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IN-PROGRESS: "Iway" 195 Relocation/Wash. Bridge


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$500,000 for branding the "Iway" :o !? I giggle every time I say it...

- Garris

A few years back another tractor-trailer overturned driving 95 north thru the Thurbers Avenue curve. There was an article in projo citing RIDOT's plans for a $500,000 electronic system embedded in the roadway to do something or other to warn truck drivers. Having driven that route everyday for 12 years the only sign they had warning anyone was a big curve arrow on and overpass with a couple of yellow lights on it that sometimes didn't even work.

Thinking that this was overkill I wrote the Governor pointing out that it may be more cost effective to just put several signs up and farther back warning truckers of the danger. I am sure that would cost a few thousand versus half a million.

Well the director of DOT wrote me back that studies by the RI state police concluded that signage doesn't work in these instances....okay, I respect the RISP but they aren't exactly experts mainly because how many other such curves are they subjected to and what history do they have.

He also said to me that I might think $500,000 is a lot but it really isn't that much compared to other projects. Uh, huh well guess they don't need my couple of grand a year in taxes then.

Well since then the only thing that has happened is a new SIGN was put up with white strobes placed over the yellow lights.

My point is that RIDOT thinks that money doesn't mean that much so $500,000 to promote less than a mile of highway is much more in the public interest then say two or three signs to avoid a life threatening roll over of an 18 wheeler.

Just irks me that they are so cavalier with public money.

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My point is that RIDOT thinks that money doesn't mean that much so $500,000 to promote less than a mile of highway is much more in the public interest then say two or three signs to avoid a life threatening roll over of an 18 wheeler.

The $500,000 that the article referred to was actually the total cost of a 4-year contract with Shanley & Duffy, not just the iWay branding. The actual cost (cited further in the article on projo.com) is something less than $20,000, if I recall correctly.

From the Projo:

"The branding element is part of a four-year, $500,000 contract the DOT has with Duffy & Shanley, the Providence advertising, marketing and public relations firm, DOT public affairs officer Dana Alexander Nolfe said."
That's the misleading part. The way it's written, you'd think the branding element cost $500,000. In actuality, however:

"How much branding the bridge and adjacent highway will cost isn't clear yet. Maurano said the charges haven't been added up to bill the state.

"Maurano first guessed it might amount to less than 5 percent of the contract. Told that five percent would be $25,000, he said, "It's going to be much less than that." Whatever it costs, it will be a tiny fraction of the project. The bridge alone will cost an estimated $65 million."

That's a much more respectable amount.

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I wonder if its a good idea to be marketing a highway project like the Big Dig...

last I checked, 99% of its recent publicity has been bad, and now its catchy name is known as a gigantic boondoggle. Maybe better left non-descript...

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I don't get why it has to be "branded." It's not like some new shampoo that you're trying to get people to use. If they need to go to East Providence or Cape Cod, they gonna have to take it like it or not..

I also don't get the Iway label. What does the "I" stand for anyway? If that's the best they can do, I've got a bridge I'd like to sell them.

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Does anyone see the potential for air rights development over the stretch of route 95 that goes around downtown?

I remember hearing that Cianci wanted to deck over 95 from 195 up to route 6. I'd love to see it happen, 95 is way below grade for that stretch anyway.

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Does anyone see the potential for air rights development over the stretch of route 95 that goes around downtown?

I would not want to see any air rights development over I-95. Cianci proposed something a few years ago called "New Cities", in which proposed drawings showed buildings built over 95 near downtown. Fall River tried this approach years ago when they built Government Center over I-195, and a concrete tile fell from the tunnel in front of an oncoming car. The car crashed, the passengers sued Mass. for damages, and won a 6-figure settlement (I think Brian Cunha was the lawyer for the plaintiffs). The road surface underneath Govt. Center has been a mess since - full of gouges, etc. after the state pulled off the remaining concerete tiles. The building itself is a mess, too. It suffers constant vibration from the cars/trucks passing underneath it. Windows have cracked and shattered and the physical structure has visible cracking. I don't think Providence needs that kind of liability. Once I-195 is relocated, there will be acreage available after the existing highway comes down for redevelopment.

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Below grade basically means underpass. Like if a railroad line goes underneath a road, you would say that that rail line crosses the road below grade. 95 through downtown (until the 6-10 connector) passes under all the intersecting streets, so its below grade.

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I would not want to see any air rights development over I-95. Cianci proposed something a few years ago called "New Cities", in which proposed drawings showed buildings built over 95 near downtown. Fall River tried this approach years ago when they built Government Center over I-195, and a concrete tile fell from the tunnel in front of an oncoming car. The car crashed, the passengers sued Mass. for damages, and won a 6-figure settlement (I think Brian Cunha was the lawyer for the plaintiffs). The road surface underneath Govt. Center has been a mess since - full of gouges, etc. after the state pulled off the remaining concerete tiles. The building itself is a mess, too. It suffers constant vibration from the cars/trucks passing underneath it. Windows have cracked and shattered and the physical structure has visible cracking. I don't think Providence needs that kind of liability. Once I-195 is relocated, there will be acreage available after the existing highway comes down for redevelopment.

But an air rights development could be private with liability in private hands. There are places where it works, like Boston's Back Bay with the Prudential Center complex (not just the tower) over the Mass Pike.

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Air-rights development (building over highways) is very expensive. The reason we are seeing air-rights development in Boston is becuase downtown and Back Bay are pretty much built out. The only remaining large parcels are in the Seaport (which has height restrictions because of it's proximity to Logan) and over the highways.

In Providence we still have plenty of regular parcels downtown so taking on the expense of an air-rights development is not necessary. If Providence keeps growing, the air-rights over route 95 will become attractive eventually, but we're looking at decades, not years to see that happen. If we wanted to cover route 95, the state would have to pay for the decking.

The issues with the tunnel in Fall River have to do with a lack of bridge and tunnel maitenance by MassHighway in general, not problems related to the tunnel specifically.

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I drove over the Jamestown bridge today and looking to the north at Quonset I saw what must be the new Providence River Bridge. Same arched structure as in the renderings but quite petite at least compared to the nearby Jamestown or the Newport Bridges.

I recall reading that it was going to be assembled in Quonset and then floated up the Bay to the site.

If you go look for it from the Jamestown bridge look to the north at Quonset Point where all the industrial buildings are. The bridge is at the easternmost tip of the Point right next to the water.

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I drove over the Jamestown bridge today and looking to the north at Quonset I saw what must be the new Providence River Bridge. Same arched structure as in the renderings but quite petite at least compared to the nearby Jamestown or the Newport Bridges.

I recall reading that it was going to be assembled in Quonset and then floated up the Bay to the site.

If you go look for it from the Jamestown bridge look to the north at Quonset Point where all the industrial buildings are. The bridge is at the easternmost tip of the Point right next to the water.

I suppose if you were to stop on the bridge to take of picture to post here someone would have called the state police to report a jumper :rofl:

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I suppose if you were to stop on the bridge to take of picture to post here someone would have called the state police to report a jumper :rofl:

Lol, probably. Though there is a hiking trail a mile or so north of the bridge on Route 1A that offers a good view of Quonset. I'll see if I can't get a pic or two when I'm over that way next Wednesday.

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As promised, here are some spy photos of the Providence River Bridge under construction. As far as I could tell, the superstructure is about half-done, with two of the three arches in place.

The clearest view I could find was from the north end of Jamestown:

bridge35at.jpg

Feeling adventurous, I drove out to Quonset to see if I could get a closer look. Sorry about the quality of these, but I couldn't find a really clear angle, and I wanted to be discreet about taking photographs around an active seaport. :ph34r:

bridge18yy.jpg

bridge25qp.jpg

Two thoughts that immediately came to mind were that the blue-green paint will look good (assuming this is the final color), and that the bridge is bigger than I expected based on the renderings.

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