Landscape architect and RISD Professor Colgate Searle has presented an innovative proposal to reuse and develop an elevated portion of I-195 that the city of Providence plans to demolish as part of its larger highway relocation scheme. In advocating for urban renewal through preservation rather than demolition, the UpCity Crossing Development Proposal would transform the existing overpass crossing the Providence River and Wickenden Street into a park and pedestrian walkway.

The proposal, which includes connecting and developing the neighborhoods on either side of the overpass, began as a thesis project by one of Searle’s graduate students, David Burkett MLA ’02. “David thought the bridge should be saved,” says Searle. “The beauty of our proposal is that it provides an alternative vision that would creatively reuse this infrastructure and make it into an attractive and useful asset to the city without the costly and wasteful effort of removing and disposing of it.” Searle estimates that their proposal would save the city some $10 million.

In addition to a park with spectacular views of the river and bay, the UpCity Crossing plan would create a new neighborhood — a mixed-use, residential and commercial district linking the downtown business and jewelry districts. Buildings would be added in place of the existing entrance and exit ramps and would be accessible from both the ground and upper levels. The proposal also creates what Searle calls the Fens Wetland Park at the western base of the bridge to provide natural drainage and storm water purification, a crucial need that the city’s plan does not adequately address, he says.

Searle has presented his alternative proposal to a number of city and state officials at the Providence Department of Planning and the Rhode Island Economic Development Council, among others. He has also spoken extensively with executive members of the Fox Point and Jewelry District neighborhood associations.

“I’ve been encouraged to proceed with the elevated park and the design for the ramps on South Main Street,” says Searle. “But it’s been harder for people to comprehend the ugly highway’s potential benefit to the Jewelry District area. I have been told by the Providence Planning Department that it’s too late to implement the UpCity proposal in that area because there was a design all parties signed off on about five years ago, after many years of wrangling, and people are reluctant to re-open the question.”

However, Searle is in the process of developing more drawings to illustrate his vision more clearly and still hopes to convince city planners of the merits of his proposal. “Our plan would create a new and interesting district that would build on and enhance the city’s character,” he says. “I’m not giving up yet.”