Public Works Committee to consider abandonment of part of Orange Street

Aerial image from LiveLocal

There is a petition to abandon a portion of Orange Street in Downtown which is on the agenda for the February 11, 2008 Providence City Council Committee on Public Works meeting.

2. Petition from Aram Garabedian, Manager, One Financial Center Plaza, LLC, 235 Waterman Street, Providence, Rhode Island 02906, requesting to abandon a portion of Orange Street.

This petition should be referred back to the Providence City Plan Commission (CPC) due to the following reasons.

CPC has not completed their required review of this petition, and the planning department head has not submitted his required report. A discussion with the planning department revealed that the petitioner submitted this proposal to CPC in October of 2006. CPC continued this petition because they did not receive a clear development plan that would be associated with this abandonment. It is also typical that the planning department does not favor abandonments unless absolutely necessary.

In addition to the required reviews not being completed, page 55 of Providence Tomorrow: The Interim Comprehensive Plan states the following: “The relocation of I-195 is well underway and is scheduled to open in 2010. The removal of the current highway superstructure is scheduled for completion in 2012 and will allow for reconnection of portions of the traditional street grid downtown.”

It is our assertion that the abandonment of downtown streets such as Orange Street conflicts with the comprehensive plan’s desire to reconnect the downtown street grid that would be driven by the relocation of I-195.

The City Council Public Works Committee meets Monday, February 11th in Committee Room A at 6:00pm at Providence City Hall, 25 Dorrance Street.