State DOT to Assume Operations of Wickford Junction

The state is taking control of maintenance and operations of Wickford Junction — a move that is estimated to save the state $3.4 million over 10 years.

The state Department of Transportation announced the change on Monday and it went into effect immediately.

The management of the commuter rail station and transportation center’s maintenance was previously managed by WJ Management LLC, of Chicago.

“RIDOT is quickly putting its house back in order at the speed of business,” RIDOT Director Peter Alviti Jr. said in a news release. “At Wickford Junction, we are reducing the cost of operations and using the savings to provide better transit service to the citizens of Rhode Island.”

Wickford Junction opened in 2012 with fanfare, but ridership has been lower than desired. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority currently runs 10 round trips on weekdays through an agreement with RIDOT and the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority No. 65X bus stops there along its route from Providence to Wakefield.

Alviti said that there are additional initiatives in progress to boost ridership, including a new $372,500 project to build a direct entrance from Route 102 hat will eliminate the need to drive through the adjacent shopping complex. Work on that project is expected in the coming weeks.

RIDOT is trying to expand service at the station to T.F. Green and Providence with RIPTA and “the savings here will be used to offset these costs.”

Meanwhile, the state has been considering the sale of the park-and-ride at Route 102 and Quaker Lane, a plan that has been met with opposition. Commuters would have to park at Wickford Junction.

The effort to sell the lot, valued at $1.9 million, is a revival of previous efforts that were met with objections from commuters, residents and others. Many complained that moving the lot to Wickford Junction would create a new parking garage fee as the Routes 2 and 102 lot is currently free.

Other concerns hinged on the fact that the parking garage at Wickford Junction is not open every day or through the overnight hours.

Plans to build a new CVS pharmacy at the site were dropped in October after the potential buyer rejected a request to build a new commuter lot to replace the existing one on Quaker Lane.

That new lot requirement is a stipulation from when the State Properties Committee in 2011 approved the DOT’s request to sell the lot.