WARWICK – Rhode Island’s “welcome mat” – as Gov. Daniel J. McKee describes the 1-mile road – is getting a makeover as part of a $12.9 million repaving project.
The R.I. Department of Transportation, McKee, federal leaders and other state officials recently broke ground on July 18 in Warwick for the Airport Connector Road improvement project, one of the first major repaving initiatives that the department is planning statewide as part of an overall $492 million effort over the next five years. This year, the Department of Transportation said it intends to spend $92 million on paving projects.
“Rhode Islanders are going to see a big difference,” said Peter Alviti Jr., director of the Department of Transportation. “This is, as the saying goes, where the rubber meets the road.”
Alviti claimed that the Airport Connector Road improvements and other repaving projects around the state will make a major difference in the pothole problem that have often been a source of complaints from the community. And these projects will make a lasting difference, he said.
“This is the thing that most people easily recognize in terms of the condition of their transportation infrastructure, the condition of their roadway surfaces,” Alviti said. “[These projects] are going to make it apparent to people in Rhode Island that they have good roads and good conditions, and for many years because of the permanent fixes. The new materials and methods we’ll be employing here will fix those pothole issues that we all hear so much about permanently.”
The Airport Connector project, which involves the repaving of the 1-mile road between Interstate 95 and Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport, along with three additional miles on Route 1 and Route 1A/Post Road, is expected to be completed in June 2023, McKee’s office said.
In addition to providing a smoother ride for the 20,000 drivers who traverse the Airport Connector each day, the project is meant to improve safety by eliminating “hazardous drop-offs” and creating new “high-visibility” pavement markers, the governor’s office said. The project also improves pedestrian access conditions along Post Road, McKee’s office said, with new sidewalks and pedestrian ramps.
On the I-95 southbound ramp, the project will replace the median guardrail and install a grass swale, with more than 400 plants and trees to be placed in the median and along the grass shoulder. The landscaping is designed to blend seamlessly with similar plantings around the airport to create a “visually appealing gateway,” McKee’s office said.
“For thousands of visitors to Rhode Island, the Airport Connector is Rhode Island’s welcome mat,” McKee said. “These improvements will make vital safety improvements while providing a great first impression of our great state.”
Outgoing U.S. Rep. James R. Langevin, D-R.I., who attended the groundbreaking alongside U.S. Sens. Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., agreed with that sentiment.
“This crucial project will improve safety for drivers while also supporting landscaping to create a beautiful gateway for the thousands of Rhode Islanders and visitors who travel along the Airport Connector every day,” Langevin said.
The Airport Connector project is being funded through RhodeWorks, Rhode Island’s bridge tolling program, McKee’s office said.
Marc Larocque is a PBN contributing writer.
