WARWICK – Gov. Donald L. Carcieri and R.I. Department of Transportation Director Michael P. Lewis today used a news conference touting Warwick’s Intermodal Train Station to push – or “advertise,” as Carcieri said – the $87.2 million transportation bond that will go before state voters on Nov. 4.

“The voters of our state have been very supportive of transportation bonds, they have,” Carcieri said. “We’ve been very judicious this year, in terms of things we’ve put on the ballot … We need this transportation bond to pass because a piece of it is going here.”

Lewis, the DOT chief, said that about $100 million of the $267 million intermodal project is dependent on the bond, which appears as Question 1 on the Rhode Island ballot. (READ MORE) The state bond issue would be matched with $440 million in federal transportation funding, Carcieri added.

But if the bond question doesn’t pass, “we’ll have to scramble, but we’ll come up with it,” the governor added.

The station will be a stop for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) commuter rail. Connecting that line to T.F. Green International Airport – by way of a 1,200-linear-foot elevated walkway – has been planned for more than a decade, Warwick Mayor Scott Avedesian noted.

“The goal all along has been to take advantage of the shortest rail-to-airport link anywhere in the country,” Avedesian said today. “Throughout this process, we’ve heard everyone say how easy a connection it is at [Baltimore-Washington International Airport], and I can tell you that by the end of 2010, it will be even easier here in the City of Warwick.”

The intermodal station, slated to include a six-level parking garage with 2,600 parking spaces, is expected to be completed by fall 2010. The project manager is PB Americas Inc. and the construction manager is Gilbane Inc.

R.I. Airport Corporation CEO Kevin A. Dillon said the station will allow the airport “the opportunity to enhance our marketing ability as we reach out to airlines, because many airlines realize the benefit of connecting their passengers to rail service.”

The R.I. Airport Corporation is a quasi-public organization, based at T.F. Green Airport (PVD) in Warwick, that oversees Green and the state’s five general aviation airports. Additional information is available from RIAC at www.pvdairport.com.