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

TRAFFIC & STREET IMPROVEMENTS
CONCLUSION
The Turnpike System is a network to be built over a series of street
improvement projects. The most important idea from the Turnpikes is
that routes, not just sites, are important to the legacy of the city-- that the
downtown’s natural connections to other places are valuable and vital. The
disconnection of the internal roadway network due to one way conversions,
and the interruptions of the highway, the river and the rail line, are significant
hurdles to Pawtucket’s future economic and social development. The turnpikes
seek to restore these connections.
While not all areas of the Turnpikes could fit into the scope of the PDDP, there
is one simple segment of one way to two way conversation that could have a
significant impact on travel from other parts of Rhode Island and Pawtucket
into downtown: Main Street between Church and Mineral Spring Avenue. This
segment would be a simple adjustment of signalling on either end and restriping
and could be accomplished with minimal expense and little roadway work.
Broadway’s one way segments from the Main Street Bridge to I-95 presents
an unfortunate disconnection between downtown and the north east side of
Pawtucket that will be the most difficult area to reconnect. This also works with
a larger network of roadways between Exchange Street and Underwood that
make pedestrian and bicycle crossings dangerous. Because this is a RIDOT
roadway that connects a set of interstate on and off ramps, we anticipate this
to be a long-term, but important, one way to two way conversion and hope
that RIDOT sees the local benefit to better linkages and calmed traffic.
The PDDP team recommends that the values of the Turnpike System be
established in each future project in downtown. Each segment completed will
add significant functionality to the project; eventually, the system will not work
unless there is a critical mass of accomplishment. The network needs to be
linked to create an impact.
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