As we prepare for the Mayor’s budget address on Tuesday, this week’s Ward letter discusses road repairs in our neighborhood, an upcoming road race and restoring checks and balances to City government.
The administration has developed a proposed list of road repairs throughout the City. As I mentioned in a previous letter, the current bond will support $20 million of repairs out of a total budget of $212 million needed to bring all of the City’s roads to serviceable quality. (Please note that several roads in Providence, such as North Main Street, are State roads that are maintained by the State.) The City has opted to place a priority on major City traffic arteries to benefit the largest volume of the driving public. In our neighborhood, that translates to most of Blackstone Boulevard and parts of Rochambeau Avenue and Benefit Street, as indicated by the green lines on the following map:
The administration has developed a proposed list of road repairs throughout the City. As I mentioned in a previous letter, the current bond will support $20 million of repairs out of a total budget of $212 million needed to bring all of the City’s roads to serviceable quality. (Please note that several roads in Providence, such as North Main Street, are State roads that are maintained by the State.) The City has opted to place a priority on major City traffic arteries to benefit the largest volume of the driving public. In our neighborhood, that translates to most of Blackstone Boulevard and parts of Rochambeau Avenue and Benefit Street, as indicated by the green lines on the following map:
(The map also indicates planned repairs in Ward 3, including a large section of Hope Street.)
The half-marathon road race along Blackstone Boulevard will be returning in two weeks on Sunday, May 6. The runners will come up River Road, up President Avenue and turn right onto Blackstone Boulevard, again creating problems for people living on the east side of Blackstone Boulevard north of President Avenue. The race organizers have agreed to send individual letters by the U.S. Mail to everyone living in this zone. Among other things, the letters will indicate that the most significant delays of 15 minutes will occur between 8:45 a.m. and 9:15 a.m., with slightly shorter delays both 15 minutes before and 15 minutes after this 30-minute window. Please consider this when making your plans, and I will be interested in confirming that the mailing goes to people in the affected area.
Last year, the City settled a lawsuit with the fire fighters arising out the administration’s decision to change from four platoons to three. The administration informed the City Council that the settlement did not require the Council’s approval, and that the $5.8 million figure was reasonable. The administration also said that they risked losing the settlement if the City Council were required to approve it, as the union had put the City on a tight deadline. While the City Council reviewed the terms and ultimately ratified the agreement, it was surprise to many of us to learn that City Council approval was not required, as settlement of all previous lawsuits had been approved the City Council’s Committee on Claims and Pending Suits. In fact, the Law Department had provided that Committee with regular briefings about certain aspects of the fire fighter litigation, making it that much more surprising to learn that no approval was required. While it worked out in this instance, imagine if the administration had settled the lawsuit for $60 million instead of $5.8 million, without City Council vetting. In light of this, I submitted an ordinance to close this loophole (if in fact it actually existed), which was heard last week by a joint meeting of the Finance Committee and the Claims Committee. These committees voted to forward it to the full City Council with a joint recommendation for passage.
Sincerely,
