For the first time in half a century, Providence has an opportunity to reimagine development in some of its neighborhoods southwest of downtown.
The collaboration between city and state that has resulted in the latest proposal for the reworking of the Route 6-10 Connector will result in nearly 5 acres of newfound land. The land will be freed when the on-ramp to the connector is removed at Plainfield Street, releasing 3.5 acres, and when the Tobey Street on-ramp is rebuilt as a neighborhood access street, which will free 1.4 acres along Harris Avenue, according to the Providence Department of Planning and Development.
Although the market will dictate what is developed, the early vision from the city is of a continuation of the neighborhood-scale, mixed-use development that already exists in those areas, said Bonnie Nickerson, the Providence planning director.
At a minimum, the newly freed land would allow for more green space. One of the three parcels that could be available along Harris Avenue, for example, would become a landing point for the bike and pedestrian paths that will be created as well, as part of the 6-10 redevelopment.
Much has yet to be determined. The state owns the land under the on-ramps. How it will transfer that acreage, or whether the city or state will seek private development, as the I-195 Redevelopment District has been administered, is unclear.
Beyond the initial acres, the city anticipates that the reconnection of neighborhoods and revitalized areas will improve the value of land along the interchange, near Pilsudski Street, south of Route 6. This area is identified on city planning maps as 24 acres of "potential future development."
That land is privately owned, and now includes a bus yard and other storage buildings.
But Nickerson said it has the potential for light industry, artist live-work spaces, arts manufacturing and maker spaces.
"That area is emerging as a district," she said. "That's an area we see as job producing and revenue producing for neighborhoods."
Grow Smart Rhode Island was one of the nonprofit organizations that took a leadership role in advocating for something more than a simple rebuild of the 6-10 Connector.
One of the greatest accomplishments of the new vision is the connectivity it will bring to residents and neighborhoods, said John Flaherty, the organization's deputy director.
Four severed streets will be reconnected, he noted.
"There is a substantial amount of land that gets ‘greened.' … It provides a lot more connectivity for people, and green space, and land for redevelopment," he said. •