Pawtucket and Central Falls awarded $400,000 in grant funding
CENTRAL FALLS AND PAWTUCKET, RI (February 25, 2021) - The Cities of Pawtucket and Central Falls have been awarded $400,000 from the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank (RIIB) as part of the Municipal Resilience Program.
This fall, Pawtucket and Central Falls were part of a cohort of eight Rhode Island communities selected to take part in the 2020 Municipal Resilience Program and corresponding workshop hosted by the RIIB and The Nature Conservancy to assess current hazard and climate change impacts they saw in their communities.
The communities participated in the workshop where the recommendations for infrastructure and quality of life improvements included additional green stormwater infrastructure, the greening of neighborhoods, and improving walkability.
“This grant from the RI Infrastructure Bank will be able to help us work on some of these major projects that were identified in the workshop,” said Pawtucket Mayor Donald R. Grebien. “We will be able to work in a targeted area of the city to use these funds for green infrastructure opportunities that are needed in our community.”
“The funds committed by the Infrastructure Bank will make it possible for Central Falls to increase our much-needed green infrastructure, while helping our community connect to the new commuter station,” said Central Falls Mayor Maria Rivera. “These exciting improvements will help our city address the effects of climate change and give our residents more walkable streets and greener neighborhoods.”
The grant funding targets the Pine Street corridor that connects the two cities, from the Barton Street intersection in Pawtucket to the Rand Street intersection in Central Falls.
The overall project this grant will help fund includes street paving, new sidewalks, and the addition of new street trees.
A vital portion of the project will be the addition of new green stormwater infrastructure which will reduce stormwater runoff and reduce localized flooding during high precipitation events. This project is part of a larger effort by both Cities to decrease their amount of impervious surface and turn some of the “gray” infrastructure” into green infrastructure. The work to be completed on Barton and Pine Streets will be very similar to work completed on the southern end of Pine Street in Pawtucket, which was completed in 2020, located south of the upcoming train station.
As part of this project, educational signage will be installed in order to inform pedestrians about the green-infrastructure project. Pawtucket and Central Falls plan to host a public workshop during summer of 2021 to gather input from local businesses, residents, and regional stakeholders to inform project design and construction.
The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM), a partner on the larger project, providing a portion of funding for new infrastructure to strengthen pedestrian and cyclist access to the coming Pawtucket-Central Falls train station and bus hub.
The Cities anticipate the project to be completed in spring of 2022.
###
