Back to Providence North Main Street Task Force

Providence North Main Street Task Force - Wednesday, June 26, 2024 - 5:30

June 26, 2024

Call to Order, Roll Call, and Member Introductions

00:00 - 04:27

Chair Andrew Foe called the North Main Street Task Force meeting to order, and the clerk conducted the roll call. Members of the task force introduced themselves and described their professional roles for members of the public attending in person and online.

Agenda Item 1: Task Force Updates and Recent Incidents

04:27 - 21:16

The task force addressed recent traffic safety developments, including a recent pedestrian fatality at the intersection of North Main Street and Doyle Avenue. Members and agency representatives discussed ongoing police enforcement, lighting inspections, and potential near-term traffic signal adjustments.

Agenda Item 2: Presentation on Scope, Budget, and Timeline for North Main Street Revitalization

21:16 - 55:07

The chair presented a comprehensive review of past corridor studies, funding streams, and projected project milestones, which was voted into the record as Exhibit 1. Task force members discussed design strategies, the status of federal grants, and coordinating short-term temporary safety measures with long-term infrastructure improvements.

Public Comment

55:07 - 01:21:52

Members of the public provided feedback urging swift implementation of temporary road interventions such as lane diets, concrete barriers, and extended pedestrian crossing intervals. Representatives from RIDOT and city departments responded to questions regarding safety design standards and state highway safety funding.

Unknown

00:00 - 00:07

In a one piece. Now some cases, which we do, we have no plates talking about because it makes bricks. We do have it

Unknown

00:10 - 00:11

on the main or We

Unknown

00:11 - 00:14

need to. Yeah. Have you

Unknown

00:26 - 01:12

me, or should we give him another day? I'll do one. Let me know. Perfect. You're being clear.

Unknown

01:12 - 01:27

Don't forget. That's what's. Awesome. I'd like to call the regular meeting of the North Main Street FACT Force the border. I'm talking to Andrew Foe and chair of the committee.

Unknown

01:27 - 01:33

Can we please call the roll? Chair Andrew Foe. I'm here. Vice Chair, can we stand? Here.

Unknown

01:33 - 01:53

Lieutenant Brown? Present. Alright. Urtha?

Unknown

01:53 - 01:54

Present.

Unknown

01:54 - 01:55

John Nichols?

Unknown

01:55 - 01:56

Here.

Unknown

01:57 - 02:05

Rosie Admiral? Here. We have eight seconds for absent. Thank you so much. I

Unknown

02:05 - 02:05

know

Unknown

02:05 - 02:23

we got this comment at a prior meeting about folks watching online wanting to know who we all work. So I'm gonna just call. We just go around the table and have everyone say their name and where they work, like, or why they're at the table just because I know that's helpful for the people online. So I'm. I'm the councilwoman for Ward 3.

Unknown

02:23 - 02:27

I'm the chair of the task force. Is in Ward 3. Do have the next?

Unknown

02:28 - 02:30

Sure. Bill Brown representing Providence PD.

Unknown

02:31 - 02:36

Nate Russo, I've managed traffic engineering in in the department of public works.

Unknown

02:36 - 03:19

I'm Jessica Lance, the director of special projects for the department of planning and development in the city. We do a lot of the neighborhood level planning and transportation planning in the city. I'm Rosie Jaguar. I'm the Green and Complete Street Advisory Council representative on this body. I'm also a transportation engineer.

Unknown

03:20 - 03:24

Sean Raymond, managing engineer at Rhode Island Department of Transportation.

Unknown

03:25 - 03:29

Jamie Mahagan. I'm the vice chair of the task force and here representing the Broadband Streets Coalition.

Unknown

03:30 - 03:50

It was special on the council staff who are here, so thank you guys, and the clerk's office as well as the. Thank you so much for being here. We are gonna get started. And as just a reminder, as we get started, the norm of the group is we... Members of the task force get to ask questions and talk first.

Unknown

03:50 - 04:08

We'll go through this. There is always time for public comment at the end, but I do need to call on both. So I just wanna make sure, especially difficult for people watching on Zoom, if everyone starts talking at the same time, it kinda mutes everybody out. And so I'll have to, you know, actually do that. But hit my own gavel.

Unknown

04:08 - 04:27

But just making sure that we are making sure everyone can be heard. And I think last time we had a bunch of side conversations, and I got some notes after that people could can... Ask if everybody signed in. Oh, yeah. And then folks could sign in on the sheet, especially if you'd like to give public comment at the end because then the clerks can have your name for the record.

Unknown

04:27 - 04:39

So... And the sign in sheet is over by the big TV. Awesome. Can we please read agenda item one?. Thank you.

Unknown

04:39 - 04:54

So we normally have this on the agenda because this is both a task force that is doing some long term planning and also taking action in the meantime. I do wanna share... You don't know this. Since our last task force meeting, we had another of our... Peter.

Unknown

04:54 - 05:07

Peter is here for the record. But see their last name, we did have a number... Another member of our community died in North Main Street. So a person was hit... Was standing in the median and was hit by someone driving a car while driving.

Unknown

05:07 - 05:24

And so that happened at the intersection in North Main Street. So that has happened since the last... Our last time together, so I wanted to make sure we knew that. Also, since then, I've been in a special thanks to president Miller. I talked to her the next day, and he's like, what are you gonna do?

Unknown

05:24 - 05:57

Do Do you have any resources? And so she helped them scramble. We found some resources that were available to try to do some short term temporary improvements to that intersection, and a big thanks to Sean and also to Nate who got them on the call with me and Kyle and, Tricia, to start thinking through what some of those short term improvements can be. So we don't have a list yet of what that would be, but really appreciate the hustle and also the support of council president Miller, in in making it up doing and a hustle to make sure we can get some things done. So I just wanted to share that at the onset that we are taking that seriously.

Unknown

05:57 - 06:13

That is the third death of that particular intersection in the last eighteen months. Not to make any of us take lightly. And, yeah, we're working as fast as possible. Does anyone else have any better updates that have happened since the last week? And we'll go into...

Unknown

06:13 - 06:24

Just so you know, you'll see here the presentation is kind of bringing everything together, which was the stuff last time. And so... But wanna see if anyone has any additional updates since last time for this agenda item.

Unknown

06:25 - 06:54

Should Oh, jeez. Very briefly, I looked at traffic accident data along the part of the study area from the kind of last meeting, which is May 20 through today. There were nine accidents in the following, including the. I don't have a lot of facts about that case, but I can say that is the motors didn't leave the scene and was charged in traffic. That motorist left the roadway, so the pedestrian is not in the wrong.

Unknown

06:54 - 07:03

The person was completely... Right? Yeah. It wasn't even... And the enforcement activities were continued out there.

Unknown

07:03 - 07:16

Our numbers have come down a little bit. The officers that are out there are not finding as many Mhmm. Violators. That that same level of enforcement that we've been doing since the fall has continued. Yeah.

Unknown

07:16 - 07:25

And the department's been pretty much Yeah. Allowing us to move forward. So it's obvious that there's several problems, but but we're still out there.

Unknown

07:25 - 07:46

Thank you. One more positive update is, and they're not at the meeting today, but our friends at the farther here at North Main Street block party this past weekend, they closed down a section of Bird right where they are, right at with me, and they had bands. They had, like, touch a truck. They had all sorts of fun things for kids and adults. I was there for, like, the first two and a half hours, but it went until...

Unknown

07:46 - 08:03

I got there noon, and it went until, like, eight. So it was really great. It's great to see so much, like, joy on North Main Street and so many, like, just people milling about and having a great time. So really great customer friends at the parlor, for bringing that attention. They shared some of work of this task force with folks.

Unknown

08:03 - 08:20

People... I got to talk to a lot of people who are really jazzed about the future of North Main and jazzed about, you know, going... They shared about the local businesses they love, which was mostly and for that area of town. But it was a really lovely... If if folks didn't go, it was a really lovely event.

Unknown

08:20 - 08:30

Yeah. I think we're gonna do it multiple years going forward. So if you missed it, stay tuned for a few three years. A lot of fun. Any other updates before we jump into the presentation?

Unknown

08:32 - 08:35

Just a quite an update, but maybe you might want to. I

Unknown

08:36 - 08:57

was gonna kinda add to to speaking to the head of our off highway safety. I know she's been in contact with the chief about potentially doing, like, the... Having the automobile out, you know, in in the North North Main Street area, possibly, you know, the the July 4 period. So I know they've they've had discussions about that. Okay.

Unknown

08:57 - 08:58

So that's

Unknown

08:58 - 09:01

all the new one. You know, Captain said that this is shot. Yes.

Unknown

09:01 - 09:10

So, apparently, that's... Doesn't know what that is. That's kind of the mobile testing area for... And that just helps the police process things a little faster. Right?

Unknown

09:10 - 09:10

Correct me

Unknown

09:10 - 09:26

if I'm wrong. And you Yeah. So you can... So what they do when they do those type of operations is usually we, a, try the more officers, the normal work, doing type DUI and forcing. And we can do pretty much everything we do with the PlayStation here and back again when it's...

Unknown

09:26 - 09:34

It gives us one or two small holding cells that... This is breath alkaline. Breath with the breath. Breathalyzer? Yeah.

Unknown

09:34 - 09:44

Breathalyzer. There's only things that we have. They have one of those on-site. Usually, we have offices dedicated just to that. We could even process platelets inside of...

Unknown

09:45 - 09:45

Just if

Unknown

09:45 - 09:48

we work with stations. So, yeah, it does kinda expedite that process.

Unknown

09:50 - 09:55

Sometimes just... I know communities will get the word out too. Hey. There... You know?

Unknown

09:55 - 10:03

Because that could deter, you know Yeah. That type of behavior as well. Because you... I know some states even do roadblocks for for tech... Checking for Rhode Island.