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Former RI Highway Proposals

Recchia

By Recchia
in Rhode Island

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Recchia Town

Recchia

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Posted

I know we had discussed this regarding the formerly proposed I-84 extension from Hartford to Providence, but I wanted a thread to discuss all of the former highway proposals from the 60's and 70's in RI. I'm sure we've all heard of I-895 (the eastern Providence by-pass, what the current Route 37 was to become), but there are even more wacky proposals that thankfully never came to be. For example, Route 10 was supposed to be extended south along Warwick Ave to connect all the way down to Oakland Beach. 6/10 was also supposed to be extended eastward through the East Side to connect with the Henderson Bridge. Imagine how many more neighborhoods would have been destructed if these proposals had gone through, and what our state would look like today!

Other proposals:

-Extend East Shore Expressway (RI 114) south to the Mt. Hope Bridge.

-Build Route 138 as I-895 from 95 in Hopkinton to the Jamestown Bridge, and then along 114 on Aquidneck Island.

-Extend Route 99 in Woonsocket all the way up to 495 in Massachusetts.

-THE CRAZIEST OF ALL: Extend I-495 from Long Island to Napatree Point in Westerly to the Westerly By-pass then up to 95.

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Cotuit Megalopolis

Cotuit

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Yep.

This is the failed proposal I would most like to have seen built (though I agree that Prov-Hartford would also have been useful). A LI-RI bridge would have provided a viable alternative route between New England and NYC, taking some of the pressure off I-95 in western Connecticut.

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runawayjim Metropolis

runawayjim

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Yep.

This is the failed proposal I would most like to have seen built (though I agree that Prov-Hartford would also have been useful). A LI-RI bridge would have provided a viable alternative route between New England and NYC, taking some of the pressure off I-95 in western Connecticut.

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Recchia Town

Recchia

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I'm thinking a lot of people would have liked to see the I-895 proposal (Route 37 into Barrington, to 195, then to 295's terminus in Attleboro) come to fruition, since it would have offered more direct access from East to West Bay, and could have alleviated some of the traffic on the 195/95 clusterf*ck. Of course, this probably would have turned Rehoboth into Warwick, something we definitely wouldn't need.

Looking at the history of all this, it goes to show that money is power. The wealthier homeowners in Warwick and Barrington were able to stop 895, but the poorer homeowners in Providence and Pawtucket weren't able to stop 95, 195, Route 10, 146, etc. from plowing through their neighborhoods.

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runawayjim Metropolis

runawayjim

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I'm thinking a lot of people would have liked to see the I-895 proposal (Route 37 into Barrington, to 195, then to 295's terminus in Attleboro) come to fruition, since it would have offered more direct access from East to West Bay, and could have alleviated some of the traffic on the 195/95 clusterf*ck. Of course, this probably would have turned Rehoboth into Warwick, something we definitely wouldn't need.

Looking at the history of all this, it goes to show that money is power. The wealthier homeowners in Warwick and Barrington were able to stop 895, but the poorer homeowners in Providence and Pawtucket weren't able to stop 95, 195, Route 10, 146, etc. from plowing through their neighborhoods.

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mental757 Burg

mental757

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I still look at ways to link 95 say in Coventry/W Greenich just south of exit 6 to 395 in CT somewhere near plainfiled. One could then take 95S to this new highway to 395S to CT RT 2 to Hartford. This would also link the growing Norwich area to Providence better. It's certainly not the most direct but better that waht we have now.

Finishing 138 from RT's 1/4 to 95 should be done somehow as well.

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runawayjim Metropolis

runawayjim

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I still look at ways to link 95 say in Coventry/W Greenich just south of exit 6 to 395 in CT somewhere near plainfiled. One could then take 95S to this new highway to 395S to CT RT 2 to Hartford. This would also link the growing Norwich area to Providence better. It's certainly not the most direct but better that waht we have now.

Finishing 138 from RT's 1/4 to 95 should be done somehow as well.

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Cotuit Megalopolis

Cotuit

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The environmental problems are not the water crossing, they are the steps on the islands. A few of the islands it was proposed for are uninhabited and the expressway would have basically spanned the entire island, destroying wildlife habitat. At Plum and Fisher's Islands the expressway would have completely dominated the landscape and destroyed the environmental and cultural integrity of the islands.

It would have induced sprawl as well. People would now be able to live easily year-round on Fisher's and Plum Islands and commute to NY or Providence. Westerly would have become a suburb of New York City with people being able to cross the Sound and take the train into the city from Greenport on Long Island. And it would have increased sprawl at the end of Long Island, no longer would the North Fork be 2 hours from New York and basically a dead end, it would now be an hour from Providence and subject to becoming a sprawling wasteland for vacationers, and it would be a gas station and fast food stop along the way from New York to Newport, the Cape, and the rest of New England.

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runawayjim Metropolis

runawayjim

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when looking at the map, it can either go from the north fork over fisher's island, but that'd be a longer stretch than the south fork to watch hill.

i don't think the people living in suffolk county would want a highway like that, especially in the hamptons. same goes for watch hill. it'd be neat idea. a bridge/tunnel like chesapeake would be really cool.

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Lone Ranger Burg

Lone Ranger

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The environmental problems are not the water crossing, they are the steps on the islands. A few of the islands it was proposed for are uninhabited and the expressway would have basically spanned the entire island, destroying wildlife habitat. At Plum and Fisher's Islands the expressway would have completely dominated the landscape and destroyed the environmental and cultural integrity of the islands.

It would have induced sprawl as well. People would now be able to live easily year-round on Fisher's and Plum Islands and commute to NY or Providence. Westerly would have become a suburb of New York City with people being able to cross the Sound and take the train into the city from Greenport on Long Island. And it would have increased sprawl at the end of Long Island, no longer would the North Fork be 2 hours from New York and basically a dead end, it would now be an hour from Providence and subject to becoming a sprawling wasteland for vacationers, and it would be a gas station and fast food stop along the way from New York to Newport, the Cape, and the rest of New England.

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Can't wait Crossroads

Can't wait

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Looks like one of these "old" plans might come back to life - Route 37 extension to the east:

PROJO: "FAA proposes 'new' Airport Road"

http://www.projo.com/ri/warwick/content/WB...O4.35dc519.html

PROJO: "'Unfinished' Route 37 has been a sporadic issue for 4 decades"

http://www.projo.com/ri/warwick/content/WB...MH.33089b2.html

related news:

PROJO: "FAA plans seen reviving proposal by Carpionato"

http://www.projo.com/ri/warwick/content/WB...JM.33038a5.html

Yeah...let's see how long this process will take.........

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