Commuter rail service soon will reach from North Kingstown to Providence and Boston, returning train service long dormant to an area that has shown an increased need for ways to alleviate traffic congestion in southern Rhode Island. James Capaldi, director of the Rhode Island Department of Transportation, expects the first part of the puzzle, a train station in Wickford Junction, to be completed by the end of 2008. (Commuter rail service between Providence and Boston began in 1988.)
The plan is to have eight round trips from Providence to Wickford Junction with a stop in Warwick at T.F. Green Airport soon thereafter, said Capaldi.
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More households, jobs and cars have meant more traffic in southern Rhode Island. A 2005 study released by Pare Engineering Corp. in Lincoln said there was a 12-percent increase in population in Washington County between 1990 and 2000. New housing units in the county represented nearly one-third of the state total, according to the report.
Nearly 5,100 workers from Washington County commute to Providence daily and more than 1,400 of these passengers continue on to Boston, the report said. The number of Washington County commuters who drive alone to work has outpaced the state average, according to the report.
U.S. Sen. Jack Reed announced late last month that $10 million secured in an earlier federal transportation bill was released to the RIDOT for the planned South County commuter rail. The funds are in addition to the $25 million pegged for the North Kingstown station released in an earlier allocation. The money will go to design, land acquisition, construction and the purchase of an $11 million train set from the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority, said Capaldi.
In total, nearly $36 million of the $96 million garnered for the South County rail system will be dedicated to the Wickford Junction project.
The additional funds will go to train stations and establishing MBTA access in Cranston, East Greenwich and ultimately to Westerly, he said.
The new train access to the southern part of the state will provide the alternative transportation that is needed to alleviate congestion on the roadways, especially the Interstate 95/Route 1/Route 4 corridor, said Capaldi.
Passengers will be able to park and take the train into Providence for about $8 or $9, he said.
The train station is part of a public/private partnership with the Wickford Junction Plaza and will include 1,000 additional parking spots.
Capaldi envisions a scenario where train access will also help enhance the RIPTA trolley service in Providence and opens the possibility to link with Connecticut train access in New Haven, he said.
Jon Reiner, planning director in North Kingstown, said this is not the first train station at Wickford Junction. The first station was burned to the ground in the 1800s and a second station was demolished in 1968 after about 80 years of existence.
The town is still studying the effect that increased traffic flow on Route 102 and local roads around the train station will have on the area, said Reiner.
