Try trains again

Providence’s infamous stuck-up bridge over the Seekonk River

From Robert Whitcomb’s “Digital Diary’’ in GoLocal245.com

Architectural historian and critic William Morgan’s recent entertaining GoLocal column with zany ideas (ski jump!) on what to do with the abandoned railroad bridge over the Seekonk River at the head of Narragansett Bay served to remind many of us that a light-rail line from Providence down through East Providence, Barrington, Warren and Bristol would make a lot of sense. And maybe it could eventually be extended across to Aquidneck Island via a railroad bridge next to the Mount Hope Bridge.

After all, it’s a densely populated strip with distinct town centers (for stations). It would make a lot of environmental and economic sense to lay down the line even if that meant putting it where the East Bay Bike Path (formerly a rail route!) is now. You can move a lot more people by train than by bike, and do it in all weather.

In any event, we need to better knit together the improving post-industrial waterfront of East Providence with Providence’s eastern shore.

To read Mr. Morgan’s column, please hit this link.

Maybe Mr. Morgan could do another essay on Providence’s “Superman Building,’’ this one with some fantastical suggestions – e.g., hanging gardens, a recirculating waterfall, an aviary at the top….

Hit this link to read his last column on that Art Deco skyscraper.