The Department of Transportation and Mayor Frank Picozzi agree that Post Road needs to be repaved. But the mayor isn’t happy with RIDOT’s plan to repave only a section of the road and not that portion of the road from Coronado Road south to Main Avenue.  Picozzi was told that section of Post Road isn’t on the repaving list for this year.

Now, as Picozzi stated in his weekly video posted last week, DOT is willing to push up the repaving schedule provided the city share in the cost. The mayor put a 20 percent city share of the project at $700,000 and that he would need City Council approval before moving ahead. If he gains council approval, Picozzi said he would use federal funds for the city’s share.

City returns of the investment could well prove worth $700,000.

Picozzi notes that that section of Post Road is being eyed by developers and tax revenues generated by improvements would outweigh the money put into repaving the road. Asked about potential developments, Picozzi said a major housing development is being eyed for the former LAZ 6.5 acre parking lot (once the residential enclave Hillsgrove South) that the Rhode Island Airport Corporation bought for $3 million in 2016 and sold to Skydra Development  for $3.3 million. He said additional developments are being talked about for properties on Post Road south of the Airport Connector.

Is it out of the ordinary that a municipality shares in the cost of a state project?

Charles St. Martin, DOT spokesman said “no.”

In an email he said, “Most recently Middletown and Newport provided funding for a water main replacement to be added to the Aquidneck Avenue project and North Kingstown contributed funds for a water line under Post Road.”

He also said for the Pawtucket/Central Falls Transit Center, the cities of Pawtucket and Central Falls agreed to contribute $3 million toward the project, adding “in other cases, cities and towns have contributed the design cost for a project or contributed for additional paving to go beyond the limits of a RIDOT project.”

St. Martin said the most recent example is Mount Pleasant Avenue in Providence where the city is funding resurfacing that will be included as part of a safety project being done there. 

“When cities or towns contribute in this way we can often accelerate our projects, as this is considered an opportunity under our project prioritization process. This is government working the way it should,” he wrote

As for Post Road in Warwick, St. Martin said the DOT has talked about the repaving from Coronado Road to Main Avenue with the city paying a state match of 20 percent.

“The City has not has not yet formally committed to an agreement, and a timetable for construction hasn’t been set,” he said.