{"id":238057,"date":"2025-12-01T07:00:03","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T12:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=238057"},"modified":"2025-11-25T15:39:36","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T20:39:36","slug":"building-better-roads-uconns-t2-center-leads-the-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2025\/12\/building-better-roads-uconns-t2-center-leads-the-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Building Better Roads: UConn\u2019s T2 Center Leads the Way"},"content":{"rendered":"

The CT Training and Technical Assistance Center<\/a> (T2 Center) is part of the Connecticut Transportation Institute<\/a>, which operates within the UConn College of Engineering. The Center serves as the state\u2019s Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP), funded by the Federal Highway Administration and State Departments of Transportation.<\/p>\n

Through a comprehensive suite of training programs, technical assistance services, and peer instructional networks, the T2 Center helps municipal agencies, public works departments, traffic professionals, and law enforcement in Connecticut enhance safety, efficiency, and infrastructure performance throughout the state\u2019s surface transportation system.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur primary goal is to support this important community of transportation professionals, and we have grown our center to be able to offer programs for every stage of their careers,\u201d says Mary McCarthy, the Executive Program Director of the T2 Center. \u201cWhether they are just starting out or have taken on a leadership role, we are there to connect them with the latest in practice, technology and lessons learned from their peers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Participants
Participants working in the T2 Center Construction Math and Reading Plan class. (Contributed photo.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Center specifically serves a broad array of stakeholders, including municipal public works directors, street and road maintenance staff, transportation planners, and more.<\/p>\n

The T2 Center provides a diverse set of educational and technical programs tailored to enhancing the knowledge of Connecticut transportation professionals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis program has helped me start off my career in the transportation industry,\u201d says a Connecticut Department of Transportation (CT DOT) Traffic Signal Technician, \u201cFrom attending classes to learn the basic functionalities of a traffic signal plan to how to incorporate new innovative technologies into our system.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Public Works Academy is a foundational program that covers the core competencies necessary to be a successful public works professional.<\/p>\n

The Road Master Program offers training focused on best practices in operational safety, road maintenance and management.<\/p>\n

\"A
The Road Scholar program 2025 graduates. (Contributed Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Road Scholar Program is for individuals currently in or interested in pursuing supervisory positions. It focuses on those skills necessary for leading a team and a department, including risk and asset management, communication and supervision,<\/p>\n

The Local Traffic Authority Program supports training traffic authority personnel in regulatory and operational roles.<\/p>\n

The Transportation Leadership Program is aimed at emerging and existing transportation leaders, offering comprehensive training that blends management, strategy, and technical awareness.<\/p>\n

“The value that the T2 Center provides to municipal and State team members far surpasses training and education alone,\u201d says Tom Modzelewski, the Director of Public Works for the town of Ellington. \u201cRelationships are created between these agencies that would have likely never exist if not for the programming offered by the T2 Center.”<\/p>\n

\"The
The T2 Center staff during the 2025 T2 Center graduation ceremony. (Contributed Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Safety Academy offers a range of workshops focused on roadway safety, preparing professionals with current practices and innovations.<\/p>\n

The Traffic Signal Technician Certificate Program is for Connecticut\u2019s traffic signal professionals, providing them with knowledge of signal maintenance and operational procedures.<\/p>\n

The CT T2 Center also offers custom training programs, developed with individual organizations to meet their specific educational and safety needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur municipal and state transportation professionals play a large role in the safety and success of Connecticut\u2019s communities. We are so proud to support them with our programs and services and help them develop their peer networks,\u201d says McCarthy. \u201cThe conversations and experiences they share in our classes contribute to increased synergy, connecting agencies and improving safety and efficiencies across the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"People
Participants from the ADA Self-Assessments and Transitions Plans class. (Contributed photo.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Beyond structured training, the T2 Center supports Connecticut agencies through technical assistance and resource sharing. Through the equipment loan program, municipalities can borrow specialized equipment to support operations and training, the safety circuit rider and traffic signal circuit rider programs offer on-the-ground assistance and mentorship for safety and signal-related issues.<\/p>\n

The Center hosts the CT Crossroads Newsletter<\/a> on their technical resource libraries, and listservs for peer learning, along with attending conferences across the country, sharing the work they are doing in Connecticut.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn an era of tighter municipal budgets, aging infrastructure, and evolving demands, local agencies face unprecedented challenges,\u201d says Eric Jackson, the executive director of the Connecticut Transportation Institute. \u201cThe T2 Center plays a crucial \u201ccapacity-building\u201d role, bridging the gap between training, innovation, and on-the-ground implementation.\u201d<\/p>\n

By delivering training, tools, and technical assistance, the T2 Center helps ensure that Connecticut\u2019s transportation network remains reliable, safe, and well-maintained.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To learn more about the T2 Center, visit their website<\/a> and check out their story map<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Through a comprehensive suite of training and technical assistance programs, the CT T2 Center helps municipal agencies enhance safety and efficiency throughout the state\u2019s surface transportation system<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":224,"featured_media":238058,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1866,1715,2461,2235],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2646],"class_list":["post-238057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-engr","category-community-impact","category-staff","category-today-homepage"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-01 09:30:05","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/224"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238057"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238057\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":238454,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238057\/revisions\/238454"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/238058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238057"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=238057"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=238057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}