In 1956, President Eisenhower signed the Federal Highway Act, creating the interstate highway system and opening the door for Rhode Island to build what would become interstates 95, 195 and then 295.
Since the highways opened in the late 1950s, the number of cars on the road has doubled, yet the roads’ design where they connect in Providence has remained largely unchanged.
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The Route 95 and 195 interchange is the second-busiest in New England, according to the Providence Foundation, carrying more than 250,000 vehicles per day. During the busiest hours, the sharp curves and multiple ramps at Route 195’s start are clogged with traffic. For years, chunks of concrete would occasionally fall off the old bridges.
So, starting in 1985, plans for improving Rhode Island’s stretch of Route 195 were developed. Engineers first conceived of the current relocation project in June 1990, settling on building a new stretch of Route 195 that would be straighter and run farther south. The final environmental impact statement, recommending relocation of Route 195, was issued in 1996.
Edmund Parker, chief engineer at the DOT and a 34-year veteran of the agency, said the original plan was actually to fix the bridges on the current alignment.
However, the resulting backups from construction on the current bridges – a potential loss of $200 million a year from construction delays, according to the Providence Foundation – and ultimately repairing the current bridges would not have fixed the problem of the poorly designed road, he said.
In 1998, the late U.S. Sen. John H. Chafee helped the state secure more than $1.5 billion in federal funds for transportation projects, including the I-195 project. The state began buying the land and completed the design in 1999. It was just in time, as William D. Ankner, then director of the R.I. Department of Transportation, told Providence Business News that if nothing were done, within six years, engineers estimated, “we will have to put some serious restrictions on the weight limits of the highway, because the structure will not be safe.”
What makes the project unique, according to Daniel A. Baudouin, executive director of the Providence Foundation, is that it involves two aspects often viewed as conflicting – highway construction and community development – working together.
In fact, the nearly 35 acres of land that comprise the footprint of the “old” I-195 has city planners and developers salivating.
Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline told PBN in December that the land “is going to be the next great frontier for the city.”
The project will promote the redevelopment of the southern part of downtown Providence to connect to the Jewelry District and improve the link between the East Side and the waterfront.
In addition, because most of the project involves building a new road to connect into routes 95 and 195, rather than working on the existing highways, the impact of the construction on drivers has been minimized, Baudouin said, leading to a public approval rating of about 80 percent.
Construction began in 2002. In 2003, Exit 1 on the westbound side was closed. Soon after, the Gano Street eastbound on-ramp was closed.
The project will create an eight-lane freeway – up from six lanes – with shoulders. The I-195/I-95 interchange will be relocated 2,000 feet south, closer to the hurricane barrier.
A new Providence River Bridge will be built, along with 15 other bridges.
The straighter highway should be safer for motorists and more effective in handling traffic, the DOT has said. Eastbound traffic is expected to open by the end of 2007, while the westbound portion should be done by the end of 2009, with the full clearing of the land finished by 2012.
In all, the relocation project will cost about $600 million – $375 million of which are construction costs. About 90 percent will be financed by federal money.
A proponent of the project all along, Baudouin told PBN in 1999 that he “never doubted that this would happen, because it makes so much sense for so many reasons.”
This optimism has not been tempered nearly seven years later, even though the project is still about six years from being completely finished.
“The redevelopment area will have the same impact on the city, state and region as has the Capital Center redevelopment,” said Baudouin, noting that that project has attracted more than $1 billion worth of investment, provided thousands of jobs and opened the opportunity for waterfront development.
Michael McMahon, executive director of the R.I. Economic Development Corporation, said the space available for new development is three to four times greater than the Capital Center.
The project will also provide for a more interconnected downtown area that will enhance the city and create attractive parcels for development, he said.
“The city has a wonderful opportunity to materially increase its tax revenue,” said McMahon.
