The state is poised to select a contractor who will rework downtown's Francis Street/Memorial Boulevard intersection near the Providence Place mall, specifically to make it more difficult for pedestrians to cross in front of the highway ramps there.

PROVIDENCE — The state is poised to select a contractor who will rework downtown’s Francis Street/Memorial Boulevard intersection near the Providence Place mall, specifically to make it more difficult for pedestrians to cross in front of the highway ramps there.

City Councilman Michael Correia, chairman of the council’s Public Works Committee, said the intersection has been on city officials’ radar for some time, particularly because pedestrians often try to cross Memorial Boulevard to Providence Place by running across the side where the Route 95 north off-ramp to downtown disgorges its traffic and where southbound drivers heading to Routes 6, 10 and 95 get on their entrance ramps.

“You just can’t dart across four or five lanes of traffic to get to the mall,” Correia said. “We have a whole bunch of safety concerns.”

Crossing from the side of Francis Street with Fleming’s restaurant is alluring because it means someone walking from the convention center area to the mall just has one crossing, albeit across five lanes of entering and exiting traffic, to land at the cityside entrance of the mall.

If they go the way the intersection was intended, they have to cross Francis Street near Kennedy Plaza, walk up to and across Memorial Boulevard at the mall intersection, then, from the opposite side from the highway ramps, cross back over Francis at the traffic light to get to the mall.

The $1.8 million project calls for covering the sidewalk and stone-covered walkway along the Fleming’s side of Francis Street with concrete planter boxes that will have flowering trees and shrubs. That will run from the crosswalk at the Omni Tower all the way to the hotel’s rear access driveway, eliminating any room to walk up that side of the street.

If someone still wants to try the Fleming’s-side shortcut, and works their way through the new flowering dogwoods and shrubbery, they will be greeted by a wrought iron fence at the access driveway and then another fence blocking their path where the Route 95 exit ramp appears on the other side of the hotel accessway.

Besides the pedestrian-stymieing measures on Francis Street, state Department of Transportation spokesman Charles St. Martin said the job will replace the current traffic signals that hang off wires suspended over the intersection with new ones that will be held by a single metal mast.

New signs, road markings and crossing signals with audible sounds will be added in the work. The road surface in the middle of the intersection will be redone as well. St. Martin said if all goes according to schedule, the work should begin in the spring and be done before the end of the year.

Correia said the city expects most of the major work could be done by fall.

The installation of the audible crossing signals will make the area more handicapped accessible and getting the traffic lights on a single horizontal mast will remove the unsightly wires, but St. Martin said the main goal was to improve safety by stopping people from crossing in front of the highway ramps.

People running across the ramps are just problematic for cars coming off Route 95 north. The intersection is a major feeder of downtown drivers seeking to get out of the city and onto the highways. Highway bound cars will make their turns, speeding up to get on either the 6,10, or 95 entrance ramps. “One of the big features is the highway access points,” St. Martin said. “We’re still seeing a lot of people crossing there.”

jhill@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7381

On Twitter: @jghilliii