to create accommodations for bicyclists and improve pedestrian accommodations to make them safer, which in turn would encourage more environmentally friendly modes of transportation

Commission a study to assess our city’s aging infrastructure, especially our underground water mains and pipes so we can get in front of routine water shutoffs, water main breaks, and service disruptions

Improve quality of life and promote health, exercise, community conservation, and development by addressing housing affordability, creating community spaces and multi-use destinations such as parks, outdoor fitness and calisthenic spaces, squares, and gardens, using a low-cost, high-impact approach

Roberto Alves has been endorsed by the Connecticut Working Families Party, Western Connecticut AFL-CIO, AFT Connecticut, SEIU 1199 New England, CSEA SEIU Local 2001, CEUI, Carpenters Local 210 and has earned the Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Candidate Distinction. A product of Danbury’s public schools, Roberto Alves is a City Councilman At-Large and brings nearly a decade of private sector and community-driven experience to the position. He lives on West Redding Road in Danbury with his spouse Robyn, and their two children, Julius and Catalina