Providence and state officials unveiled Thursday what is likely the final proposal for the 6-10 connector reconstruction project. The aging highway system needs immediate replacement, according to the Governor’s office. Several plans to fix it have pitted urban planning advocates against state officials and cost concerns.
Advocates complained that a state proposal ignored the needs of city neighborhoods, cyclists and pedestrians. State officials, meanwhile, contended that an alternative plan would take too long to construct, saying time was of the essence, as the highway system is decades old.
The new plan includes expanded bike lanes and pedestrian areas, and frees up nearly five acres of land for green space or development. The design would also lower some of the raised highway lanes, in an effort to reduce visual barriers between parts of the city.
The proposal would reconnect some of the neighborhoods bisected by the highway system. Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza, noting that the new plan is a compromise, said earlier proposals for a boulevard-style construction would not have worked.
“It just couldn’t be,” said Elorza. “So I’m confident and comfortable, that we did our due diligence, and through this process, we came up with the absolute best design, within the parameters, that the city can hope for.”
The plan aims to mitigate traffic congestion, and offers an easier path from Route 6 to Route 10. Elorza said a more unusual proposal for a raised rotary, known as a halo, was scrapped.
“What the halo would have done would have narrowed the entire roadway, but because of that it would have made it very difficult for the big rigs, the large trucks to make that move, especially from downtown onto 6-West,” said Elorza.
The state Department of Transportation estimates that 100,000 vehicles travel the stretch of highway every day.
Facing the need to move quickly on the project, state officials at one point proposed rebuilding the 6-10 “as is.” Seven out of nine bridges in the interchange are structurally deficient, according to a DOT analysis, and temporary reinforcements shoring them up are now more than a decade old. Governor Gina Raimondo said she considers the new plan a long term fix.
“This state has wasted millions and millions and millions of dollars every year for a long time, propping up these bridges on Band-Aids, so what we’re seeing here today is enough of that old way of doing things,” said Raimondo.
State Transportation officials say they hope to begin construction next fall on the estimated $400 million dollar project.
Editor’s note: a previous version of this story incorrectly implied the boulevard-style construction was scrapped due to cost. Previous reporting on this topic cited time of construction as the major impediment.
