Draft plan for Woonasquatucket Corridor includes financing, envisions mixed use

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The Providence Redevelopment Agency on Thursday approved a draft plan for the redevelopment of the 233-acre Woonasquatucket Corridor, including a tax increment financing plan to help pay for improvements to blighted sections of the city's "oldest industrial corridor."

The plan describes a vision for a mix of uses in the corridor, including residences, open spaces and recreation facilities.

Bonnie Nickerson, the city's planning director and executive director of the PRA, said Thursday's vote is the first step in a process that ultimately requires approval by the City Council.

The corridor is just west of downtown, "along the Woonasquatucket River in the Olneyville, Valley, Smith Hill, and Federal Hill neighborhoods."

It includes "many parcels of land that are currently underutilized, and/or potentially contaminated with hazardous materials," the report stated. "Older industrial buildings predominate, interspersed with some residential areas of one- to three-family houses," but there are also "signs of economic development in the project area," on which the city wants to build.

But improvements to the infrastructure are needed. For instance, "there are areas of defective or inadequate street layout," such as Charlotte Hope Street, which "does not connect between Harris Ave. and Kingley Ave. to create a complete street grid in this block. This creates a large block and forces traffic to the perimeter, resulting in congestion."

Also, the Woonasquatucket River bike path "has discontinuities between on- and off-road portions, leading to confusion and unsafe on-road conditions."  Many sidewalks throughout the corridor are "substandard," and improvements are needed to make the area more hospitable to pedestrians and bicyclists, the report stated.

By creating a tax increment financing or "TIF" district, the city can direct future property-tax revenue increases from the defined area to support economic development or public improvements within it.

The plan estimates that over a 20-year period, the city will collect about $55 million above current tax revenue in the corridor, and the proposal would take 40 percent of this increased tax, or $22 million, and transfer it to the PRA to implement the redevelopment plan. Nickerson said planners hope the TIF will bring together public and private investments, and other sources of funding, including grants, to revitalize the corridor.

Potential projects include remediation of brownfield sites; the development of a flood mitigation and green infrastructure master plan for the corridor; the retrofit of existing streets, and the design and construction of new streets and bridges; improvement of the existing underpass under Providence Place and I-95; the development of an innovation center for the "creative and food economies;" and the design of "artistic gateways" at major entry points to the corridor.

cdunn@providencejournal.com/

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