PROVIDENCE – Gov. Gina M. Raimondo and Rhode Island’s congressional delegation announced a $20 million federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant Tuesday that will help pay for the $76 million Route 37 Bridge and Roadway Improvement Project.
The project will help replace or rehabilitate a series of 15 bridges and culverts along Route 37, which runs between Cranston and Warwick and connects to Route 295 and Route 95. The project will also make safety modifications to Route 37’s westbound exit 3 off-ramp in order to improve mobility and safety.
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An estimated 42,000 vehicles per day travel along Route 37, which is one of the state’s busiest corridors, linking the two major interstate highways (I-295 and I-95) and providing access to T.F. Green Airport via U.S. Route 1.
Sens. Jack F. Reed, D-R.I., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Reps. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., and David N. Cicilline, D-R.I., all supported the funding in a joint letter to U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.
“The rehabilitation of Route 37 will help RIDOT [R.I. Department of Transportation] address existing structural deficiencies, improve the safety and flow of traffic along the route and increase economic growth in the state. It advances the state’s plans to repair or replace 150 structurally deficient bridges and to achieve a structurally sufficient rate of 90 percent,” according to the letter.
“This is a big-ticket highway and bridge project for the state that will enhance safety and efficiency along Route 37,” said Reed, ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, which oversees federal funding for the TIGER Grant program.
Whitehouse said the multiple safety-related repairs will provide jobs for Rhode Islanders.
“Route 37 connects two of our state’s largest cities and serves as a major artery for thousands of Rhode Islanders every day,” said Langevin. “This TIGER grant will enable the state to make much-needed repairs that will reduce traffic congestion and improve motorist safety.”
RIDOT expects work to begin in 2019 on the eastern portion of the project from Post Road in Warwick until it crosses Route 2, and estimates those repairs will cost $34 million, while work on the western side of the project will commence later and cost an estimated $42 million. While the TIGER grant provides $20 million in federal funds, the rest of the cost will be paid for using a combination of other federal-state formula funding, with a split of 80 percent federal and 20 percent state.
Rob Borkowski is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Borkowski@PBN.com.
