Build it and they will...

Posted 7/5/12

To the Editor: Once upon a time in the city of Warwick, they built railroad station, then they built a people mover to connect to a near-by airport at an expense of about $260 million. Not very many …

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Build it and they will...

Posted

To the Editor:

Once upon a time in the city of Warwick, they built railroad station, then they built a people mover to connect to a near-by airport at an expense of about $260 million. Not very many trains came and not many people were moving, so they decided to extend the runway at the airport at a cost of $165 million more in order to bring in bigger planes that could go all the way to California without stopping.
Then a miracle happened, trains from all over New England came to the railroad station, even as far away as Wickford. The people mover got so busy they had to put a tollbooth on it.
Thousands of people came here from California and bought up all the foreclosed mortgages in the city and the mayor was so elated, he announced that there would be no tax increase this year and he was doing away with the car tax, and all the people in Warwick lived happily ever after.
Fairy tales always start with “Once upon a time” and end with “Happily ever after.” Not even a child would believe this one. This stupid idea of “Build it and they will come” HAS TO STOP.

Robert De Vey
Warwick

Comments

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  • davebarry109

    I agree. Maybe someday the station will be an actual transit hub. Right now, it is a parking garage where you can watch an occassional train go by without stopping. Not enough trains to Boston/from Boston. Particularly during rush hours.

    Thursday, July 5, 2012 Report this

  • davebarry109

    I agree. Maybe someday the station will be an actual transit hub. Right now, it is a parking garage where you can watch an occassional train go by without stopping. Not enough trains to Boston/from Boston. Particularly during rush hours.

    Thursday, July 5, 2012 Report this

  • Michael2012

    You can say what you want. However, the President signed a bill to fund the project. The Governor is making it his top priority. The FAA and Warwick City Council has given it their blessings. The business associations are advocating for it. The list goes on and on.

    So again, say what you want but the TF Green Airport Expansion is the final piece of the puzzle. Do you think the people mover, parking garage, train station, terminal renovations was the primary objective? No of course not. They were to complement the main objective of the airport expansion. All combined together will put the State of Rhode Island in a good position going forward for the future.

    I read these posts, mainly from Mr. Langseth and they are the same over and over. I'm surprised he hasn't commented as of yet. But, the bottom line is the airport expansion is Rhode Island's top priority. We need people and cargo to fly in and out of TF Green, not Logan, not Bradley, not Manchester. The tourism, the local businesses, the hotels, the restaurants, and so forth all need the money spent in Warwick and RI, not CT and Ma.

    When the economy picks back up, and it will, it always does this is America, than the airport will be ready. In addition, the longer runway will provide more space for the planes and airlines. It will provide more room in case an airline needs extra runway to take off or land.

    If the state can invest tens of millions on a high risk company like 38 studios it certainly can see to it that the Federal, State, and local funds go to funding the TF Green Airport Expansion.

    Let's face it. The airport is not going to pick up and move down to Quonset. The days of that happening are over. Quonset has been developed into a business park. Now THAT is the fairy tale, the dream.....

    Friday, July 6, 2012 Report this

  • rtwhit55

    Well said Michael.

    Friday, July 6, 2012 Report this

  • schwanee

    We love spending money on Fairy tales.. Talk to Michael in 10 years if he is still here, and remind him of what he said...

    Saturday, July 7, 2012 Report this

  • RichardLangseth

    Michael2012: I am still waiting for RIDEM to call me back about the glycol plant. Nothing can move forward until the plan is finalized and the $22 million is lined up to build that facility. It does not appear likely that RIAC will get any shovels in the ground for the safety improvements at least for another year. Some staffers are saying that construction will begin on the safety improvements in two years. That puts the runway expansion program out four to five years from now. Since the EIS has a three year time period, it will need to be updated prior to any work on the extension. With Delta having pulled all its smaller regional jets and Southwest finally dumping its Boeing 737-500s the EIS calculations will need to be redone at that point.

    Just as you have come to the conclusion that it is not possible to relocate to Quonset, I have come to the conclusion that five years from now everyone will agree that this extension effort has been a total waste of time and money.

    By the way, Jet Blue has no need for the extension. Its fleet flies to the West Coast from Logan's 7,000-foot runway.

    Saturday, July 14, 2012 Report this