$25M Grant Funds Rte. 37 Phase 3 Improvements

WARWICK, RI — RIDOT began rebuilding  bridges along Rte. 37 for Phases 1 and 2 of Cranston Canyon work in April, but a new $25 million grant will also address safety, congestion, and weaving concerns in the interchange along I-295 North to Rte. 6.

U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) announced the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant for the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) to fund multimodal improvements on Rte. 37 during Phase 3 of its plans for the highways.

According to Reed’s office, the federal funding will advance the final piece of Rte. 37 work, on the road’s most eastern portion between I-295 in Cranston and Post Road in Warwick.  Work will include the major rehabilitation, replacement, or removal of 8 bridges. The new federal funds will also help right-size sections of the road, replace an overbuilt loop-ramp with an at-grade interchange, and eliminate redundant infrastructure to open up land for future economic development. RIDOT will also build a new structure for high-capacity transit, install Transit Signal Priority (TSP) at approximately eight locations and queue jump lanes for buses, and construct a new bicycle separated path.

Federal funding will cover about eighty percent of the $164.5 million project costs for Phase 1 and 2.  The new $25 million announced today will go toward the third and final phase of Rte. 37 work, which is estimated to cost about $100 million.

“This is great news for the state and anyone who has ever driven through this section of Rte. 37.  It’s going to accelerate progress and ultimately create a faster, safer, smoother drive for motorists. It’s also good news for RIPTA riders and cyclists.  I helped create the RAISE grant program so Rhode Island and other states could compete for funding for projects like this that are hard to pay for, but much needed to make our roadways safer, more efficient, and reduce pollution and congestion.” saidReed, a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, who helped first established the competitive RAISE grant program back in 2009, when they were originally created under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as TIGER grants before changing names to BUILD grants and now RAISE grants. Reed helped include $7.5 billion for the RAISE grant program in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

“When we said we’re going to invest in our state’s infrastructure, we meant it. I am very excited that $25 million in federal funding is coming to Rhode Island to repair Rte. 37,” said Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-Dist. 2).

“This significant grant builds on previous federal awards for the project, which will ultimately make navigating an important West Bay connection smoother and safer for drivers,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, (D-RI), a senior member of the Environment and Public Works Committee.

“Thanks to Senators Reed and Whitehouse, as well as Congressman Magaziner, we have received more than $66 million in grants to right size this important roadway. Combined with other federal funds and matching Rhode Island state funds, this $100 million dollar project will complete a $261 million dollar investment to finalize the transformation of Route 37 across three projects, bringing an economic boom to our state,” said RIDOT Director Peter Alviti, Jr.