Rhode Island leaders celebrate $25M grant for final Route 37 work
WARWICK, R.I. (WLNE) — Rhode Island leaders celebrated the $25 million grant that will fund the final phase of Route 37 work on Friday.
Sens. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, Rep. Seth Magaziner, Gov. Dan McKee, Speaker of the House Joseph Shekarchi, and RIDOT Director Peter Alviti, Jr. were all present.
The Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity grant will support the last stretch of the work on Route 37 between Interstate 295 in Cranston and Post Road in Warwick.
Improvements will include the rehabilitation, replacement, or removal of eight bridges, right-size sections of the road, replace an overbuilt loop-ramp, and eliminate redundant infrastructure to open up land for future economic development.
“Our administration remains focused on ensuring Rhode Island’s roads and bridges are in a state of good repair and safe for all — the ongoing work here on Route 37 shows just that,” McKee said.
RIDOT said it is already working to rebuild or refurbish 21 bridges along the Route 37 corridor. The project itself is part of a larger plan that includes Route 37 and Interstate 295 interchange improvements.
“This new federal grant will accelerate the final phase of work RIDOT is performing on Route 37, a major east-west corridor in the Providence metropolitan area,” Alviti said. “We’re already starting the planning process to initiate this final phase, which will result in a significant economic boom to Rhode Island.”
Federal funding covered most of the $164.5 million project in the first two phases.
