RHODE ISLAND:Harborside El Providence — Investors Wanted

I-195 through the historic center of the capital Providence. William Ankner, director of the Rhode Island Dept of Transp (DOT) told us in an interview he is hoping for a new kind of public-private partnership in which the state will share both rewards and risks with investors. Ankner says his department will be seeking proposals early in 1999.

The new Harborside El will be 2x4-lanes and involves a new 3-level interchange with I-95 at its western end and a 275m (900') bridge over Providence River and another 350m (1100’) of elevated roadway on either side. The main section will be 42m (140') providing 8x3.65m (12') lanes and 4x3.05m (10') of shoulders.

It will replace an awkward tight-turning 2x3-lane 1950s structure with close spaced on and off ramps (left in map) that tries to act as a downtown collector/distributor as well as a through road. Carrying 130k veh/day, weaving causes it to clog up for many hours each day. The new Harborside El will be shorter, wider and without the same complex local distributor functions. Simple ramps and service roads on I-95 will handle downtown traffic without the need to use I-195 in the future. Seven substandard weave sections will be eliminated, connections to I-95 greatly improved and more direct connections made via new ramps to a hospital complex immediately west of the end of the new I-195.

Lambre Zerve the project manager for the Harborside El says there is strong support for the project because it will remove a major eyesore and a ‘wall’ from the middle of the downtown area and relocate the road in an area of presently rather unattractive industrial development along the waterfront.

“We’ve got wide support for this project. We are looking for a signature bridge and a design that will be part of a complete redevelopment of the waterfront as an attractive urban park. It will clean this old highway out of the nicest part of the historic district of Providence. People are looking forward to removal of I-195 so that the historic district and the Jewelry district can be reunited.”

The project has received needed environmental approvals and has completed the major investment study and public involvement processes. RIDOT holds a federal record of decision for the project.

Secretary Ankner told TRnl that he has an open mind on tolling: “It will be up to our private sector partners to lay out the options as they see them. We are open to tolls as a financing mechanism so long as it can be shown that this won’t adversely affect local streets by diverting traffic and if tolling can be done without inconvenience and without degrading capacity.”

Ankner said that the project can be partly supported financially with the value of land released from demolition of the old I-195 structure. Some 35 acres of central city land is covered by the existing I-195, and land values nearby will be increased. Ankner said that the state will be throwing air rights over I-95 into the project too. It is hoping for creative proposals for multiple use of land in and around the old and new roadways, and for these to work in with city plans for renovating the harbor and building a new India Point park on the east side of the river.

The state will bring the power of eminent domain to the partnership and tax-exempt borrowing rights. The private partner will bring land redevelopment and multiple use capabilities and capital.

Tolling would need to cater to locals moving east-west through the Providence metro area, as well as longer distance traffic. Present traffic on I-195 through Providence center is split about evenly between through traffic and motorists seeking downtown destinations and local streets. With the new I-195 oriented more to through traffic a lot of the users will be out-of-staters traveling between NY and CT to the west and the New Bedford coast and Cape Cod resort areas of MA to the east.

The major alternative route between the New York metro area and Cape Cod MA is via RI-138 and the Newport Toll Bridge over the mouth of Narragansett Bay, 35km to the south of Providence. That makes tolls on the new Harborside El more feasible. RI has not joined the E-ZPass interagency group (IAG) but both MA and NY on either side of the state have compatible Mark-IV electronic tolling systems, so RI would logically choose the same. This could well be one of the first north-eastern US all-electronic toll projects, if tolling is selected. Locals could be given discounts on daily transponder trips. With over half transactions on New York area crossings by ET and the technology catching on in MA as well, there will be a major base of transponder equipped weekenders and vacationers coming through. Others could perhaps be handled by video license plate reads and bill by mail a la 407. Or by cell phone credit card payment?

BACKGROUND: Providence with 900k people is the 41st ranking city in the US by population. With a TTI congestion index of 1.23 it is about middling in congestion. It is also middling in its motorway equivalent lanes/population (1504km/900=1.67) but the I-195 improvement could cause a noticeable improvement in the overall traffic situation. An official told us I-95 may need minor upgrades with short sections of new auxiliary lane and longer ramps. The new interchange will be built so as not to preclude widening of the mainline to 2x4-lanes but this is not considered necessary for the foreseeable future. (Contacts Lambre Zerve, project manager RIDOT 401 222 2023x4060, William Ankner director RIDOT 401 222 2481)