RIDOT Proposal for 6/10 Connector Rebuild
[alert type=”success”] Download RIDOT’s proposal for the reconstruction of the 6/10 Connector [/alert]
Promoting the smart urban growth of the Greater Providence region.
RIDOT’s proposal does nothing to relieve the problems 6/10 Connector creates on the urban fabric of Providence. All it really does is make it a little more pleasant to walk between Olneyville to the west side but even that is stretching it.
An underground highway is still a highway. No thanks to the 6/10 Dig.
The application deadline is April 14th, which means they plan to force feed us this proposal.
The underground bus stop in the middle of a giant set of highway ramps… I have no words.
Unobstructed bus lanes through Olneyville Square would save thousands more non-imaginary bus travelers more time than that stupid busway ever will. It could be done next week.
Why do people think that Traffic Volume is as fixed as the tides? I am an anecdote, not data, but allow my habits to provide a lesson in how things work. I am embarrassed to admit that when I lived in the West End, I often drove to the Stop and Shop on Atwood Avenue. Why not? There’s the Tobey Street ramp, vroom, there we are. Doing my part to make it difficult for neighborhood grocers to maintain a nice fresh stock. Sorry.
Nowadays I occasionally drive out of town to take a walk in the woods. The fastest route to Snake Den is via 6-10. I will get along fine if it the highway is removed. There are other routes to Johnston. I can go to Lincoln Woods. I can take more walks right in the neighborhood.
Most people driving on the 6-10 could tell similar tales. We get used to hopping in the car and doing the easiest thing. When something gets a bit less easy you always manage to do something else!
Nothing is being force fed. The NEPA contract hasn’t even been awarded yet, and that scope includes public involvement and development of alternatives. The FASTLANE grant application doesn’t require the design to be completed; in fact the grant can even be used foe preliminary engineering. https://www.transportation.gov/FASTLANEgrants
I think its finally thinking out of the box that providence has been in for decades. Roads roads roads. Adding green space and tucking the highway away does so many things. It wasn’t just about the traffic on rt 6. it was also about connecting and improving two DYING neighborhoods, which this design would certainly do.
Can the NEC not be decked here? What is even the point of decking over the highway but not the rail corridor? Yes, you’ve reduced the physical and psychological barriers sustaining neighborhoods, but you haven’t eliminated them. That proposal seems to take on all the expensive elements of what was done to I-93 in Boston without actually learning the lesson …