During a construction “update” for the train station being built in Warwick, R.I. Airport Corporation CEO Kevin A. Dillon last week stressed the potential economic benefits of connecting the airport to Boston’s commuter rail system.
“I think anyone who is a student of economic development knows that … around the country, [it] is occurring in and around rail stations,” he said.
It will allow the airport “the opportunity to enhance our marketing ability as we reach out to airlines, because many airlines realize the benefit of connecting their passengers to rail service.”
When it’s completed in the fall of 2010, the Intermodal Station will become the southernmost stop for Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s commuter rail. For about two decades the MBTA’s Providence/Stoughton Line has gone as far south as Providence, R.I. Department of Transportation spokesman Charles St. Martin noted. He added that current plans don’t call for Amtrak stops at the station in Warwick, although Gov. Donald L. Carcieri says it could stop there in the future.
Though organized as a construction update, the Oct. 28 gathering of state and local officials at the work site was also an effort to push for – or “advertise,” as Carcieri said – the $87.2 million transportation bond on the Nov. 4 Rhode Island ballot that includes about $20 million for the Intermodal Station.
If approved, the bond would be matched with $440 million in federal transportation funding, Carcieri said.
“The voters of our state have been very supportive of transportation bonds, they have,” Carcieri said. “We’ve been very judicious this year, in terms of things we’ve put on the ballot. …We need this transportation bond to pass because a piece of it is going here.”
RIDOT Director Michael P. Lewis said that about $100 million – $20 million from the state that will leverage $80 million in federal funds – of the Intermodal project funding is dependent on the bond. The total project cost is estimated at $267 million.
If the bond doesn’t pass, “we’ll have to scramble, but we’ll come up with it,” the governor promised.
Connecting the MBTA to T.F. Green International Airport – by way of a 1,200-linear-foot elevated walkway – has been planned for more than a decade, Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian said.
“The goal all along has been to take advantage of the shortest rail-to-airport link anywhere in the country,” he said.
Gilbane Building Co. Project Manager Jim Kennedy said the walkway will cross two streets – the city’s Fresno Street and the state’s Post Road – before connecting to the southern corner of T.F. Green’s terminal. The bridge will be similar in style to the bridge connecting the Providence Place mall and the Westin Providence Hotel.
Since the July groundbreaking, the early pile studying has started, he said. And the foundation for one of the buildings is now being dug. Designed by Boston architects Jacobs Edwards & Kelcey, the project is being managed by PB Americas Inc. and the construction manager is Gilbane.
The station will include a six-level parking garage with 2,600 parking spaces, Kennedy said. It will house rental car operations – including a private gas station and car wash, Kennedy said. “So all the quick-turnaround activities now happen in the garage, instead of all over the City of Warwick,” he added.
Lewis said the project could in the future allow Rhode Island to request more federal money for transportation spending. “There’s a balanced emphasis not just on highways,” he said, “but on transit on inner-city commuter rail and freight rail. It’s this kind of project that could position Rhode Island to take advantage of that funding.” •
