Five Questions With: Martina Haggerty

MARTINA HAGGERTY is the special projects director for the Providence Department of Planning and Development. / COURTESY MARTINA HAGGERTY
MARTINA HAGGERTY is the special projects director for the Providence Department of Planning and Development. / COURTESY MARTINA HAGGERTY

Martina Haggerty is the special projects director for the Providence Department of Planning and Development. She oversees planning, redevelopment and transportation projects, including the city’s bicycle planning work. She responded this week to questions about the city’s efforts in expanding bicycle and pedestrian transportation.

PBN: What can cities do, without a lot of money, to improve conditions for pedestrians and bicyclists?

HAGGERTY: One of the best things cities can do is to integrate “Complete Streets” thinking into basic infrastructure repair and maintenance programs. The main idea behind Complete Streets is that streets should be designed with all modes of transportation and access for all ages and abilities in mind. When cities go about basic striping or repaving projects, planners and engineers should be sitting around a table with community members discussing ways to make the street better and safer for all users. Why replace exactly what is there today if for nearly the same cost, or not much more, you can improve a crosswalk to make it safer or add a bike lane so that kids can bike to school? We should constantly be striving to make our streets safer and that includes both large infrastructure projects and more basic issues like rethinking the layout of streets during routine maintenance projects.

 

- Advertisement -

PBN: With funding, for lanes or infrastructure, what would be the most needed improvement in Providence?

HAGGERTY: Providence must develop a spine of high-quality bike lanes that reaches out into the city’s neighborhoods and forms the basis of a network that people feel safe and comfortable riding on. Without a cohesive network that people know they can rely on to get from home to work or home to school, it is difficult to convince a lot of people to start riding a bike on a regular basis because they simply don’t feel safe riding in mixed traffic.

PBN: Does the city have a dedicated funding stream for non-vehicular transportation?

HAGGERTY: Through the recently approved Capital Improvement Program, Providence has allocated $500,000 per year for Complete Streets projects. This funding will go toward improving pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure throughout the city’s neighborhoods. We have also successfully secured more than $10 million from the State Transportation Improvement Program for pedestrian and bicycle improvement projects, which will be implemented over the next several years. Key projects like the Woonasquatucket Greenway extension between Eagle Square and Providence Place mall and the City Walk project will finally come to fruition thanks to this state funding.

PBN: What is the greatest opportunity for the Dean Street area? That currently seems very dangerous for both pedestrians and bicyclists.

HAGGERTY: The city plans to use funding from the Capital Improvement Program to identify opportunities to make pedestrian and bicycle safety improvements to this important corridor. It is a priority for us to change the configuration of the Dean Street corridor from what is now a strictly auto-oriented environment to a safe and comfortable corridor for people to walk and bike along. This is especially important as we look to develop the Woonasquatucket corridor as a growing-jobs district and extend the Woonasquatucket Greenway nearby. Residents from surrounding neighborhoods need to be able to safely walk and bike to jobs and to the Greenway.

PBN: What is the greatest improvement in the city’s system for pedestrians/bicyclists in the last two years?

HAGGERTY: The greatest improvement, and certainly the one that has had the most profound impact, has been the change in leadership and culture that has occurred, starting at the highest level with Mayor Jorge [O.] Elorza. To effect any change, especially one as challenging as changing the culture of a city from car-dominated to bicycle- and pedestrian-oriented, requires buy-in from planners, engineers, community members and leaders. It’s a lot easier to do that when you have a mayor who understands the importance of good bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure.

Mary MacDonald is a staff writer for the PBN. Contact her at macdonald@pbn.com.

No posts to display