Streetcars or funding for village?

MOVING FORWARD: A rendering showing proposed streetcars in downtown Providence. The line would connect upper South Providence to College Hill. / COURTESY STUDIO AMDT
MOVING FORWARD: A rendering showing proposed streetcars in downtown Providence. The line would connect upper South Providence to College Hill. / COURTESY STUDIO AMDT

Federal transportation officials will settle Rhode Island’s latest city-versus-suburbs infrastructure debate.
On one side is the city of Providence, which is asking for $39 million in federal help to build a streetcar line from College Hill to the hospitals in upper South Providence.
On the other side is the R.I. Department of Transportation, which is asking for $10 million from the same federal grant program to rebuild the highway system around Warwick’s Apponaug village.
Both requests seek to complete long-sought quality-of-life and economic-development projects, but their respective locations and focuses – city mass transit and suburban roads – have cast them in the larger conversation about reducing the country’s reliance on cars.
Although theoretically both projects could be funded out of the $474 million Congress has provided for Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (or TIGER) grants in fiscal 2013, the combined $49 million would be more than 10 percent of the nationwide total, which most think would be a lot for such as small state.
Providence has previously received TIGER grants to buy harbor cranes at ProvPort and Quonset Business Park, and for repairs to the Interstate 95 viaduct.
Supporters of both new projects have been careful not to put them in opposition to one another, except for Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee, a Warwick resident who chose to throw the state’s support behind the Apponaug Circulator.
Chafee spokeswoman Christine Hunsinger said the governor didn’t support both projects because federal officials made it clear states needed to prioritize.
“The state received a clear signal from the feds that [projects] should be shovel ready and the state should say what its priorities are,” Hunsinger said. “The streetcar is a concept, and an interesting one, but it is not ready to go, not shovel ready.”
Providence planners have completed multiple studies looking at a streetcar since 2009, including the detailed Core Connector study that laid out the current route, which has been approved by the R.I. Public Transit Authority.
Asked for specifics on why the streetcar was not shovel ready, Hunsinger declined to go into detail, but pointed to “financing.” She added that if the federal government does choose to fund the streetcar, “the governor would be supportive” to make sure the state can take advantage. In its TIGER application, Providence presents a 2.1-mile streetcar line estimated to cost $114 million. To shave costs, that route ends at the front door of Rhode Island Hospital, cutting off the final 0.4-mile stretch of the route proposed in the Core Connector study that terminated at Prairie Avenue.
To pay for it, the city application supplements the $39 million TIGER grant with $54.3 million in city borrowing and $21 million in assorted state contributions.
The bulk of the city’s investment would come through $44.3 million in tax-increment-financing bonds paid back through a portion of the marginal increase in tax revenue from properties in a “Streetcar District” along the route. The R.I. Convention Center Authority would also float a $10 million bond.
Annual costs to operate three vehicles along the line are estimated at $3.13 million, and debt service would add $3.8 million per year.
The city would cover those recurring costs through the ongoing tax-increment revenue from the streetcar district, $450,000 per year in dedicated parking revenue, $1.4 million in fares (based on $2 per ride) and $175,000 in sponsorships.
The state contribution includes $15 million from the state’s RICAP infrastructure pool, $5.25 million from RIPTA’s federal air quality reimbursements and an $800,000 donation of state land underneath the Interstate-195 interchange ramps in Providence.
Through spokesman David Ortiz, Providence Mayor Angel Taveras declined to comment on the Apponaug project, state streetcar funding or Chafee’s comments about the project not being “shovel ready.”
In the debate about Apponaug and a streetcar, Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian has the most complicated role, as he is also chairman of the RIPTA board of directors.
Avedisian declined to compare the two projects, but said he supports the Providence streetcar while sharing some of Chafee’s concerns about funding.
“Right now there is no funding for the streetcar project, and RIPTA is very concerned it would be left on the hook,” he said.
Approximately 12 miles south of Providence, the Apponaug Circulator, despite being essentially a road-building project, is also described as a smart-growth opportunity.
A Warwick priority for decades, the circulator project intends to correct the damage done to Apponaug Village in the 1970s when the creation of the Post Road Extension turned local streets into a confusing and congested series of one-way highway feeders. The $33.6 million Circulator project would create a two-way Route 1 bypass for through-traffic around the historic Apponaug business district and through an abandoned mill complex. Instead of traffic lights, the enlarged bypass road would utilize four large roundabouts.
“With proper signage, it will allow the return of a village atmosphere,” said Lauren Slocum, president and CEO of the Central Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce. “There will be more walking; it will slow down traffic and create additional opportunities for businesses, while improving the timing of the intersections.”
In financing, Apponaug has the distinct advantage of being a road project in which most of the state’s $23.6 million contribution will be covered by federal highway dollars.
GrowSmart Rhode Island wrote a letter of support for both TIGER applications and doesn’t see the Apponaug project as encouraging suburban sprawl.
“We hope they will both be accepted,” Wolf said. “The Apponaug project is the most comprehensive complete-streets makeover in the state. And I don’t think you can encourage any more single-vehicle occupancy in that area right now than there already is.”
Compared to the less-expensive Apponaug project, the Providence streetcar comes with much higher risks and potential rewards.
Running between two of Rhode Island’s most important economic centers and through the “Knowledge District” the state has made its top economic-development priority, the streetcar has a lot more growth upside than Apponaug.
The city estimates that over 20 years, increased property value and investment along the streetcar route will generate an additional $26 million in new property tax revenue.
The plan in the grant application is also seen as a first phase that could eventually continue to Elmwood Avenue and Roger William Park Zoo, with additional branches to Olneyville Square and beyond.
“The reason we are so enthusiastic for the streetcar is it can be a major catalyst for clean economic development,” Wolf said. “If the only rationale was to improve mobility, the price tag would be too high. But because it is a fixed route, it encourages businesses to invest along that route as opposed to a bus route that could be changed.” •

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2 COMMENTS

  1. It’s a misrepresentation to say that the current traffic configuration in Apponaug only appeared following the construction of the Post Road Extension. The current one-way configuration of mostly four lane roads that encircle the village existed long before the Post Road Extension was built.

    Questions that should have been asked in the interview, are “Has Warwick changed its zoning within the village area to allow/encourage high density development?” and “How many permanent jobs are anticipated to be created and how many years will it take to create them following the construction of this road system?” The same questions could be asked of the City of Providence with the streetcar application. Though it’s likely that the impact in Providence would be much greater than Apponaug.