VIDEO: Few Use Bike Path on Providence’s Busiest Commuting Street—574 Vehicles, 3 Bikers
Friday, March 13, 2020
One of the busiest streets entering downtown Providence was redesigned cutting out auto traffic lanes to create a bike path.
The bike path has created traffic backups, as four lanes of traffic are forced to merge into just two lanes on Canal Street in Providence at the intersection of Smith Street.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTA GoLocal video of morning commuting traffic captured hundreds and hundreds of autos and trucks entering the city and virtually no bicycles using the bike path.
The 39-minute video, which has been time-lapsed to 1:35, captured 574 vehicles using Canal Street and just three bicyclists between 8:25 AM and 9:04 AM on March 12, 2020. Note a biker was using the sidewalk on the other side of the road.
One-third of the lanes are dedicated to bicyclists but bikes comprise just a fraction of one percent of those using Canal Street during the commuting time.
In January of 2020, Mayor Jorge Elorza unveiled his 102-page plan for expanding bike lanes in the city.
The Providence Great Streets Master Plan outlines the success of existing bike path initiatives — citing Canal Street and the need to further expanding a bike path network.
“After engaging residents and stakeholders across our city, I am delighted to present Providence’s Great Streets Initiative and Urban Trail Network Master Plan (Great Streets)—an actionable roadmap to better connect our residents and neighborhoods.” Wrote Elorza.
“The plan will guide the City’s efforts to ensure that every street in Providence is safe, equitable and sustainable. As our city looks towards the future, Great Streets guides the day-to-day work of our City’s Departments to ensure the investments we make in our public spaces add value to all residents and make Providence a better-connected city,” he continued.
Elorza's Bike Strategy Has Been Controversial
As GoLocal reported in September of 2019, the City of Providence spent $127,500 on what was then the recently built Eaton Street bike and traffic lanes — which then were removed.
Council Majority Leader Jo-Ann Ryan announced the new lines would be removed, after hearing from constituents who were opposed to the new design.
“The total project cost $127,500 and was paid for by the City through CIP bond money,” said Ben Smith in Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza's office, when asked what the project cost.
The city then said that was for both the initial installation cost $63,500 -- and that the cost for removal, redesign, inspection and restriping would cost $64,000. The total cost was $127,500.
The city removed the "new" traffic pattern — and instituted the “original” traffic pattern (more below).
Latest Roadwork Re-Do
As GoLocal reported last September, newly painted traffic lines were scraped off the recently repaved Blackstone Boulevard.
"A contractor installed temporary markings based on [an] older plan. The markings were hydroblasted immediately to allow for the installation of markings reflective of a revised plan," said Victor Morente in Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza's office. "The striping contractor was on site last night and will continue their work tonight for permanent striping installation."
At the time, Morente could not confirm who was responsible for the error — or how much it cost.
“There was miscommunication,” Morente continued. “The prime contractor is JH Lynch. This particular work on Blackstone is part of a larger contract and it will take some time to breakdown the specific costs.”
Meanwhile on the other side of the city, Council Majority Leader Ryan had announced the following after the implementation of the new bike and driving lanes, when she said that Eaton Street would return to its original traffic pattern.
“Making our City streets safe and accessible to all is one of my top priorities,” stated Majority Leader Jo-Ann Ryan. “We need to balance all new initiatives with the needs of the surrounding community, particularly when it is a matter of public safety. After hosting two community meetings and hearing from a cross-section of the Elmhurst neighborhood where residents articulated their incisive observations with the Eaton Street traffic redesign, I am pleased to report that the Mayor has agreed with us.”
“I want to thank my neighbors for working together to address these genuine issues of public safety," said Ryan. "Our voices were heard loud and clear. Further, I also want to emphasize that my neighbors are not opposed to creating bike lanes on City streets. We simply ask the City administration to be mindful of the public engagement and vetting process.”
Ryan said that after several meetings with Mayor Jorge Elorza and his department Directors that she was successful in convincing City officials to have Eaton Street returned to its original traffic pattern.
Editor's Note: The City of Providence provided $127,500 when asked the cost was for the Eaton Street project; the city later said that was for both the initial installation -- and now removal.
