TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS PLATE LETTER OF SUBMITTAL EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 River Corridor Neighborhoods 1 Neighborhood Character 2 & 3 INTRODUCTION 2 Recreational Areas & Community Facilities 4 PROJECT AREA & REGIONAL CONTEXT 3 Generalized Land Use 5 THE BENEFITS OF GREENWAYS 3 Main Connector Streets Bus Routes 6 THE WOONASQUATUCKET RIVER CORRIDOR: Corridor Zoning Map 7 AN OVERVIEW: Main Trail: The River Corridor 8 • Historical Context Conceptual Plan 9 • Land Use & Circulation Main Trail: Manton Pond to Dyerville Park 10 • Zoning Main Trail: Dyerville Mill to Aleppo Street 11 Main Trail: Olneyville Square to Donigian Park 12 • Natural Resources Bike Path and Canoe Launch Area at Donigian Park 13 • Current Issues Historic Industrial Properties in the Greenway Corridor 14 THE GREENWAY CORRIDOR MASTER PLAN: Olneyville: Historic Residential/Commercial Properties 15 ITS PLANNING CONCEPT AND GOALS 17 Main Trail: Donigian Park to Waterplace Park 16 DEVELOPMENT OF THE PLANNING CONCEPTS 19 Bicycle Trail Classifications 17 PRIMARY PLAN ELEMENTS 21 Action Sites: Merino Park and the Lincoln Lace Property 18 • The Greenway Action Site: The Riverside Mills’ Property and • Design Treatment of the Trail the Aleppo Street Area 19 • Gateways Main Trail with view down Tuxedo Avenue 20 Olneyville Square showing the Transition Area • Primary Greenway Action Sites from the Main Trail to the Square 21 SUPPORTING DESIGN ELEMENTS 38 Supporting Development Opportunities 22 • Neighborhood Pathways • Promenade Street 23 Supporting Actions Proposed Ramp System at the Civic Center Interchange 24 IMPLEMENTATION & PHASING PLAN 44 The Riverwalk at Waterplace Park 25 FUNDING MECHANISMS 48 BIBLIOGRAPHY 49 CREDITS 50 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Smith Hill and will provide access to a variety of area amenities. Once a key center for the area’s thriving textile industry, the There are an additional 5 neighborhoods Woonasquatucket River Valley has within the Corridor, portions of which suffered progressively from economic are within 0.5 miles or a 10-minute walk decline and an ongoing deterioration of of the river and the Greenway Combined, the quality of life in its riverbank these neighborhood residents represent neighborhoods. over 37% of Providence’s total population. With the Greenway’s linkage The Woonasquatucket River Greenway Plan with the intown river park system and is the result of broad coalition of its connection to the East Coast state, federal and local interests. Its Greenway, the benefits of the primary goals are to recapture the Woonasquatucket River Greenway will Woonasquatucket River and return it for havebroad impacts on a regional scale. more productive use as a natural and recreational resource within the In recognizing the rich cultural diversity that community and as a catalyst for economic characterizes the various riverbank neighborhoods, growth and job opportunities for area the following premise that: residents. This urban Greenway incorporates The Greenway Corridor Master Plan should serve greenspace and recreational areas along multiple constituencies in a variety of ways. 4.4 miles of both banks of the river was integral in defining the following General Goals for the from its northern terminus at Manton development of the Woonasquatucket River Greenway. Pond, adjoining the Town of Johnston, to Waterplace Park in Downtown Providence. General Goals: A proposed 5.7-mile walking and bike • To develop a continuous urban greenway system trail system along the Greenway will along the Woonasquatucket River from Manton Pond reunify the 5 riverbank neighborhoods of to Waterplace Park in Downtown Providence, Manton, Hartford, Olneyville, Valley and • To improve the environmental quality of the river THE WOONASQUATUCKET RIVER GREENWAY PLAN PAGE 1 and to protect and enhance the natural and cultural By the early 19th. century, the Woonasquatucket River resources along its banks, had become a center for growth, as the region shifted • To increase the range of recreational opportunities from an agrarian-based economy to one of intense available to Woonasquatucket Valley residents by industrial development. Both the Woonasquatucket and restoring parks and providing greenspace along the Moshassuck Rivers were exploited for their water power Greenway Corridor, and factory sites. Company-sponsored housing and • To create a comprehensive system of biking and related industries began to line the banks as the mills walking trails along the greenway linking flourished and spread out along the river corridors. neighborhoods, area amenities, employment centers and Downtown Providence, Once a center of industrial growth, the Woonasquatucket • To stimulate economic redevelopment and provide River Valley has undergone significant changes, as its increased job opportunities for neighborhood economic importance has diminished. Once the residents, mainstays of its economy, its manufacturing industries • To re-establish the Woonasquatucket River as a have experienced dramatic symbol for renewed neighborhood identity and civic pride. downturns, particularly over the past two decades. This INTRODUCTION has resulted in plant closures The Woonasquatucket River begins in Smithfield, RI and and job dislocations for many of its residents and a follows a southerly course through northern Rhode Island. growing destabilization of its neighborhoods. Today, The river finally merges with the Moshassuck River, just these far-reaching changes have adversely affected the east of Waterplace Park in Downtown Providence. The local economy and have transformed the river corridor Woonasquatucket River is the most western of these two into an area in decline, struggling to survive. river systems that converge at the head of the Providence River that flows into Narragansett Bay. The rivers, its In recent years, the City of Providence has also strived to harbor on the Bay and ultimately the railroads were to rebuild its local economy. Through diversification and a play major roles in the early development of Providence, broad range of initiatives, the City has begun to see supporting the city’s active mercantile trade and its positive results for these efforts. One key element in industrial growth, primarily in textiles. these restructuring efforts was recognizing the role the rivers could play in revitalizing its Downtown area. THE WOONASQUATUCKET RIVER GREENWAY PLAN PAGE 2 Subsequently, in the late 1980’s, the City embarked on an ambitious program of recapturing and enhancing its network of rivers as catalysts for area renewal and economic reinvestment. These efforts are beginning to bear fruit and have generated a renewed sense of pride among city residents. Most importantly, an appreciation of the rivers and their potential has been increased. It is within this general context that the Woonasquatucket River Greenway Project was conceived. THE WOONASQUATUCKET RIVER GREENWAY PLAN PAGE 3 THE WOONASQUATUCKET RIVER GREENWAY PROJECT REGIONAL CONTEXT The Woonasquatucket River Greenway Project is in The Woonasquatucket River Greenway Project in conformance with the Comprehensive Plan of the City of Providence represents a concerted effort on behalf of a Providence. The Greenway is also consistent with broad coalition of federal, state and city agencies, with recommendations by the Division of Statewide Planning strong backing from private sector interests, to restore the contained in their report, “A Greener Path: Greenspace Woonasquatucket River: and Greenways for Rhode Island’s Future”. This report recommended the development of a state-sponsored “As a natural and recreational resource for the network of some 500 miles of greenway corridors and 200 community and to provide a focus and stimulus for miles of bikeways. These corridors and trail systems, in revitalization efforts in the neighborhoods through turn, would tie in with the 87,000+ acres of public open- which it flows.” space land and connect into the East Coast Greenway. In addition, these proposals would be complemented, at a THE PROJECT AREA local level, by some 115 miles of greenways along rivers The project area for the Woonasquatucket River and stream banks, supported by 135 miles of bikeways Greenway Corridor follows the course of the river for 4.4 and 70 miles of trails. miles. It extends from its western terminus on the Johnston town line to Waterplace Park in Downtown THE BENEFITS OF GREENWAYS Providence. The Greenway Corridor Planning Area Greenway corridors and trail systems were conceived as encompasses the 5 riverbank neighborhoods of Manton, tools to protect our declining open space resources and Hartford, Olneyville, Valley and Smith Hill. In addition, cultural assets, to provide recreational opportunities and those portions of Mount Pleasant, Silver Lake, West End, to stimulate economic development. In the Northeast, Federal Hill and Downtown that are within 0.5 miles of the many of these projects have, for example, focused on river are also incorporated into the Corridor Planning linking river corridors, critical open space, existing rail and Area. canal trails and urban pathways into a cohesive network of greenway corridors throughout the Region. THE WOONASQUATUCKET RIVER GREENWAY PLAN PAGE 4 Here in Rhode Island, the success of the East Bay Bike cannot legally drive due to age, disability or for other Path and the Blackstone River Bikeway are excellent reasons and must travel on foot, by bicycle, by public examples of this trend. transportation, or rely on a friend with an automobile,