NBC 10’s Dan Jaehnig spoke with Providence Mayor Brett Smiley on Connect to Providence.
https://turnto10.com/news/local/connect-to-providence-mayor-smiley-discusses-washington-bridge-and-bike-path-southern-new-england-rhode-island-ripta-avedisian-april-10-2024#
—–
NBC 10 WJAR is Southern New England’s leading news station, covering news, politics, sports and weather in Rhode Island, Southeastern Massachusetts and Eastern Connecticut, including Providence, Central Falls, Cranston, East Providence, Newport, Pawtucket, Warwick, Woonsocket, Attleboro, Fall River, New Bedford, Taunton and Cape Cod, and surrounding communities.
Our homepage is at https://turnto10.com
Like us on Facebook at https://facebook.com/nbc10
Follow us on X at https://x.com/nbc10
Follow us on Instagram at https://instagram.com/nbc10wjar
Download the NBC 10 News app for iOS at
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/nbc-10-wjar/id1022872963
Download the NBC 10 News app for Android at
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cellit.cellitnews.wjar&hl=en
Report news to NBC 10 at 401-455-9105 or email news@wjar.com
Share your images and video with NBC 10 at https://turnto10.com/chimein
back here in Studio B mayor Brett Smiley joins me for our connect to the Providence segment mayor good to have you with us happy to be here I want to point out one of the live cameras here that we watch we watch this every night of course of the 195 changes our director is going to punch it up pretty short as you can see these the backups that people are facing uh even with the lane changes um the last time you were here we talked about the marathon which had to be canceled in in essence because of the Washington Bridge just the impact of this just does not seem to be going away and the $300,000 the grants that they’re offering does seem to you know kind of cover everybody’s problem so I’m just wondering what new plans are underway yeah I we had a community meeting on Monday night and there was a business owner with a business on Waterman Street uh who you know is having a hard time getting customers to want to brave the traffic to get there she’s a massage therapist and she’s like the last thing people want to do is come get a massage and then sit in traffic for 45 minutes and get all stressed out again and so the impact you know I’ve heard from restaurants on Federal Hill it’s not just whan Square uh and the SBA Grant uh loans that we rolled out early were great but a lot of these small business owners don’t want to or can’t take on more debt exactly and so um we’re continuing to Advocate at the State House for additional grant funding uh this is a Statewide problem needs to have a Statewide solution uh can’t just be City funds and then at the meantime we’re trying to do what we can to ease the burden on places like wh and square to make it easier to get around so those folks don’t feel like I shouldn’t go there I should just avoid will and square at all counts do not do that please come support will and square and we’re making it easier than ever to find parking to safely Traverse the area as a pedestrian and to get through the area right but you can’t blame people who are on a Saturday night don’t want to sit in that traffic and now this Lane change I’m curious to think of what you think so far of the lane change that’s uh implemented today yeah let me say now unless there’s an accident Saturday night is actually not a huge problem it’s really rush hour and and so I there might be some people who disagree with you well and I but I still encourage people to go out to dinner come to see a show in Providence come enjoy the entertainment at night life it is primarily a rush hour problem we know there’s a problem every time there’s an accident or some other issue the lane change I’m still optimistic will yield positive results change is hard the lanes are more narrow there was obviously a delay this morning and finishing the work and so that backed up and ruined the entire morning commute um but it’s certainly not uh time to say this was a failure there’s still plenty of time to give it a chance and I think it’ll help but the modrine of error is really short now and when you go into the different kind of weather patterns you know all it takes is one accident and there’s no place to move the cars that was the concern I was hearing from drivers today yeah is tight and uh something that do director said that really resonated with me is this is the same Lane width on the pbridge and so you know we there are places in the state where people are used to driving in these narrow Lanes we know it’s more narrow than it was before and I’ve heard and and have repeatedly asked to ass be assured that the governor has tow trucks available on the bridge at all times so that if there is an accident we can clear it as fast as possible Right do you feel like you’re being heard uh yeah I mean we have regular communication with rot and the governor they’re certainly hearing our feedback everyone’s resource constrained and so I would like to see more small business support someone’s got to pay for that and and I understand everyone’s got a budget to balance but but they’re listening and we’re in good regular conversation other issue obviously that’s getting a lot of attention and a lot of people are speaking out you’ve been attending a community meetings is you’re planning for the bike path I know with um the PVD Fest that you kind of listen to people and then you change your mind is there any chance that’s going to happen with you on this case because there’s a lot of people who are just vocally not happy yeah there’s also a lot of people who are supp of the change and so uh this change is going to happen and and I hope I’m optimistic that uh cuz we’re not just removing a bike lane we’re moving a bike lane we’re taking it from where it is now to restore a second lane of travel on southwater street and then we will be building a new off-road bike lane so uh I’m confident and that when that work is finished that people will realize oh we still have bike infrastructure there’s still a way to commute by bike we still care about our uh urban trail network is what we call it uh it’s just going to be Offroad what about one of the things I notic about that area and I’ve seen bike PA in different cities is it’s very wide and there’s some people who say can you just shorten it a little bit and still make everybody happy uh well not in its current location there’s no way to shrink where it is and restore the travel Lane there’s not that much extra space um but you know there’s a standard for these two-way bike lanes that we’re going to follow in the new bike lane and and I’m hopeful that at the end of the day everyone will realize that this is maybe not as dramatic or catastrophic as a change as some people are suggesting it is at the moment right uh I someone would argue that no no City more than Providence depends on Ripa and as you know nbc1 is one of the many outlets reporting that it appears that the ripped ahead Scott abian is going to resign or working out some kind of resignation after that incident McDonald’s I want to get your take on this yeah I mean Scott needs to go through that process to be held accountable for that um that uh incident whatever the you know courts may find happened there I’ll say on a personal level I know Scott I like Scott he’s a good person it’s hard when you take on these jobs in public service that any personal failings become big public news and so I I I’m thinking a lot about him I’m sad that he’s has to go through this there absolutely should be accountability for his personal actions U but he’s also a human being with a long track record of positive service in our community and at least I have some empathy for him great what else is happening in the city uh it’s a really exciting time we just announced uh the launch of our summer programming which is one of the best times in the city $5 a week summer camp free meals for kids throughout the summer and hundreds of summer jobs for our youth uh nothing gets me more excited than spending time with our kids over the summer and on April 27th there’ll be the eat play learn PVD Fair uh where you can sign up for summer camps and uh and find out about all the great summer activities in the city awesome mayor always good to have time with you thanks for making time for us we certainly appreciate it and I want to wish Emily good luck oh yeah that’s right yeah you’re right absolutely there you go so yep we’re pulling for Emily thanks we appreciate that