Modernizing Community Design In Providence, RI
The Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program is a federal grants initiative spearheaded by the US Department of Transportation which aims to restore and repurpose areas harmed by infrastructure choices of the past. The first grant covers the costs involved with the planning process for an improvement project. They are looking for measurable outcomes related to access, public engagement space, and alternative travel. The second, if approved, covers the construction. This is an opportunity for cities and towns to rethink their urban layout. DOT recognizes that some of our travel infrastructure comes with costs to the surrounding communities. Highways, bus depots, and railways built many decades ago could see a makeover.
In my home city of Providence, Rhode Island, USA, Interstate 95 cuts the downtown off from the west side significantly. In this article in the Brown Daily Herald, student journalist Gabriel Sender proposes a highway cap over the corridor. Much of the highway in the center of the city is built below street level in a ditch. A cap could create what I would estimate to be 16 acres of street-level usable land in a prime location. There are fenced road bridges now but imagine if the whole area between the bridges was a public park or even buildable space! Greenspaces capture carbon and regulate urban temperature, drainage, and well-being. It could increase property values, foster recreational activity, and offer a path to alternative travel for pedestrians and cyclists. It might make folks less reliant on vehicle transportation thus easing traffic pressure. Neighborhoods and commercial areas could both benefit from increased walkability. The site and sound of traffic would be contained. People might be more willing to wander over the gap for work and play. A highway cap may be a positive change for Providence. I see value in restoring connectivity between people and places. Of course, its construction may take time but mending that divide could accelerate the city’s growing prosperity while also creating jobs. What do you think? Can the people of Providence rally for this cause?
