Providence RI "city meet" - May 4, 2019

[A.J. Bertin]

As discussed in my other thread about a different idea I had for a road meet, I am now officially announcing the Providence RI "city meet" which will take place next April or May. My rationale for this time frame is that it the winter weather should be just about gone by that point (at least that's generally the case in Michigan). This meet will take place in either late April or early May, but I don't want to host this meet on Mother's Day weekend or later... just because I know that mid to late May tends to start getting busy for road meets.

This will be the first meet I've ever hosted. As previously discussed, there will be no formal tour... only a lunch gathering and then possibly a dinner gathering after the attendees have had a chance to do some exploring on their own or in small groups. I have never been to Providence before and am not familiar with it at all. When the attendees go off and do their own thing, I imagine some might want to drive the freeway network, some might want to look for unique road signs, some might want to visit malls in the area, some might want to spend time exploring downtown, some might want to clinch counties, etc. I will do my best to research the dates and see in advance if there are any significant events happening in Providence on either of the weekends I'm proposing in the poll I will create momentarily. Also at it gets closer to the date, I'll probably create another poll asking folks whether they'd prefer a lunch restaurant that's closer to downtown Providence or in more of a suburban area. My attempt at hosting a gathering along these lines will be very experimental.

I'll probably keep the date poll open for a couple months or so, and once the poll closes I'll create an event on Facebook and will invite folks I'm connected with there. It will be a "public" event, so my Facebook friends can forward the invitation to other roadgeeks that I might not be connected with. And for the folks who don't use Facebook, no worries... when the time comes you'll be able to RSVP here.

[vdeane]

I voted for Star Wars Day since April 20 is the day before Easter.  I'll have to think about how this affects my fall travel plans - I hope to do roadtrips the weekend of Columbus Day and Veterans Day, and taking care of the New England interstates is a possibility, though that would also work with a longer trip for this meet (though this meet is also in theoretical daytrip range, depending on whether dinner is a thing).

[jpi]

I did the way too early vote on this one, I may have a toy show somewhere the weekend of May 4, if anything April 20 may be a better option but again a little early to tell but will keep this in mind

[SSOWorld]

A.J., Would you consider allowing vote changes? Otherwise I'm abstaining from voting for any option due to the earliness of this poll.

[A.J. Bertin]

A.J., Would you consider allowing vote changes? Otherwise I'm abstaining from voting for any option due to the earliness of this poll.

I'll see where things are at in early October when the poll is supposed to close. I may decide to extend the poll by another month or two but my hope is to lock in the exact date by the end of 2018.

[deathtopumpkins]

I voted for May 4th because April 20th is during Passover (begins Friday the 19th).

[A.J. Bertin]

I voted for May 4th because April 20th is during Passover (begins Friday the 19th).

Oh shoot! I'm glad you mentioned that. I didn't even realize that Easter falls on April 21. Wasn't even paying attention to that when I picked these dates. My bad. Well, I guess this means that I hope May 4 wins the poll!

[Brandon]

I voted for April 20th as I have an event typically the weekend of May 4-5 here.

[PHLBOS]

Initially, I was leaning towards (& blindly voted) for May 4. 

However & as with past years, I plan to be in neighboring MA for the Easter weekend visiting family & one or two childhood friends (subject to their availability).  That said, this might be the only time that I could detour to Providence for the meet during a holiday visit.  However, such would be subject to what my brother's family plans are (they're in Sturbridge) that Saturday.

Time will tell with this one.

[kevinb1994]

I voted for Star Wars Day. Not sure if I can make it to this meet, though. We'll see. For a lunch spot I would suggest Gregg's on US 1 between RI 126 and RI 122. That was the lunch spot for the 2010 Providence Road Meet.

[A.J. Bertin]

Thanks to everyone who voted in the date poll! At this point it's looking like May 4 will be the date I will host this, but I won't finalize that until I know for sure that I'll have approval for the time off work that I'll need to drive out from Michigan and back.

May 4 won over April 20 and also beat out the option of, "It's way too early for me to choose one of these dates."

At some point over the next few weeks I'll probably put in my time-off request for work. My hope is to finalize this date by mid November. Since I know next to nothing about Providence, I'll probably create another poll asking which part of the suburban Providence area we should have lunch in. (Again, this is an experimental kind of meet.)

[paulthemapguy]

What road features would we be checking out?

[Alps]

What road features would we be checking out?

There is no formal tour, but I am well versed in roads features:
* New I-195 bridge/alignment
* Scars of the old bridge/alignment
* Old I-195 Washington Bridge
* Henderson Bridge (planned US 44 freeway)
* Strange shields of Providence and Woonsocket
* Mixed Up Mile: US 1/RI 15/RI 114 in Pawtucket
* Will I-295 be mileage-based exits by then? Hm...
* Stub south end of RI 10
* Is the old black guide sign still up at the north end of RI 10? Still was there last time.
* "RI 195" overhead plaques at the 10/6 junction
* Revamped I-95 at US 6/RI 10
* Dare you to find all the US 1A signs
* Western US 6 freeway stub (would-be I-84)

[A.J. Bertin]

What road features would we be checking out?

Paul - this is a very different, unconventional, meet because I am not organizing any kind of tour. It's a do-it-yourself thing to give folks a reason (or excuse) to visit Providence. I'll pick a lunch spot and probably a dinner spot as well. For about 4 hours or so, folks will be able to go their separate ways and see whatever they want to see around the area. If they want to clinch highways, they can do that. If they want to collect counties, they can do that. If they want to check out the downtown area, they can do that. And so on. My plan is to then invite everyone back for dinner so they can report back to the group, if they wish, whatever they did and saw throughout the afternoon.

I'm making it very clear that I am not organizing a tour. That's why I'm calling it a "city meet" rather than a road meet. I know next to nothing about Providence but I'm looking forward to giving folks a reason to go there!

[PHLBOS]

* Will I-295 be mileage-based exits by then? Hm...

According to RIDOT's website, such was already completed.

[bob7374]

* Will I-295 be mileage-based exits by then? Hm...

According to RIDOT's website, such was already completed.

It's been about 2 months since RIDOT let the contract for the second round of exit renumbering, perhaps other routes will have new exit numbers by then.

[SSOWorld]

Too bad Cape Cod will be packed 🙃🙃

[kevinb1994]

I still have this city meet in mind for 2019. Still not sure if we're going yet but still definitely have it in mind. Haven't been through Providence since 2003-2004 when we were on the way to and from Cape Cod for a family wedding.

[PHLBOS]

Too bad Cape Cod will be packed 🙃🙃

  What's that have to do with Providence?

[cl94]

Too bad Cape Cod will be packed 🙃🙃

  What's that have to do with Providence?

US 6 clinching. I'm considering making a run out to the Cape as well.

[paulthemapguy]

What would be the point of the meet, though, if we aren't doing things together?

[cl94]

What would be the point of the meet, though, if we aren't doing things together?

Because we are doing things together. For most frequent attendees, meets are more of a social event than to see roads at this point. In Providence, we'll break off into a few groups and do a few things that people in each are most interested in, reconvening at the end for dinner. We did a similar thing at the end of the Shamokin Dam meet in April - some people did an extended tour, some went to the dead mall, and a few of us went on a bridge hunt.

[kevinb1994]

What would be the point of the meet, though, if we aren't doing things together?

Because we are doing things together. For most frequent attendees, meets are more of a social event than to see roads at this point. In Providence, we'll break off into a few groups and do a few things that people in each are most interested in, reconvening at the end for dinner. We did a similar thing at the end of the Shamokin Dam meet in April - some people did an extended tour, some went to the dead mall, and a few of us went on a bridge hunt.

Speaking of dead malls, Providence has one and so does East Providence. www.deadmalls.com/malls/wampanoag_mall.html www.deadmalls.com/malls/davol_square_marketplace.html

In addition to the above two dead malls, there's also the Lincoln Mall in Lincoln and the Rhode Island Mall in Warwick.
www.deadmalls.com/malls/lincoln_mall_ri.html
www.deadmalls.com/malls/rhode_island_mall.html

I don't know if anyone would want to visit those on this city meet, but it could still happen if anyone were interested.

[A.J. Bertin]

What would be the point of the meet, though, if we aren't doing things together?

We'll all do lunch together, and I imagine many of us will do dinner together too. Like Josh said, different attendees will want to focus on different things... exploring downtown, checking out some interesting retail, driving the freeway network, clinching counties, etc. I imagine we'll break up into small groups who want to see different aspects of Providence. The point of the meet is to give folks an excuse to visit a place they'd otherwise have no reason to visit anytime soon... and, in the process, hang out with like-minded friends. It's definitely not a conventional "road meet" and won't be everyone's cup of tea. But I got a lot of support when I suggested this idea, so here we are!

I am emphasizing again that there will be no organized road tour. It will very much be a do-it-yourself kind of thing. I've never had the wherewithal to host a traditional road meet, but this is something I can do and was delighted to learn that some folks are interested in it.

[cl94]

There's plenty to see in and around Providence, both road and non-road. Handful of interesting bridges on/around the bays. Roger Williams Park looks cool. Heck, if people wanted to visit a state high point, Rhode Island's is 25 minutes outside of Providence. That could be done in conjunction with stuff like the US 6 stubs and the CT Turnpike's old end if desired.

Other than the high point and one gas stop, I have never left my car in Rhode Island. It'll be cool to see what the state has to offer. For me, at least, the best parts of meets are seeing people and exploring new places. Smaller, focused groups will allow people to see more and see what they want to see in the area. I'm liking the plan for this meet more and more.