Jack’s Angle: the Pawtucket-Central Falls Transit Center – Jack Partridge

by John J. “Jack” Partridge, contributing writer, commentary

While local news about Pawtucket has focused on the prospect for a soccer stadium, quietly RIDOT and RIPTA have been moving forward on the new Pawtucket – Central Falls Transit Center.

Now, what we got here is an interesting story.  

For almost a hundred years, trains stopped in Pawtucket at a station at the Central Falls line. The last station, constructed in 1916, was a brick edifice constructed over the main line of the old New Haven railroad tracks between Providence and Boston. It was graced by a travertine marble interior, unlike virtually any other local station in New England. Through the eras of steam and diesel locomotives, including post World War II Budd all-aluminum diesel vehicles (aka Budd Cars), once thought to be the commuter-passenger train of the future, passengers boarded trains from the station after a long walk down a shaky iron outside staircase, from the station level to tracks (not accessible to the physically challenged). 

For local kids of the time, it was a hoot to take the train to Providence with some buddies or travel with an adult to Boston’s Fenway Park via the train, and then the subway in Boston. The station fell into disrepair after construction of Route 95, the marble was stripped from the interior, trash littered the walkways, and graffiti covered its brick work. Eventually, trains no longer stopped there, and the site was acquired by an out of state developer who wanted to tear it down and sell the land to CVS.

Due to an alarmed Pawtucket Foundation and some city fathers who believed the building could be rehabbed, (wrongly as it turned out) eventually, half the site was sold or leased to CVS, and the station building was left to further deteriorate, through a scheme in which owners attempted to avoid liability should the station collapse on to the tracks below by making a donation of the station building to various evangelical churches who couldn’t afford to repair or rehabilitate the station.

Periodically, the City of Pawtucket and Amtrak have structural engineers inspect the derelict building to see if it is capable of continuing to stand over the tracks, aware that if it ever crashed down onto the tracks, rail traffic between Boston and New York, and perhaps even further down the Amtrak corridor to the south would be severely impacted. Hopefully it will stay secure until someone determines what can be done.

But for now, Pawtucket is looking forward to a new station located a half mile from the old station site, combined with mass transit possibilities. On a daily basis it is currently projected that the new train station-bus complex will accommodate hundreds of rail passengers on their way north to Boston as well as commuters to Rhode Island from Massachusetts, and many more who will use rapid bus transportation to their jobs and homes in Rhode Island. Another major benefit of the project will be a transit-oriented development of this area of Pawtucket and Central Falls which will speed development with the prospect of the rehabilitation of 200,000 square feet of historic mill complexes into housing, retail, light manufacturing and office uses which are the focus of a working collaborative effort by the cities and the private sector, fostered by the Pawtucket Foundation.

To make it happen there has been an investment of approximately $63,000,00 with most coming from the state and federal funds. The remainder from the cities: Include a surface parking lot for approximately 200 vehicles adjacent to the station, and a bus hub complex which will be constructed and operated by a partnership that includes the DOT and RIPTA. It has been a difficult construction project because there is a limited daily construction time along Amtrak’s busy rail corridor, so much of the work taking place happens during overnight hours when trains are not running. Originally planned for operation in 2022, most observers believe it will open now in the summer of 2023. The bus hub will be open sooner and will finally replace the current bus location across from the old Slater Mill, downtown, and there will be dedicated bus lanes and a bike lane between Pawtucket and Providence. You can already see the bright red and green – how appropriate for the holidays – lanes that have been demarked on Empire Street.

So, what is happening on site?

If you drive down Barton Street on the Pawtucket-Central Falls line, you will see the outline of the project including the passageway overhead from the south side of the site to the north side of the site where passengers will be able to board their trains or buses. The parking, to this observer, will be tight but we are promised that those who now have to drive to Attleboro to take a train to Boston will be accommodated appropriately. At a time when Pawtucket is still hoping that it will be able to open a stadium for all soccer lovers in southern New England, the station-bus complex will be an important link, and Pawtucket will continue to develop into a destination site. Despite the loss of the PawSox, some say no matter what, Pawtucket will be successful because its people are gritty, its economy is very secure, the political and business leadership within the city are strong, and while it has taken longer than anticipated, the city will soon be having trains comin’ ‘round the bend.”  

While the DOT and RIPTA are understandably more concerned as to the engineering for the complex, others like members of the Pawtucket Foundation and rail advocates will focus on the amenities like concessions for coffee, seating, and protection from adverse weather conditions and the like, clean and accessible rest rooms, adequate street signage and public parking availability.

Please check RINewsToday.com if you want current information and comments on the station. In the meantime, I urge you to drive by Barton Street in Pawtucket if you are a Boston commuter to see what has been quietly happening.  Park in the new parking lot to get the feel of the station site on the south side of the tracks and see the elevated walkway over the tracks, to the waiting areas, streetside, where you will board trains north to Boston and interim stops, and where buses will also be able to whisk you away to Providence and Pawtucket and Warwick.

Check out updates here, at RINEWS, or send your questions to Jack’s Angle at [email protected].  Or leave your comments, below. We will keep you posted on what is expected to be the passenger experience, the pluses, and any minuses – stay tuned!

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To read more columns by Jack go to: https://rinewstoday.com/our-team/john-j-jack-partridge/

John J. ‘Jack’ Partridge, is a retired lawyer and Senior Counsel to the firm of Partridge Snow & Hahn LLP, with four offices in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

A Pawtucket native, Jack graduates from St. Raphael Academy and summa cum laude of Providence College, where he majored in history. After Harvard Law School, he served in the United States Army in Vietnam, where he was awarded the Joint Service Commendation Medal. In 1967, he joined the firm of Tillinghast Collins & Tanner. In 1988, he became a founding partner of Partridge Snow & Hahn LLP.

Jack has been engaged in many civic, political, governmental, and business organizations, serving as legal counsel to the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce for 27 years and was chairman of the Old Slater Mill Association, Common Cause Rhode Island, and Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island.

He is the co-founder of The Pawtucket Foundation and an officer and director of innumerable not-for-profit entities. He served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Pawtucket Boys & Girls Club and was Treasurer of the Ocean State Charities Trust.

Jack has a long history of leadership involvement with Providence College, which recognized him in 1999 with the Providence College Alumni Association Recognition Award for Public and Community Service, and in 2011, with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.

He is married to the former Regina McDonald and has three children: Sarah, Gregory and David.

He is the author of four books – Scratched, Straight Pool, Carom Shot – and his new book, Under Blood Moons.

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