Speed Humps Have Arrived on Atwells Avenue on Federal Hill

Speed Humps Have Arrived on Atwells Avenue on Federal Hill

Speed humps have been installed in recent years across the city of Providence — and now, they are on Federal Hill. 

The “traffic calming” measures have been installed in front of businesses on Atwells Avenue close to the Route 6 overpass. 

The area can be packed with traffic during the day and evenings for bars and restaurants, with vehicles often bumper-to-bumper.

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However, in off-hours including late at night and early morning, it also has been a magnet for off-road dirt bikes and ATVs operating illegally on city streets -- which Mayor Jorge Elorza has told are not welcome. 

Atwells Avenue has in the past been the site of serious pedestrian accidents as well as fatalities. 

In 2010, former City Councilman Terry Hassett was struck by a car and seriously injured in the area where the speed humps now are. 

 

Latest in Providence

As GoLocal reported in 2021, “Providence Turning Into Speed Hump City:”

“While speed bumps have been utilized in neighborhoods such as South Providence for years, they are now cropping up in other sections of the city,” reported GoLocal.

Now, speed humps are everywhere from the Elmhurst neighborhood to Providence's East Side. 

Mayor Jorge Elorza has said they are part of the city’s “Great Streets Master Plan.”

“The locations and scope of these traffic calming measures are consistent with the improvements recommended in the Providence Great Streets Master Plan and align with the traffic calming measures outlined by the USDOT Federal Highway Administration's Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices," said then-Elorza spokesperson Ben Smith.

 

Changes on Atwells

The historic neighborhood in the city continues to evolve. 

As GoLocal reported in February, a Massachusetts seafood chain was opening in the former location of Italian restaurant Siena on Atwells Avenue. 

This weekend, GoLocal reported that Italian restaurant Bacco is expanding into a new prime location at the corner of Atwells and DePasquale Avenues.