A final recommendation for the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority’s new state-of-the-art transit facility will be ready as early as the end of the month, the agency’s interim leader told its governing board last week.

But we already know where it’s not going to be.

RIPTA Interim CEO Christopher Durand announced late last week that the agency was no longer interested in building ​​on a 2.15-acre lot in Providence’s I-195 Redevelopment District, a decision he attributed to customer feedback. Many transit advocates have long opposed the 195 parcel, saying that the site is too far from most downtown Providence destinations, including Kennedy Plaza, which has served as a centralized bus depot since the early 1980s.

Now it appears the leading contender is a site first proposed by the state’s Department of Transportation nearly a decade ago: the Providence Amtrak train station on Gaspee Street.

Priority is now being given to two locations close to the train station.

One is on Gaspee Street on land that includes the State House property, along with the parking lot for the state Department of Transportation. Should RIPTA select this 4.13-acre area, the entire mixed-use hub would have to be underground to avoid taking away green space near the State House. The site also poses challenges that include excavation costs and the incorporation of housing near the hub.

The other potential site, Park Row West, abuts the Amtrak station. And unlike the Gaspee Street location, a hub here could be built above ground.

Preserving room to maneuver

“We are at a place where we know the train station is the most advantageous location to us, but we don’t specifically have the details lying about,” Durand told RIPTA’s board of directors during its monthly meeting Thursday, Oct. 24. “We’re exploring a few things to make sure we have our ducks in a row.”

Last January, the board approved a contract of nearly $16.9 million with Next Wave Partners to start design work for a mixed-use bus hub. The new building would offer a number of amenities not offered where buses now pick up and drop off passengers at Kennedy Plaza, such as larger indoor waiting areas, expanded restrooms, digital screens to display pending bus arrivals and departures, and WiFi.

In May, RIPTA narrowed down seven possible sites – including the two near the train station. Durand told reporters after the board meeting that he, too, would like the center to be near the train station, but did not specify which location he preferred.

“Identifying and discussing specific potential sites “could potentially affect the negotiation process,” RIPTA spokesperson Cristy Raposo Perry said in a text message Friday.

Coming full circle

Another supporter of having the hub near the train station is the board’s chairman, state Department of Transportation Director Peter Alviti Jr., who noted in an interview that the department had proposed as early as 2015 that a new transit center be planned near the train station.

Marsella Development Corp., one of the firms involved in the latest version of the project, bid to build an underground complex under the State House grounds, the Providence Journal reported in 2017. But the idea never materialized.

In 2020, RIDOT unveiled a replacement, multi-hub plan — a depot at Kennedy Plaza, but with a quarter of its routes, plus the Amtrak station, and Dyer Street outside the city’s Jewelry District. That plan was scrapped in 2022 amid criticism from riders and business groups.

While the multi-hub didn’t gain traction at the time, Alviti said the concept has been proven at the Pawtucket-Central Falls Transit Center, which opened in January 2023 for commuter rail and bus service.

“Bringing together two modes was an important factor in that facility, and you can see that success,” Alviti said of the Pawtucket-Central Falls Transit Center. “There’s a synergistic effect — both modes increase ridership, and economic development can take place around a facility with more critical mass of multiple modes.”

The same could be possible for the new Providence hub, he added.

A permanent change to transit

Transit advocates have remained skeptical of the proposed move out of Kennedy Plaza – and some still are opposed.

RI Transit Riders issued a statement last week saying its members would be willing to consider the train station if RIPTA could show that the site would better meet riders’ needs.

“Furthermore, passengers should also have direct access to Kennedy Plaza from the train station, with no extra cost or transfers,” the statement read.

A 2021 rider survey that found 69% of passengers who traveled to Kennedy Plaza were there mainly to transfer routes. Of those who stayed downtown, Durand said they’d go to the Providence Place mall, office buildings or hotels.

“The idea of locating our center with trains – and the growth of ridership there – this is really something for us to look closer at and really get right,” Durand said.

Board member Robert Kells asked Durand: If data exists on the suitability of the train station, why not make an outright recommendation rather than wait another four to six weeks? Durand started to respond, citing federal processes, before Alviti jumped to his defense.

Alviti told Kells that, to make a decision, the board needs to know what bus routes a new hub location would have to change, along with the impact on local traffic.

“This is a decision that this board is going to make that is going to create a permanent change in the makeup of our transit system for decades …” Alviti said. “If it’s going to take another four to six weeks, that’s OK.”

Editor’s Note: Christopher Shea covers politics, the criminal justice system and transportation for the Rhode Island Current. Rhode Island Current is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. For more from the Current, go to their website, rhodeislandcurrent.com.