‘Eliminating’ Noise Without Reducing It: The Planning Department’s Dike Street project

In May 2016, the Providence Planning Department convened a group of neighborhood stakeholders to discuss plans to upgrade the infrastructure around what it refers to as the “Dike Street area” — the bathtub-shaped area south of Olneyville Square bounded by Plainfield / Westminster Street and Route 6.

One of the issues that stakeholders highlighted was noise levels in the area (see page 22 of the Planning Dept. report on the meeting below). In 2022, the department began to formally implement its plan for the Dike Street area, without any mention of — much less effort to address — the ongoing noise issues there.

Page 22 of 2016 PVD Planning Dept. report on stakeholder meeting for Dike Street area, advocating the formation of a group to resolve noise-related issues
Note former Ward 15 City Council member and now Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos facing the camera at the table in the foreground