It took some finagling, or what might be called “thinking out of the box,” but it now looks like the full route of the Gaspee Day Parade in Warwick will be fully repaved by next week.

Mayor Frank Picozzi described Tuesday how the state Department of Transportation, Rep. Joseph McNamara and the city pulled together to accomplish what seemed like an improbable feat.

What made it challenging is that Narragansett Parkway, which makes up at least 95 percent of the parade route before crossing the Pawtuxet River Bridge into Cranston, is partially both a state and a city road. The second half of the challenge was that while the state has plans to complete repaving its portion of Narragansett Parkway it wasn’t scheduled for at least another year.

That section of the parkway from Warwick Avenue to Spring Green, where the parade lines up, was recently repaved by the city. As for the other end of the parkway where the arts and crafts festival will be held, it was repaved earlier this spring by Rhode Island Energy after completing the replacement of gas mains.

McNamara said Wednesday, after driving the recently repaved part of the Warwick section of the parkway, “it was like driving in a third world country.”  Then, he notes, after three quarters of a mile it’s suddenly a smooth road again. McNamara brought this to the attention of the Department of Transportation, pointing out that the governor, the state congressional delegation, not to mention a lot of other people, would be walking the route for the parade. McNamara and a department executive drove the road. There was no argument that he had a point, but there was no way the state had the time to put the job out to bid. Besides, the state contractors were booked tight.

McNamara called Picozzi to see what could be done.

 What seemed possible was for one of the city’s paving contractors – who have been selected through the bidding process – could do the work and be paid by the city. The state would then reimburse the city.

“The mayor couldn’t have been more supportive,” said McNamara. The city contacted T. Miozzi, the paving company that repaved Sandy Lane.   The plan came together. “This is really beneficial to everyone.” McNamara termed the outcome and the prospect of a smooth route for the length of the parade “refreshing.”

Picozzi said Wednesday he expects the repaving to commence Friday.

Assuming it comes together as planned, the Gaspee Days Committee will have a fresh surface to paint the red, white and blue stripe and, more importantly, a smooth riding parade.

“Getting the road paved is going to look so much better… absolutely beautiful,” said Parade Chair Janet Russell, who was thrilled by the news. “We will have a parade,” she said.