Submitted by degggendorf t3_10oab5g in RhodeIsland

Excerpt:

“The trails are a combination of on-road and road-adjacent protected bicycle lanes and shared-use trails, neighborhood greenways on low volume streets, and off-road shared use paths,” the spokesperson added.

To make Providence more walkable and bike-friendly, the city’s “Great Streets” innitiative proposed an Urban Trail Network of off-road separate paths, separated on-road trails, and neighborhood greenways.

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SusieRI t1_j6fdp40 wrote

Gee, ya think enforcing the traffic laws might help? Smfh

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degggendorf OP t1_j6fj6rl wrote

Help what, establish dedicated biking lanes?

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SusieRI t1_j6fnr9o wrote

NO, make the streets safer

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degggendorf OP t1_j6fsipm wrote

That doesn't seem to be part of what this money is going toward.

And honestly, I'd prefer not to send extra money to the police just to have them do the job we're paying them to do now.

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Coincel_pro t1_j6i39m0 wrote

Did you read the article?

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SusieRI t1_j6j8k1m wrote

No, I was going by the title of the post. If that was misleading, not my fault. At the same time, does anyone around here know what that red octagon means at intersections?

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CloudStrife012 t1_j6fz0zx wrote

A 2-mile stretch of road will somehow be $26 million over budget, and the state will have squandered the entire fund. It's the RI way.

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deadl0ckx2 t1_j6f4qts wrote

Yippee, 2,720 new speed cameras on the way.

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degggendorf OP t1_j6f5dav wrote

That doesn't seem to be part of this, this looks like it will all be focused on non-car transportation options.

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Regular-Desk233 t1_j6fmldn wrote

15% for the grease machine to skim of that money leaves us with….

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listen_youse t1_j6i4u84 wrote

It will be well spent if the improvements fully connect places people actually need to go which can only be achieved by replacing some vehicular lanes and parking spaces.

I fear what happens instead is this money gets spent on surveys, studies, proposals and planners attending meetings where everything that might actually work gets nimby-ed to death. Then, if money remains, random segments of bike lane get built where there is least resistance, and the city remains too dangerous for kids to ride bikes to school.

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ToadScoper t1_j6jrxlr wrote

Providence is one of the more car-centric cities in New England, the downtown is littered with poor land uses such as surface-level parking lots and stroads. That being said, there must be a better path for implementing pedestrian infrastructure. From what it looks like, the urban trail plan is very vague and non-committal; it will likely result in a loop of needless bureaucracy and dreaded "feasibility studies". It will take a lot more than painted bike shoulders to make the city a better environment for pedestrians

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degggendorf OP t1_j6jv36r wrote

I agree, I'm skeptical that this relatively small amount of money will make much of a difference, and the goals described by Reed's office seem awfully lofty for "just" $27m. I look forward to additional info (and, ya know, actual progress).

This line:

> The city intends to use this funding to “advance engineering and systemic construction” of the Urban Trail Network in Providence.

Makes me think that this might be more about creating blueprints for the infrastructure more than actually building it. Like, coming up with the detailed engineering drawings for what a bike and pedestrian friendly section of urban residential street should look like, so the next time a street is being redone that uniform template can be applied. Then car/bike/pedestrian interaction will be predictable throughout the city, and therefore safer and more accessible. Much better than the mish mash of where a bike lane goes in relation to street parking, whether it's differentiated by paint or reflectors or curbing or just shared with cars, how car turn lane crossovers are handled, etc. Defining the Providence Way of handling those things seems like a good place to start.

But ultimately I don't know anything and can only hope this will be managed with some semblance of intelligence.

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cojwa t1_j6gxqth wrote

Why is the Hartford Projects the picture?

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cheekiewalrus t1_j6i3pc2 wrote

Safer by repaving them hopefully…

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degggendorf OP t1_j6i3xfr wrote

Not with this money, this is going toward making walking and biking safer/possible across more of the city.

There is different infrastructure money going toward car-centric improvements that I linked elsewhere ITT.

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