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Recommendations for Sustainable Brownfields Redevelopment in the Jewelry District

GivenGiven the studied and known contamination of U.S. highways, we want to emphasize the importance a thorough clean-up of any contaminants that are found. Without a thorough clean-up, use of the redeveloped corridor may pose a serious human health risk. This, of course, depends on the use of the area. However, plans for at least a part of the area show a greenway that serves pedestrians. Green space provides direct pathways for humans to come into contact with soil. This is why we stress the importance of the DOT, which is responsible for cleaning up the corridor, to complete an ESA and a very thorough clean-up if any contaminants are found.

Reuse & Properly Recycle Corridor Material

Whether or not the corridor contains contaminated material, much of the material in the corridor will need to be excavated in order to redevelop the land into streets, greenways, and everything else that is included in the current plans. Making sure that any contaminated material ends up in the proper place, and any non-contaminated material that can be used in redeveloping actually gets used in the redevelopment are the two sustainable concepts that we chose to apply to the old I-195 corridor brownfield redevelopment.

These two practices depend entirely upon first identifying any contaminated materials. Once that is done, the developer(s) should know where to send any contaminated material so that it does not end up in or next to the newly redeveloped corridor and create a second brownfield. This has unfortunately been a reality for many redevelopments (Siegel et al.). There are industrial material recycling companies, such as Philips Services Corporation, that are certified and licensed to safely dispose of contaminated industrial material. All contaminated material should end up in the hands of these companies, or else the developer risks creating another brownfield by leaving this material somewhere.

Any non-contaminated material should also be used in the redevelopment if that is possible. This will not only cut down the cost of redevelopment, but it will decrease the amount of non-recyclable material that ends up in a landfill.

Give the New Area a Pedestrian Friendly Streetscape

A primary plan for the redevelopment of the corridor is to destroy its “barrier” characteristics and create a link from Downtown Providence to the Jewelry District. Aside from the proposed greenways and parks that are planned for the corridor, streetscape redevelopment is an important sustainable concept that we recommend in order to adequately supply pedestrian and bike friendly pathways to and from the Jewelry District and Downtown Providence along the entire corridor.

To do this, planners must properly deign streets to promote walking and bike-riding which can co-exist with vehicle use, as well as streets that allow public transportation. This includes but is not limited to:

Short Blocks to encourage walking
Smooth Sidewalks That Are Clear of Obstacles
Bike Lanes
Street Signs
Streets That Are Large Enough For Public Transportation