Providence City Council passes resolution opposing South Water Street bike lane removal

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) –Providence bikers came out en masse to Thursday’s City Council meeting asking councilors to stop the removal of the South Water Street bike lane.

Mayor Brett Smiley announced Wednesday the lane would be removed to ease traffic from the Washington Bridge closure and a new bike lane would be added on the sidewalk.

City Council President Rachel Miller says the council received nearly 300 emails opposing the removal of these bike lanes, to just a single email in support.

And the council voted with its constituents, passing the resolution 10 to 0, with two members abstaining.

The resolution was in opposition to Mayor Smiley announcing plans to remove the South Water Street bike lanes for another traffic lane to ease Washington Bridge backups.

Community members said the move is a step back and a dangerous one at that.

“People use the bike lane to go to work, such as my mom, and I don’t want her or any other people to get hurt,” one community member said during public comment.

The council chamber was packed ahead of the vote.

“Before the urban trail was installed, this was a street that many people know was used as a drag strip,” another community member said. “People sped wildly down the street. The city’s own data showed that after the urban trail was installed, there was a decrease of 90 percent in excessive speeding.”

The council voted to pass the resolution, citing bigger concerns about the proposed cost, $750,000, without council approval.

“I know I personally speak to constituents all the time about things that we can’t do because we don’t have enough money,” Councilor Sue Anderbois said. “They ask for really simple things like stop signs and speed humps and working bathrooms at the Martin Luther King School. And then to use $750,000 to remove infrastructure that’s not broken is just simply irresponsible and frankly a little offensive to the city and our taxpayers.”

Even with the resolution on the books, it doesn’t stop Mayor Smiley from making the change anyway.

“I expect the council will tell the mayor he shouldn’t do this, and the mayor will continue with whatever his bad plan is if he can find a way to do it,” biker Daria Brashear said.

A spokesperson from Mayor Smiley’s office said it will hold community input sessions this summer ahead of presenting plans for the removal and redesign.

Also at Thursday’s meeting was a resolution for weight limits on Providence roads with all of the redirected traffic.

It would include a fine for trucks over 50,000 on certain streets on the east side, that resolution passed 10-0 with two members abstaining.