Drivers and cyclists often seem to carry an almost antagonist relationship with one another. People all too often forget courtesy for the fellow citizen when driving on the roads and that, combined with a lack of safe bike access, can and often does lead to accidents. On average the city sees 262 reported crashes per year, according to the Providence Streets Coalition. What is the city doing or what has been done to keep bicyclists in providence safe?
From 2015 till 2023, Jorge Elorza served as the 38th mayor of Providence. In that time, Elorza had built up a positive reputation with the biking community within Providence. This good will was developed with such moves as the introduction of a “Great Streets” initiative. Unveiled in 2020, “Great Streets” initiative aimed to create a framework for 78 miles of new bicycle paths and urban trails throughout the city of Providence. The announcement had its critics, including many drivers concerned with losing street parking. But overall, the proposal seemed like a positive step forward, offering cyclists a future with a more connected city, which they could move through with greater ease and safety. Despite some issues, PVD has a very strong, avid community of bicyclists, which Elorza was, and still is, a part of.
Regardless of what some might think of him as mayor, nobody could argue Elorza’s conviction for easier, safer trails for bicyclists wasn’t genuine.
Unfortunately for bike enthusiasts, Elorza’s plans would rapidly slow down by 2023. With his term limits reached Elorza handed the reins of mayorship over to Brett Smiley. Unlike Elorza, Smiley himself is not a bicyclist. The Providence Planning Dept says they build their plans for bike infrastructure from the community’s input. Definitely a hard sell, as Smiley seems to be at direct odds with the bike community. In 2024, Mayor Smiley proposed removing the South Water Street bike paths in favor of opening up multiple car lanes. An unsurprisingly unpopular proposition, the plan was rejected. Charitably, some have called mayor Smiley’s plans for fewer bike lanes in favor of more car lanes “misguided,” but most in the biking community are vexed with the current administration’s stagnation.
A look at the official Great Streets initiative web page shows that there has not even been a neighborhood meeting on the project in quite some time. The most recent neighborhood meeting took place in June of 2022. On top of this, the Providence urban bike trail map which can be accessed by going to the official Great Streets webpage lists only 55 built trails with 151 trails listed to still be in the “planned phase,” as of its last update in 2024. According to Liza Burkin of the Providence Streets Coalition, only about 35% of the proposed urban trails have been built. This lack of new additions does not mean that the initiative has stopped, far from it.
In April of 2025 the Great Streets Initiative was updated by the Smiley administration and changed to The Safe Streets Plan. Although the 27-million-dollar grant which will pay for the Safe Streets Plan was applied for during the Elorza administration so the credit is up for debate. The “Safe Streets for All” will not only continue to build new paths but update existing bike paths with grant money and aims for completion by 2028. The updated initiative puts an emphasis on not just the mobility of bikers but their safety as the top priority.
The antipathy bicyclists have towards the mayor isn’t exclusive to his handling of the Great Streets Initiative – many feel, in their day-to-day life, the mayor’s lack of priority when it comes to maintaining the city’s existing urban trails. The recent major snowstorms demonstrate the favorability the city holds for cars over bikes; the roads have been cleared for cars while the city bike lanes stayed unrideable throughout January and February.
One can’t put all of the blame on the mayor, though – some of the most dangerous streets, such as Elmwood Ave, Allens Ave, and Smith Street, are state-owned. That means new infrastructure can not be built on those streets without the approval of RIDOT, who are biased towards car travel and not known for developing rapid solutions.
A never-ending aggravation for the American people is when somebody in elected office makes a promise or starts a plan, only for the next person to take over in four to eight years and uphold none of those promises or plans. That’s where movements like the Providence Streets Coalition come in. The PSC keeps people connected in their goals to improve our streets by encouraging legislation or organizing bike-specific projects. You can’t always rely on those elected to act on promises, or be truthful in their claims – but you can trust in the people around you in your community.