PAWTUCKET DOWNTOWN DESIGN PLAN FINAL ... - VHB.com

STATUS AND IMPLEMENTATION Projects
CONCLUSIONS
The goals for this phase of Pawtucket’s downtown development is to establish
the priorities, quality of design, and level of ambition with the support of the
community and stakeholders so that the city can get funding and implement
each project that, added together, becomes the Pawtucket Downtown Design
Plan. The PDDP team hopes that the city will use this report as a manual
for initiating projects and fulfilling goals. In the short-term, the projects build
on current work underway in the city, including the effects of the 550 bridge
construction. In the longer-term, the city will need to work with the existing
and evolving funding strategies of the Rhode Island and Federal Departments
of Transportation. The PDDP was developed with current best practices
to support the types of projects that these agencies encourage, including
coordinating with public transportation and bicycle transportation.
Coordination
The first key step for all of the projects is to establish who within the city is
responsible for directing and managing the work in the Pawtucket Downtown
Design Plan. While this may not rest with one position and projects may
be delegated to different people within the Planning and Public Works
departments, it is still important that there be a clear centralized point or
person to oversee the components to encourage coordination between
departments and state agencies and keep the city’s leadership involved.
Funding
The second key step for all of the projects is to source the available grants,
federal and state funding, and funding partners. Each project has been
designed with specific sources of funding in mind so that they can fit their
descriptions and goals. This is the fundamental step in the future process and
takes significant expertise and effort.
Political Leadership
While specific public officials will be organizing the implementation efforts, they
will need strong support by elected city officials to establish this work at a
state level as a priority as Pawtucket will be competing for resources with other
municipalities. The city is well-poised for this effort, as has been shown during
the PDDP process. The PDDP team was encouraged by the strong support
for the plan by both the current and former Mayors and their staffs, all of the
involved members of the City Council, and additional appointed commission
members. This support is vital to the plan’s success both in drafting and
passing local legislation and lobbying state leaders.
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Community Leadership
While the PDDP addresses public streets and property, unelected community
leadership have and will continue to significantly help to encourage the PDDP
process locally by acting as stakeholders and encouraging local property
owners to participate to get the most impact between public works and
private development, and statewide to encourage state leaders to facilitate
funding. Three important groups of this community include: the Pawtucket
Foundation and local business leaders; the non-profit community linked to local
neighborhoods, including specifically the Pawtucket Citizens Development
Corporation, the Pawtucket YMCA and the public library; and the cultural
arts community, including the Armory Arts District board, who have also been
committed partners with the city. The PDDP team hopes that this process can
continue to be strong, inclusive, and open to new partners.
PDDP STATUS & IMPLEMENTATION