It's easy to see why residents of the poorest of the neighborhoods that the Route 6-10 connector snakes through in Providence have felt forgotten by city and state leaders. More than one-quarter of the residents of the six predominantly minority-populated neighborhoods are living in poverty. In Olneyville, 71 percent of the residents are black or Hispanic. The median family income is $19,046, which is 40 percent less than the city average.
It's also easy to understand why city leaders see the planned replacement of the aging 6-10 connector as the best hope of reversing debilitating economic conditions that – as much as the roadway itself – have helped divide those neighborhoods from the rest of the city. The $400 million the state plans to spend to replace the highway could be used as part of a redesign to help reconnect the neighborhoods and free up land for economic development.
But it is unclear whether the much-needed neighborhood revitalization can be accomplished in a project whose first priority must be the safe and efficient transport of the estimated 100,000 cars that now travel the roadway each day.
If Gov. Gina M. Raimondo and state transportation officials decide it can't, however, that should not be the end of efforts to improve conditions in those neighborhoods. The governor and other state leaders must also make clear they recognize the cycle of poverty that has enveloped those neighborhoods since the 6-10 connector was built and will work with the city and local groups on plans to reverse it. •