State Senate Republican Leader Louis C. DeLuca (R-Woodbury) and State Rep. Arthur J. O'Neill
(R-Southbury) announced today that the town of Roxbury is set to receive a Small Town Economic Assistance Program (STEAP) grant in the amount of $200,000 for repairs to the River Road Bridge over Little Jack's Brook.

The project will involve the rehabilitation of the bridge deck which as been ruled as "functionally obsolete," various repairs to the concrete, and the installation of new railings on the bridge and along the roadway. The repair work will be undertaken with an eye towards maintaining the "small country bridge" character of the existing structure.

"I am pleased that Roxbury will have the opportunity to go ahead with this important public safety project, before the bridge deteriorates to the point that it is no longer usable," said Senator DeLuca. "I'd like to thank Governor Rell for approving the funding, and thank Roxbury 1 st Selectman Barbara Henry for doing such a great job of getting this project organized on the local end. We always try to help our small towns out with funding for projects such as these because we know that in order to complete these kinds of costly efforts, they have no other option but to raise the funds through property taxes. A program like STEAP allows us to bring some assistance to local property tax payers, while still ensuring that important public safety and quality of life projects get completed."

Representative O'Neill, who has been working for the past several months to obtain the funding, agreed. "The safety of this bridge, and the access it provides to the pond which is an important element of recreation in Roxbury, were at issue here. I am pleased that the Commission intends to act on this request, and my thanks go out to Governor Rell for her assistance in seeing this funding through."