Transportation Improvements coming to Monument Square

July 10, 2015

The following was published in The Valley Breeze on July 9, 2015. The full article can be found here.

WOONSOCKET – The Stadium Theatre Performing Arts Centre has joined forces with Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt, her administration, Woonsocket’s City Council and BETA Group, Inc. to create a “traffic calming” strategy for Monument Square.

According to a release from the mayor’s office, the area has been a particularly hazardous thoroughfare in Woonsocket and has been the site of numerous accidents and close calls.

The reconfiguration is prompted, in part, by the planned expansion of Stadium Theatre and aims to provide improved pedestrian and vehicular safety through a reduction in the expansive size of the intersection. Benefits of the project include reduction in pedestrian street crossing distances; improved delineation and location of crosswalks for enhanced pedestrian visibility; improved handicapped accessibility; reduced impervious surfaces and increased green space for streetscape enhancements; dedicated drop-off area for reduced congestion within the intersection; simplified and managed traffic movements through Monument Square to enhance safety; reduction in vehicle’s speeds through implementation of traffic calming measures; and safer and more efficient access to the municipal parking lot.

Baldelli-Hunt and her administration are reportedly in full support of this project as are City Council members, who passed a unanimous resolution of support to allow the Stadium to move forward with the proposed plan.

BETA donated more than $10,000 in architectural drawings to the Stadium to begin the project, the same firm that helped correct the flow of traffic in front of the Providence Performing Arts Center.

The remaining project expenses will be paid for by funds raised by the Stadium Theatre through grant funding.