Mayor's message: Intermodal Train Station const. underway

After a decade of planning, construction of the Warwick Intermodal Train Station is currently underway. The project, which will give Warwick the closest air-rail link in the country, was the brainchild of former Warwick Mayor and U.S. Senator Lincoln Chafee. His father, the late U.S. Senator John Chafee, secured $25 million in federal funds through the 1998 transportation bill. Total cost of the project is estimated at $267 million and is being paid for with a combination of federal, state and private funds. When completed in 2010, the facility will provide MBTA commuter train service between Warwick, Providence and Boston. Train service will also be provided to Wickford Junction. Plans also call for a bus hub as well as construction of a 1,200-foot, enclosed, elevated walkway, with moving sidewalks, over Post Rd. that will connect T.F. Green Airport to the Station. The intermodal facility will include a 6-level parking garage that will house car rental companies and offer 2,600 parking spaces - 1,800 for rental cars and 800 for rail commuters. The third, fourth and fifth levels will have "quick turnaround areas" with car wash bays, fueling and vacuuming stations for car rental companies. The Rhode Island Airport Corp. (RIAC) estimates that the construction project alone will have infused $127 million annually into the local economy, including $43 million in construction wages. The project consists of four areas to be constructed concurrently: terminal end improvements, construction of skywalk, customer service operations and garage and fueling platforms. To date, power and gas lines have been relocated, piles have been driven at various locations, underground storage tanks have been installed, the underground drainage system is being prepared, building footings are being formed and prep work for garage and fueling platform foundations is underway. Gilbane Building Company is managing construction and Jacobs Engineering Group designed the project. Scott Avedisian is the mayor of Warwick.