Forty bikers of all shapes, ages and sizes took over city streets on Saturday afternoon, pedaling from Providence to Cranston to bring attention to a treacherous 1-mile stretch that lies between the city borders and the entrance to the state’s longest bike path.

“There’s no real safe connection to get there,” said Liza Burkin, a transportation policy analyst, urban planner and founder of PVD Street’s Coalition, which organized the ride. “Today, we will be that connection. We will keep each other safe through safety in numbers.”

“But, the point is that we want a safe connection.”

The 19-mile Washington Secondary Bike Path [https://www.dot.ri.gov/travel/bikeri/washington.php] follows a rail corridor that picks up behind the Cranston Lowe’s, on Depot Street. It ducks under the Gansett Avenue tunnel, behind the Cranston YMCA and runs alongside Oaklawn Avenue. It continues into Warwick, featuring scenic views of the Pawtuxet River, through West Warwick, all the way to Coventry. More rugged connections lead even farther south.

“We have this beautiful bike path that goes all the way out, basically to the Connecticut border, then stops a mile short of Providence,” Burkin said.

A Cranston-Providence bike path connection has been discussed for years. Now, the plans may finally be coming to fruition.

For example, a development plan [https://cranstononline.com/stories/bike-path-resurfacing-begins-in-cranston,247361?] for a 35,000 square-foot wedge of land abutting Route 10 sets aside space to accommodate a 20-foot-wide bike path. In 2023, the City of Providence won a Safe Street for All grant to cover all costs for the project’s design and construction.

Completion is years away, but public discussion began this month [https://www.providenceri.gov/planning/safe-streets-for-all/ ]. Many details will be ironed out over the next 18 months. Construction could begin as early as 2026, according to the Safe Streets for All project timeline. [https://www.providenceri.gov/planning/safe-streets-for-all/]

‘A Litestyle We Really Value’

Sean Sierra-Patev is part of Cranston’s 14% of non-driving commuters.

When it was time to buy a home for his growing family, Sierra-Patev picked the Eden Park neighborhood. In five minutes, he can walk to Rolfe Square to get groceries or catch RIPTA’s Bus 21 along Reservoir Avenue to get to his job in Providence.

“It’s a lifestyle we really value,” said Sierra-Patev, who participated in Saturday’s bike ride as a course marshal for the bikers.

He said he tried the bike path to commute to work but gave up after a few rides because it wasn’t worth navigating Cranston streets after getting off the bike path.

Cranston’s Car Problem

Cranston’s transportation network is heavily reliant on automobiles. Data from the city’s updated comprehensive plan show 86% of the city’s commuters use a car.

Three in four car commuters drive by themselves.

An “auto-centric” system in Cranston causes congestion, lengthens commute times, endangers pedestrian safety and stifles economic development, according to the plan. The city’s existing bike infrastructure “is minimal and insufficient to connect major destinations such as schools, parks, and commercial centers.”

Earlier this year, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation resurfaced the Washington Secondary Bike Path sections from Coventry to Cranston.

In Cranston, Sierra-Patev represents growing interest in incorporating “Complete Street” principles, an urban planning concept that promotes “safe and accessible transportation options for all residents.” In 2023, the City Council adopted a resolution to follow Complete Street principles in its zoning decisions.

Sierra-Patev agreed with the approach.

“Having neighborhoods that are really accessible on foot, and on bike, is beneficial to younger people, who prefer to walk and don’t like to drive. When you have kids, that same infrastructure is useful for strollers and scooters,” he said. “It’s a wonderful amenity and you don’t think about it until it’s there.”

Mural Unveiled at Washington Secondary Bike Path Tunnel

The Providence to Cranston bike ride wasn’t the only bike-centered community event that day. Earlier that morning, a clean-up crew gathered to spruce up the area around a newly-unveiled mural.

The public art installation is part of a larger effort to celebrate Cranston’s rich history. A volunteer resident work group, supported by OneCranston Health Equity Zone (HEZ), commissioned the art mural last year. (I joined the Our Built Environment work group in January 2024, after the mural was commissioned.)

The tunnel location under Gansett Avenue “was chosen to help build pride in the neighborhood by investing in beautifying it,” said Andrea Champagne, initiative director for OneCranston HEZ.

The mural artist, Ysanel, is a Providence-born and NYC-based public artist and poet of Dominican heritage whose work has been displayed locally and regionally. In 2017, she was awarded her first Public Art Residency by the City of Providence, and since then has been featured in Providence Monthly, was employed as a Mural Arts Instructor/Teaching Artist with AS220 and worked with a team of five other artists from Amber Art and Design to paint the largest mural in Rhode Island in 2021.

The OneCranston HEZ event included a community bike ride. One participant, Matthew, 10, said he was excited because it was his first time riding on the bike path since a new fencing upgrade had been installed.

“What I like about bike riding is that you see the wilderness and I like being outside in general,” he said.

“It was awesome to spend the morning outside on such a beautiful day with community partners and residents celebrating our new mural,” said Champagne. “Ysanel did an amazing job and it was awesome to chat with residents who stopped by to take a look. It is our hope to expand on the mural and continue to maintain that area so that Cranston residents can enjoy seeing it as they travel through the bike path.”