AASHTO Journal - RIDOT Helps Support ‘Gotham Greens’ Path Project

The Rhode Island Department of Transportation is helping support – in concert with various federal, state, and local agencies – the new “Gotham Greens” off-road multi-use path along the Woonasquatucket River Greenway via stormwater mitigation efforts.

[Above photo by RIDOT]

This new path, located behind the Gotham Greens building in Olneyville, offers new access to the Woonasquatucket River and will serve as a connector between the Greenway and the Washington Secondary Bike Path – helping “knit together” a “patchwork of pathways” in the City of Providence to promote active transportation use while protecting the local environment from stormwater flooding.

The nonprofit Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council, the City of Providence, and Gotham Greens jointly built the new path, while RIDOT – in concert with the Environmental Protection Agency, Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, and the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program – will work to mitigate the potential for future flooding along the pathway.

“Urban flooding and resilience are complex issues that demand collaborative, innovative, and targeted responses,” explained Governor Dan McKee (D) in a statement.

This second phase of improvements to the pathway – now ongoing and under RIDOT’s supervision, supported in part by the National Coastal Resilience Fund – focuses on streambank restoration and “green infrastructure,” which is the installation of plants, soil, and other natural materials to manage stormwater and prevent flooding and pollution.