Public Street Public Access

Public Street is one of the few remaining places where people in the neighborhood can physically reach Narragansett Bay. For decades, industrial expansion has steadily reduced our public access to the waterfront, and separated us from the water that had always been part of our community. 

Since 2016, community organizations have fought for public access to the shore for residents of Washington Park and South Providence.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Public Street itself was fenced off. PPA alongside other community members organized for nearly two years, and in 2021 an area on Public Street was officially designated a permanent public right-of-way to the water, giving local residents the only path to the shore from their neighborhoods. This is why organizing is so important!

Industrial tenants at the port continue to encroach on this space, and the community is working with city and state advocates to clean the site and make it welcoming for neighbors.

Wealthier, whiter communities all over Rhode Island have beautiful places to enjoy the ocean. We know the people of South Providence and Washington Park deserve the same. 

Today, Public Street symbolizes something much larger than shoreline access. It represents the idea that this waterfront belongs to us, the public, not only to industry.

Currently we are fighting for:

  • The Public Street Waterfront Access Project to begin after after many years of delay.

  • Cleaning the Public Street “mystery pipe” which has been spewing toxins into Narragansett Bay for many years.

  • Green buffers along the Public Street Right of Way to protect people from toxic dust and spray.

  • Limits on multi-ton trucks at the Public Street Right of Way.

  • Relocation of the Eastern Salt Pile.

  • Limitations on the expansion of Sims Metal.

“The people shall continue to enjoy and freely exercise all the rights of fishery, and the privileges of the shore, to which they have been heretofore entitled under the charter and usages of this state, including but not limited to fishing from the shore, the gathering of seaweed, leaving the shore to swim in the sea and passage along the shore; and they shall be secure in their rights to the use and enjoyment of the natural resources of the state with due regard for the preservation of their values; and it shall be the duty of the general assembly to provide for the conservation of the air, land, water, plant, animal, mineral and other natural resources of the state, and to adopt all means necessary and proper by law to protect the natural environment of the people of the state by providing adequate resource planning for the control and regulation of the use of the natural resources of the state and for the preservation, regeneration and restoration of the natural environment of the state.”
- Rhode Island Constitution

Background

Design of Future Park
City of Providence Planning Department and Office of Sustainability have worked on designs for the area including pedestrian space, green infrastructure, stormwater improvements, shade trees, and waterfront seating. Funding for the work was made available from infrastructure grants and SNEP stormwater funds.

“Mystery Pipe”
Development of the site has been delayed by an ongoing petroleum leak from a “mystery pipe” discovered at the site. The city of Providence maintains that RI Energy is the source of the spill, but RI Energy wants the city, which owns the pipe, to fix it. Residents are pushing for water testing and clarity on who is responsible.
> November 2025 Report on Public Street Pipe
> Read PVD Eye, Oil Spilling Out of Pipe in South Providence Holds Up Public Street Park Funding

Nearby Polluters
Sims Metal Management has expanded its property holdings next to Public Street and want to route trucks through Public Street. This would undermine safety and contradict the community vision.

  • Sims Metal operates a scrap yard at the Port. Sims is a major division of Sims Limited, one of the largest publicly traded metal and electronics recycling companies in the world, with billions of dollars in annual revenue, hundreds of facilities in multiple countries and a history dating back to 1917.

  • Eastern Salt, based in Massachusetts, distributes road salt to communities along the east coast. Salt arrives at the Port of Providence by ship from a diverse global network of international mines and solar salt facilities, with Chile being the primary supplier.

Community Activation of Public Street
PPA regularly gathers community members for celebrations and events at the Public Street Right of Way, including the recent launch of WaterSpeak.

PPA partnered with The Providence Commemoration Lab, a program of the Providence Department of Art, Culture & Tourism (ACT) and the Rhode Island Historical Society (RIHS), to host temporary creative projects on at Public Street to engage the public in reclaiming the site. see projects by:

Public Street Waterfront Access

Crow’s Landing

Our community is activating the Public Street Right of Way for the use of the people who live in the surrounding neighborhoods and the people and creatures of Providence.