Providence bike lanes could be removed to alleviate gridlock

May be part of plan as new bridge is built

PROVIDENCE — The longdebated bike lanes on South Water Street could be on the chopping block as the city grapples with how to accommodate two more years of traffic caused by the continued closure of the Washington Bridge on Interstate 195.

Mayor Brett Smiley said the city will consider a “fair amount of infrastructure changes” in light of the announcement by state officials Thursday that the highway bridge is set for a demolition and replacement and will therefore be closed until at least 2026. The future of the bridge has been uncertain since it was abruptly closed in December.

“I’m happy to have a plan, because now I can make a plan,” Smiley said.

The closure of the bridge, which takes drivers westbound from East Providence to Providence on I-195, has caused gridlock in both cities as drivers going in both directions are now crammed onto the eastbound side.

In the city, “we’re seeing traffic in places that didn’t used to exist,” Smiley said, which is “conflicting with infrastructure that wasn’t built for this volume of traffic.”

“The impact on South Water Street has become quite acute,” the mayor told reporters, where traffic is “bumper-tobumper” in the afternoon as drivers wait to get onto the I195 east ramp at the end of the street near India Point Park.

Removing or changing the bike lanes is “absolutely on the table,” he said in response to a question from the Globe.

The two-way “urban trail” bike path, installed in 2021 by former Mayor Jorge Elorza, is beloved by cyclists but reviled by some businesses and drivers as the city removed a lane of car travel to make way for the wide, protected bike trail when it was installed. Some parking spots were also lost in the process.

The Rhode Island Department of Transportation even tried to get the city to halt the project at the time, citing the fact that it was a major connector to an interstate highway.

But bicycle and safer streets advocates celebrated the city’s move at the time toward roadways shared more equally by pedestrians, cyclists, scooterriders, and cars.

The PVD Streets Coalition, which advocates for bike lanes, posted on social media in reaction to this report that the group is “monitoring this closely” and hopes to work with the mayor on any potential changes.

“There are congestion mitigation measures Providence should absolutely pursue — and RIDOT should pay for,” the group posted. “Let’s be smart, strategic, and collaborative.”

“I know a lot of the donor class don’t like these bike lanes, but I take serious issue with any unilateral decision or authority here,” said city Councilman John Goncalves, a Democrat who represents the area where the bike path is located.

Councilor Sue AnderBois, who represents another ward on the East Side, expressed opposition on social media.

“The solution to car traffic is not to remove infrastructure that enables non-car transportation,” AnderBois said. “Let’s not waste this opportunity to enable better solutions that, long term, will reduce our overreliance on cars to get in/ around our dense city.”

Smiley said he was “worried about ongoing traffic and the impact it’s having on the local businesses,” including in Wayland Square and the areas of South Water Street and Point Street.

He noted that the intersection of Point and Eddy Streets has become extremely congested as more cars are using Allens Avenue to get around the bridge closure.

“These short-term measures were fine when we thought it was three months, but if it’s three years, a traffic cone and a temporary sign is no longer adequate,” Smiley said.