Restored fencing honors history of Pawtuxet Village bridge

By DANIEL KITTREDGE
Posted 9/26/19

By DANIEL KITTREDGE Passers-by may have noticed a new addition to the bridge in Pawtuxet Village - restored fencing on both ends meant to honor the location's rich history. On Wednesday, local officials and members of the Pawtuxet Village Association

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Restored fencing honors history of Pawtuxet Village bridge

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Passers-by may have noticed a new addition to the bridge in Pawtuxet Village – restored fencing on both ends meant to honor the location’s rich history.

On Wednesday, local officials and members of the Pawtuxet Village Association gathered to celebrate the two new sections of fencing – located on the west side of the bridge at the Cranston end, and on the east side at the Warwick end – through the Rhode Island Department of Transportation.

“This means a ton to us that you came to our rescue and our help,” Roy Evans, a member of the association’s board, told RIDOT Director Peter Alviti.

The project, association members said, was years in the making. Janet Hartman, also a member of the association’s board, said seven bridges have spanned the Pawtuxet River during the village’s history. The fencing that has been updated, she said, dated to the 1800s and was “the last section of the fence that originally spanned the entire bridge before it was refashioned.”

“[Pawtuxet Village] is a national historic district, so we care a lot about it,” she said.

Then, roughly four years ago, the fencing on the Cranston side of the bridge was struck by a vehicle that went off the road. That damage, as well as the deterioration caused by time, left the remaining sections of the historical fencing in rough shape.

Susan Hartman, another member of the association’s board, said efforts to address the fencing were initially unsuccessful.

“We all met here in the spring of this year, and that’s when we were pretty frustrated because we were trying for over a year and a half to get some attention, and we were even willing to fund this ourselves,” she said.

Weeks later, state Rep. Joseph McNamara – whose district includes Pawtuxet – visited the village with Gov. Gina Raimondo.

“They stopped to visit us, and in the course of that time, we explained our situation and explained what had happened and why we wanted to restore it, and [Raimondo] jumped right on it … Amazingly, she got this pulled together,” Susan Hartman said.

Work was completed in short order, she added, starting on the Friday before Labor Day. Crews retrieved the historic fencing and used it at the basis for the replacements, she said, preserving an aesthetic detail of the village while addressing what she described as an ongoing “safety hazard.” The new cast iron fencing is also designed to last for many years.

Evans praised RIDOT for restoring the fencing “faithfully and correctly.”

McNamara applauded the association for its efforts to maintain the look and feel of Pawtuxet Village.

“It’s the small details that add character and historic charm to the village … You add to the quality of life for everyone in the village and everyone in Rhode Island,” he said.

Alviti, who attended on behalf of Raimondo, said his agency factors in historic considerations when approaching bridge projects. He said he was unsure of the precise cost of the fencing work.

“The historic nature of Pawtuxet Village, the historic nature of this bridge, is something that is very much part of Rhode Island,” he said. “It’s part of our history, it’s part of our being … We want to make sure, and the governor wanted to make sure, that we preserve the historic nature of this village.”

Others in attendance for Wednesday’s gathering included Dean Scanlon and Cindy and Steve Russo from the village’s business community; Paula Sullivan and Todd Hargraves from the association’s board; state Sen. Erin Lynch Prata; Cranston Ward 1 City Councilwoman Lammis Vargas; and Warwick Ward 1 City Councilman Richard Corley.

The association also received a $1,000 legislative grant from McNamara, which Susan Hartman said helps support the flower boxes in the village and ongoing work in Pawtuxet Park.

“That’s really helpful to us,” she said.

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