Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee joined U.S. Sens. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, U.S. Rep Jim Langevin (D-RI) and other officials to break ground on the Airport Connector project in Warwick Monday.
Officials said the project would improve paving and safety while installing landscaping of more than 400 trees and plants in the median and shoulder of the airport. The landscaping is designed, officials said, to blend seamlessly with the existing plantings around the Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport to add to the facility’s visual appeal.
“For thousands of visitors to Rhode Island, the Airport Connector is Rhode Island’s welcome mat,” McKee said. “These improvements will make vital safety improvements while providing a great first impression of our great state.”
The project is one of the major paving projects scheduled for this year, officials said, replacing paving on four miles of road, as well as installing new guide signs along the Airport Connector and I-95. The $12.9 million Airport Connector and Post Road resurfacing project is part of the Rhode Island Department of Transportation’s $92 million paving project plan. RIDOT will spend $492 million over the next five years on paving.
“Rhode Islanders have seen the transformation in our roads and bridges, and thanks to the new federal Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act, we will be kicking our paving program into high gear and providing the type of safe, smooth roadways Rhode Islanders and all visitors to Rhode Island expect and deserve,” RIDOT Director Peter Alviti, Jr. said.