City officials propose alternate plan for Route 6-10 connector

THE CITY'S PLAN for the 6-10 connector aims to create a parkway that opens up neighborhoods and reduces the size of the roadway. For a larger version of this image, click <a href="http://pbn.static3.adqic.com/uploads/original/1475533649_5ef4.jpg">HERE</a>. / COURTESY PROVIDENCE PLANNING DEPARTMENT
THE CITY'S PLAN for the 6-10 connector aims to create a parkway that opens up neighborhoods and reduces the size of the roadway. For a larger version of this image, click <a href="http://pbn.static3.adqic.com/uploads/original/1475533649_5ef4.jpg">HERE</a>. / COURTESY PROVIDENCE PLANNING DEPARTMENT

PROVIDENCE – With time ticking down for public comment on how the state should fix the deteriorating Route 6-10 connector in Providence, city officials have proposed an alternate plan for a parkway that runs from Roger Williams Park to downtown.
The parkway, city officials say, would among other things reconnect the surrounding neighborhoods, create an elevated roundabout, expand entering and exiting options and could cost less than simply replacing the existing infrastructure.
The city’s proposal comes nearly one month after Gov. Gina M. Raimondo – citing safety concerns – directed the R.I. Department of Transportation to replace the deteriorating highway as it is, which consists of nine bridges and elevated roadways that carry more than 100,000 vehicles daily. The decision evoked outcry from neighborhood advocates, who contend the roadway must be redesigned because for decades it has isolated surrounding neighborhoods, thus depriving them of certain economic opportunities.
The city’s plan, slated to be introduced during a public meeting on Monday, proposes to reduce the width of the connector and reclaim 55 acres of land for new development.
“We’re shrinking the size of the roadway itself, so we’ve reduced the amount of land taken up by the roadway,” said city officials during an afternoon briefing on the proposal. “We’ve also added a lot of acreage for economic development, for new buildings, new jobs, new industries and we’ve really enhanced the connection between the neighborhoods.”
The city maintains these changes can be done without reducing parkway speeds, saying it would not require any stoplights, but are waiting for a traffic analysis and cost estimate due at the end of October. City officials have met with RIDOT representatives twice a week to discuss the plan, and will continue to do so through the beginning of November, but it’s unclear at this point whether the state will take into consideration any of the city’s proposals. A RIDOT spokesman said the department had only just received a final copy of the proposed plan Monday afternoon, which it would review before making any public comment.
Raimondo last month stressed the need to fix the connector quickly, saying she wanted to complete public engagement and feedback within 60 days and begin construction as early as the start of 2017. The fast-to-action approach may not bode well for at least some of the city’s plan, which aims to roughly double the number of exits and add one-to-three new on-ramps between Hartford Avenue and Dean Street – all of which would require federal review by the U.S. Federal Highway Administration, which could add time to the process. To replace already-existing infrastructure would not likely require federal review.
The city is also proposing to build an elevated roundabout – dubbed a “halo” – at the 6-10 interchange, which would create a connection between Routh 10 North and Route 6 West. The linkage would reduce congestion in Olneyville Square, officials said, which is currently used as a pass through to connect the two highways. The elevated roundabout – which city officials envision could become an iconic feature of the city – would be 240 feet in diameter above Route 10 and allow drivers to enter and exit surrounding neighborhoods using new and existing roadways. City officials say a parkway is more realistic than a surface boulevard, another alternative plan proposed at public meetings earlier this year, because of the extreme grade difference on either side of the roadway. In certain areas, the drop in terrain from one side of the roadway to the other is 62 feet.
The city would not guess how much the parkway would cost until hired consultants deliver a price tag later this month, but officials said it was designed to cost less than the state’s replacement plan. Last month, RIDOT said it would allocate $400 million from RhodeWorks, Raimondo’s $4.7 billion infrastructure law, to pay for the 6-10 connector.

No posts to display