When Rhode Island voters approved a $35 million bond in the 2014 election to be used to create a transit hub at the Providence train station, it was a shot in the arm for proponents of more robust public transportation options. The expectation was that the money would be used to develop much-needed transit improvements.
Enter Gov. Gina M. Raimondo, whose administration looks at the creation of the transit hub as an opportunity to do so much more.
Gov. Raimondo and Department of Transportation Director Peter Alviti Jr. believe the transit infrastructure should be used as a catalyst to attract private development, much as it is doing in other cities, based on the request for qualifications that has produced four private developers who want to take on the project.
The concept is simple. Create new commercial and residential options in the middle of downtown right where tens of thousands of commuters and visitors will use trains and buses to navigate the city and state. The idea follows urban smart-growth principles and fits in with the growing investments that are being made in the capital city.
Combined with the express bus line that is being planned to run from the new hub to the hospital complex next to the Jewelry District, it looks like the forward economic momentum the state started to see in 2016 may continue in 2017. •
