Marketing Rhode Island's History

[Lone Ranger]

OK, just so we're on the same page.

Obviously, I'm not an engineer. I dunno a thing about triple convergence, although I see your point. I intend to do some reading about said triple convergence -- perhaps at this page, which seems to corroborate what you're saying point for point. But regardless, three things still need to be done:

a) Straighten & smooth the I-95/Rt. 4 junction.

b) Straighten & smoot the Rt. 4/Rt. 1 junction.

c) Get rid of the traffic lights. Why? Why are they there at all? Why were they ever there?

[Recchia]

OK, just so we're on the same page.

Obviously, I'm not an engineer. I dunno a thing about triple convergence, although I see your point. I intend to do some reading about said triple convergence -- perhaps at this page, which seems to corroborate what you're saying point for point. But regardless, three things still need to be done:

a) Straighten & smooth the I-95/Rt. 4 junction.

b) Straighten & smoot the Rt. 4/Rt. 1 junction.

c) Get rid of the traffic lights. Why? Why are they there at all? Why were they ever there?

Check out Anthony Downs' book "Stuck in Traffic", great read about the principles of traffic congestion.

The DOT had a plan a while back to take out the lights on Route 4 by putting in overpasses at West Allenton and Oaktown Roads (I think those are the names) and then making the Route 1 interchange truly limited access. The plan also had the concept of making the stretch of road "fit in" better with "rural" South County. Of course the plan never came to fruition.

[Lone Ranger]

Oak Hill Rd. Close enough, tho.

[MikeR]

Here are some shots I took yesterday...

This the geological marker for Pocasset Hill; at 320 ft. the highest point in Newport County:

A few yards from this marker, the legend goes that Narragansett Native Americans who were captured by the rival Wampanoag tribe were executed. Rumor has it that King Philip used this site for executions during King Philip's War. The condeemmed were bound hand and foot, and then pitched head first from the top of these rocks to the bottom:

This is Fort Barton; staging area for the Battle of Rhode Island:

View from Ft. Barton looking north. The embankment on the right is the remains of Colonial earthenworks that formed the redoubt:

View from the top of the tower. Warwick is on the horizon. The Mount Hope Bridge can be seen in the foreground. Providence's skyline is sometimes visible (but not in this photo):

This is Patriots Park - recently rebuilt and rededicated. Located at the junction of Rt. 24 and Rt 114:

Memorial to the Black Regiment:

Front of the memorial:

Front panels in detail:

Back of the memorial:

Back panels in detail:

I tried to get pics of Common Burial Ground today, but the weather was too bad here to get good pics of the gravestones. I'll try again when it is sunny.

More to come later!!!

[MikeR]

One of my pet projects that I have yet to be able to get off the ground and fit into my workload at Preserve Rhode Island is to compile all of the historic sites in the state and then specifically create a brochure that details which sites are accessible via RIPTA. I figure this would be a great marketing tool and since RIPTA is willing to trade advertising spaces on their buses for any advertising or sponsorships that may potentially increase their ridership, it would be a great opportunity for my organization to get its name out there, which we sorely need.

There will be another free Statewide Historic Sites Open House this fall, like the one in 2004, to garner support for another bond referendum for funding for Historic Preservation projects, so that will be something to look forward to.

KBagley - how can "accessible via RIPTA" be defined? RIPTA has a terminus at Gateway Center in Newport, does that mean most of downtown Newport would be accessible? If I knew some of the parameters for this, I may be able to get a list of some historic sites for you that would fit. Thanks.

[KBagley]

KBagley - how can "accessible via RIPTA" be defined? RIPTA has a terminus at Gateway Center in Newport, does that mean most of downtown Newport would be accessible? If I knew some of the parameters for this, I may be able to get a list of some historic sites for you that would fit. Thanks.

MikeR, I would define it as being within reasonable walking distance for an average person from a bus line or terminus, probably less than 1/2 mile. Most of downtown newport would qualify, as well as bellevue avenue because it does have a bus that serves that area. I am, however, more interested in such out of the way, less obvious places, like Smith's Castle, The New England Wireless and Steam Museum, Gilbert Stuart's Birthplace, the Varnum Armory and Varnum House Museum in East Greenwich, Governor Sprague Mansion in Cranston, Linden Place and Blithewold in Bristol, etc... you know, those historical society museums and grassroots places that dont have the budget of PSNC to market themselves but are great stewards of local history that we should all visit at least once.

If this were done right, you could conceivably pick up a brochure and spend the day hopping on and off RIPTA at various historic sites (for free on a summer ozone alert day!). I see a lot of potential in this program in giving our own residents (as well as tourists) a way of learning about and accessing these sites, and we all know how much some of these places rely on their $5 museum tours to keep them going; this would be a huge boost.

[Cotuit]

As a car-free person myself, I certainly think this is a worthy project. However, the problem with RIPTA outside of Providence and Newport is headways. We have really great coverage of the state, but the lines that go to the rural areas outside of Providence often have really long headways (even the buses to the Rhode Island & Warwick Malls have annoyingly long headways). One could find themselves waiting an hour or more at an historic site for their return bus.

But the biggest part of the battle is identifying which routes go where. It would be nice to see attractions include bus route information on their literature. And would be even more ideal to see the state list them on related websites and literature.

[KBagley]

Some of you might find this page of interest.

http://www.preservation.ri.gov/resources/historic_sites.php

It is a listing of 50 or so historic sites that are open to the public. I've used it as a launching point. In reality, I'm sure there are well over 200 historic sites/museums/etc in the state... Its sad that Preserve Rhode Island is the statewide and we dont have a complete listing.. I aim to change that.

[MikeR]

MikeR, I would define it as being within reasonable walking distance for an average person from a bus line or terminus, probably less than 1/2 mile. Most of downtown newport would qualify, as well as bellevue avenue because it does have a bus that serves that area. I am, however, more interested in such out of the way, less obvious places, like Smith's Castle, The New England Wireless and Steam Museum, Gilbert Stuart's Birthplace, the Varnum Armory and Varnum House Museum in East Greenwich, Governor Sprague Mansion in Cranston, Linden Place and Blithewold in Bristol, etc... you know, those historical society museums and grassroots places that dont have the budget of PSNC to market themselves but are great stewards of local history that we should all visit at least once.

If this were done right, you could conceivably pick up a brochure and spend the day hopping on and off RIPTA at various historic sites (for free on a summer ozone alert day!). I see a lot of potential in this program in giving our own residents (as well as tourists) a way of learning about and accessing these sites, and we all know how much some of these places rely on their $5 museum tours to keep them going; this would be a huge boost.

Thanks - I'll look into this - this idea is great. RIPTA already does the summer express bus to Scarborough (my wife and I rode it once), and the notion of using RIPTA and designating a bus route(s) to explore historic sites around the state sounds good. I'll check preservation.ri.gov and see what is missing and forward it to you.

Mike

[MikeR]

This one's for Curt. This is the memorial to the Rhode Island Red located in village of Adamsville, RI at the end of Rt. 81. The bird was bred here in Lil' Rhody and is our state bird. Little Compton where the bird was first bred (through cross-breeding of different types of chickens), and so the town erected this memorial. Rhode Island Monthly magazine noted in an issue some years ago that this is the only memorial in the country that's dedicated to a chicken:

[runawayjim]

jumping in late on the conversation...

first, rhode island has a ton of history and is largely a forgotten state, mainly because it sits between one of the most important cities in our nation's history (boston) and the biggest city in the country (new york). it's the smallest state, which doesn't help, although it should.

many people (myself at one point included) i talk to are always like "what's in RI?" my fiancee had never even really given RI a thought until she lived here and realized how great it is. the history in newport (aside from the well-known mansions) is unbelievable. benefit st in providence is the longest contiguous strip of historical places in the country. then there's all the firsts that are just amazing (first synagogue, first act of defiance against great britain, which i thought for the longest time was the tea party in that other city). why is none of this marketed? my guess is because boston wants rights to most of the revolutionary period stuff when it comes to new england... isn't the reason we were the last to sign the constitution because of the bill of rights?

now onto route 4...

why are there traffic lights on route 4 or route 1 at all? i like the idea of 1a and 1 being separate. i like the section of route 1 between westerly and narragansett/wakefield when it's an expressway, but after that and through that last traffic light going north on 4, it's hell in the summer. why isn't 4/1 an expressway all the way to westerly? this change alone would alleviate the traffic problems there, turning all the other side streets into on/off ramps. it would piss off the locals down there, but it'd help their problem getting around with all the tourists. after all, the only traffic i hit during the holiday weekend going back and forth to the beach was between the first and last lights (and even then, most of the traffic ends at 138 west). it sucks going to newport because you go from the highways (95 and 4) to the traffic lights on 4 and 1 to the expressway on 138 again. why is this not an expressway the whole way?

and another way to alleviate problems on the northern end of route 4 is to change the way the lanes switch on 95... the right lane ends if you stay on 95 south and you gain a lane to the left when you get off to take route 4. why don't they make the left 2 exits exit only lanes and leave the right 2 lanes for 95 south. most of the traffic there gets off at 4 anyways (consdiering there isn't much after exit 9 on 95 south anyways). it would help the congestion that builds for those trying to take 95 straight through. or at the very least extend that right lane longer before it ends... no sooner do you pass exit 9 and that right lane is gone. have it go another half mile or another mile, or have it end at exit 8 in an exit only lane.

[Recchia]

They've been talking about eliminating the traffic lights on Route 4 for a while now and putting in exit ramps instead, but it's not a project or anything yet. What will probably happen next is completing the I-95/Route 4 intersection to allow 4 north to get onto 95 south and 95 north to get onto 4 south-without having to get off on Route 2 by the Showcase. This is supposed to be done to ease access to the new 403 and Quonset from places like Coventry and West Greenwich. Again though, it's not a project yet.

I would definitely support eliminating the traffic lights at West Allenton, Oak Hill and where Route 4 meets Route 1. Further down on Route 1 though it's not as necessary, and with things like South County Commons being built, it'd be hard to make Route 1 into a full out limited access highway.

[runawayjim]

They've been talking about eliminating the traffic lights on Route 4 for a while now and putting in exit ramps instead, but it's not a project or anything yet. What will probably happen next is completing the I-95/Route 4 intersection to allow 4 north to get onto 95 south and 95 north to get onto 4 south-without having to get off on Route 2 by the Showcase. This is supposed to be done to ease access to the new 403 and Quonset from places like Coventry and West Greenwich. Again though, it's not a project yet.

I would definitely support eliminating the traffic lights at West Allenton, Oak Hill and where Route 4 meets Route 1. Further down on Route 1 though it's not as necessary, and with things like South County Commons being built, it'd be hard to make Route 1 into a full out limited access highway.

the traffic, as i said, ends at the light by the tower (or 138 west). so eliminating lights through (and including) that one would suffice.

the northbound traffic starts to get backed up quite a bit at this same light...

[MikeR]

I think what is needed is a statewide commisson to come up with a plan for an historic "trail" of some kind, both walking and driving (start in Newport, move north through Bristol, Providence, Pawtucket, etc.)

My post 7 months ago has become a bit prophetic, I think? I began noticing signs put up on Rt. 114 a couple of months ago with the acronym "W3R" . Turns out this is the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route. It seems RI is attempring to create its' own "Freedom Trail of sorts. It begins in Newport, travels up Rt. 114 into Providence, then out along Rts. 12 and 14 through Scitituate and Foster. It marks basically when the Contential Army marched south from Boston to New York and Rochembeau's French Army route from its' initial landing in King's Park in Newport, through Rhode Island, etc. until it joined Washington's army at Yorktown.

The state DOT has put up a website explaining this historic route:

http://www.dot.state.ri.us/hist/rochambeau.htm

[KBagley]

This has been a long time in the making, actually... the W3R trail stretches through quite a few states on the eastern seaboard tracing the route. RI seems to have one of the most active groups, owing to the fact that Rochambeau's troops arrived and departed from Newport and also spent quite a bit of time camped in Providence. On their return march, the troops camped out in the summit/mt. hope neighborhood (hence Camp Street and Rochambeau Ave) on land owned by Jeremiah Dexter. My office is in the Jeremiah Dexter House at the bottom of Rochambeau Ave.

[Lone Ranger]

It's not a marketing issue per se, but why is it that there's no signage either on 95N or 95S to indicate the way to Newport, the state's biggest tourist draw?

Heck, for the Women's Open, they had to put up temporary signs ...

[gregw]

This has been a long time in the making, actually... the W3R trail stretches through quite a few states on the eastern seaboard tracing the route. RI seems to have one of the most active groups, owing to the fact that Rochambeau's troops arrived and departed from Newport and also spent quite a bit of time camped in Providence. On their return march, the troops camped out in the summit/mt. hope neighborhood (hence Camp Street and Rochambeau Ave) on land owned by Jeremiah Dexter. My office is in the Jeremiah Dexter House at the bottom of Rochambeau Ave.

Does anyone know if there are going to be any W3R signs around Rochambeau/North Main? BTW, there's a nice historic marker on Summit Ave.

[Gusterfell]

It's not a marketing issue per se, but why is it that there's no signage either on 95N or 95S to indicate the way to Newport, the state's biggest tourist draw?

Heck, for the Women's Open, they had to put up temporary signs ...

There are signs for Newport at exit 3 (Rt. 138) in Hope Valley, which is the most direct route from the south, but it has always surprised me that the Rt. 4 exit off 95 south has no mention of Newport.

The signage for the Womens' Open was very well done.

[Lone Ranger]

The signage for the Womens' Open was very well done.

To be sure. The whole event was well done. They did a spectacular job minimizing the impact on the city. It was telling, I thought, that the Tour was in town for nearly a week and traffic remained relatively quiet, as much as could be expected, but it was the 4th of July weekend traffic that created the endless traffic snarls that I (in my inbred skepticism) had envisioned the Open creating.

Maybe we should have the military in town every weekend.

But aaaanyways, the point was that the Open signage was clearly temporary. I'd never noticed the Exit 3 sign to Newport. There are none at Rt. 4, I know that. And correct me if I'm wrong, but Rt. 4 to 1 (briefly) to 138 is the closest thing there is to a direct, all-highway connection to Newport, I believe.

And we don't advert to that fact. Which seems a wee strange to me.

Poor Recchia must be having a heart-attack. I'm sorry!

[runawayjim]

To be sure. The whole event was well done. They did a spectacular job minimizing the impact on the city. It was telling, I thought, that the Tour was in town for nearly a week and traffic remained relatively quiet, as much as could be expected, but it was the 4th of July weekend traffic that created the endless traffic snarls that I (in my inbred skepticism) had envisioned the Open creating.

Maybe we should have the military in town every weekend.

But aaaanyways, the point was that the Open signage was clearly temporary. I'd never noticed the Exit 3 sign to Newport. There are none at Rt. 4, I know that. And correct me if I'm wrong, but Rt. 4 to 1 (briefly) to 138 is the closest thing there is to a direct, all-highway connection to Newport, I believe.

And we don't advert to that fact. Which seems a wee strange to me.

Poor Recchia must be having a heart-attack. I'm sorry!

you know... there might be one of those really small pell bridge signs by the rt 4 exit. i'm pretty sure they have those signs at exit 3 (at least the northbound side).

[Lone Ranger]

you know... there might be one of those really small pell bridge signs by the rt 4 exit. i'm pretty sure they have those signs at exit 3 (at least the northbound side).

Yes, those are there. But when even the locals still commonly refer to the damn thing as the Newport Bridge, why would itsy-bitsy little signs bearing the designation "Pell Bridge" mean anything to folks from out of state?

[runawayjim]

Yes, those are there. But when even the locals still commonly refer to the damn thing as the Newport Bridge, why would itsy-bitsy little signs bearing the designation "Pell Bridge" mean anything to folks from out of state?

the sign for rt 4 should say "south county beaches, newport, jamestown". i think those little signs are stupid. i actually had no idea what the pell bridge was until i had actually gone to newport. i thought it might've been the jamestown bridge because i thought the newport one was called "the newport bridge".

[Gusterfell]

i actually had no idea what the pell bridge was until i had actually gone to newport. i thought it might've been the jamestown bridge because i thought the newport one was called "the newport bridge".

Nope, the Jamestown Bridge is officially called the "Jamestown Verrazano Bridge," though that name is used about as often as "Pell Bridge" is.

Even though the old Jamestown Bridge is gone, I bet you'll still hear it called the "New Jamestown Bridge" twenty or thirty years from now.

[Cotuit]

Isn't the Pell Bridge officially the "Newport-Pell Bridge" and shouldn't any signage related to it say that?

[brick]

I know my way around well enough that I don't even notice the signs...however back when I didn't I had no trouble understanding that I had to take Rt. 4 to get to Newport on the West Bay and I could have sworn the signage was there. Maybe it disappeared when they put up all the fancy electronic signage?

(speaking of which, why do we keep dreaming up new ways to a) waste energy, and b) distract people from the road?)