A trio of projects on Rhode Island’s Route 37 will rehabilitate and replace bridges as well as “right-sizing” the overbuilt 50-year-old highway. Route 37 is among the busiest east/west corridors in Rhode Island.
(RIDOT photo)
The Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) recently announced the award of a federal RAISE grant that will provide $25 million toward a $100 million project, the third of three highway projects designed to overhaul Route 37. The freeway in the Providence metro area connects Warwick and Cranston, the state's second and third most populated cities.
The Route 37 RAISE Grant Award Project will replace and rehabilitate six bridges on Route 37, one of the busiest east/west corridors in the state. Two other bridges will be decommissioned and demolished. The project also will "right-size" the highway corridor to ensure it meets Rhode Island's transportation needs. Route 37, approximately 50 years old, was overbuilt to accommodate a proposed highway extension and bridge over Narragansett Bay.
"Planners had envisioned a more extensive highway with other connections," said Charles St. Martin, RIDOT spokesman. "The highway connects to I-295, to I-95 and U.S. 1. The plan was to continue to the east. That never happened."
The main focus of the project will be at the eastern end of the highway where a large bridge with a series of ramps travels over U.S. 1.
"That bridge is structurally deficient," St. Martin said. "We're going to demolish it but not replace it. Instead, we're going to bring the highway to a signalized intersection. That lets us save millions that would have been spent to replace the bridge and maintain it. It will also free up 9 acres of land that will go back on tax rolls. It saves money in the long run, meets safety goals and moves traffic efficiently. It's also an economic boom by creating opportunity in the district."
RIDOT will begin planning and designing the project in the next year and a half. Two other projects totaling $160 million are already under way on Route 37, bringing the combined investment in the route — including the newly announced RAISE Grant Project — to $260 million. The state has received $66 million in federal grants to rehabilitate 30 bridges over the next 10 years on the route. Twenty-two of those bridges are on the projects under way. One of those projects is slated for completion by the end of this year, the second, in 2026.
"My administration remains keenly focused on ensuring Rhode Island's roads and bridges are in a state of good repair and safe for all, and the ongoing work here on Route 37 shows just that," said Gov. Daniel McKee in a kickoff ceremony for the Route 37 RAISE Grant Award Project in July. "I thank our Congressional delegation for their dedication in securing the necessary federal grants to ensure these improvements are completed, as well as our partners at RIDOT for their continued focus on rebuilding and rehabilitating this vital corridor."
RAISE grants are part of President Biden's Investing in America agenda, according to the Department of Transportation website. The agenda aims to grow the American economy from the bottom up and middle-out, including rebuilding the nation's infrastructure, driving nearly $500 billion in private sector manufacturing and clean energy investments, creating "good-paying" jobs and building a clean-energy economy that will combat climate change and make our communities more resilient.
"Using the funds in President Biden's infrastructure law, we are helping communities in every state across the country realize their visions for new infrastructure projects," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. "This round of RAISE grants is helping create a new generation of good-paying jobs in rural and urban communities alike, with projects whose benefits will include improving safety, fighting climate change, advancing equity, strengthening our supply chain, and more."
The projects awarded this year will help more people get where they need to be quickly, affordably and safely, according to the DOT.
"From projects that will strengthen supply chains and reduce bottlenecks, to bridge replacements and road projects to make them safer and more efficient for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians, this year's awards will build and repair infrastructure that benefits Americans for future generations to come, while taking steps to reduce emissions from the transportation sector and support wealth creation and good-paying union jobs. Seventy percent of the grants are going to projects in regions defined as an Area of Persistent Poverty or a Historically Disadvantaged Community."
Like last year, demand for RAISE funding was higher than available funds. This year, DOT received $15 billion in requests for the $2.26 billion available." CEG
Lori Tobias
Lori Tobias is a journalist of more years than she cares to count, most recently as a staff writer for The Oregonian and previously as a columnist and features writer for the Rocky Mountain News. She is the author of the memoir, Storm Beat - A Journalist Reports from the Oregon Coast, and the novel Wander, winner of the Nancy Pearl Literary Award in 2017. She has freelanced for numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Denver Post, Alaska Airlines in-flight, Natural Home, Spotlight Germany, Vegetarian Times and the Miami Herald. She is an avid reader, enjoys kayaking, traveling and exploring the Oregon Coast where she lives with her husband Chan and rescue pups, Gus and Lily.
Read more from Lori Tobias here.
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