R.I. DOT to get $5.4M for Wickford commuter rail

WASHINGTON – The effort to extend the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s commuter rail service to North Kingstown got a boost today with the announcement of $5.4 million in federal funding for a new station in Wickford.
“This federal investment will channel critical funds to Wickford Junction Station to help with its design and development,” U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, a member of the Appropriations Committee, said in a statement today.
The stop is part of the South County Commuter Rail Project, which aims to reduce traffic problems and grow the local economy by offering an alternative to automotive travel.
“By getting more commuters off the highways and on to mass transit, this project will help relieve congestion along the I-95 / Route 1 / Route 4 corridor, improve air quality, and provide Rhode Islanders with some measure of relief from rising gas prices,” Reed said.
In 2005, as a conferee who helped write the final version of that year’s Transportation Reauthorization Bill, he included the extension of MBTA commuter-rail service to Wickford Junction and the construction of a new station there. He also helped secure the new assistance.
The $5.4 million allocation to the R.I. Department of Transportation includes nearly $2.45 million to acquire both access easements and land for a parking garage; nearly $1.85 million for design and engineering; and $1.2 million for the purchase of tracks, Reed said.
“The need to expand commuter rail service has become more and more essential as South County’s population has continued to grow,” he added. “There isn’t a whole lot of room to build more roads, but we have the infrastructure in place to expand commuter rail – and this money will help make it happen.”