Project was a recipient of an ACEC RI 2021 Gold Star Award.

McMahon led the bus stop engineering and design elements of RIPTA’s Providence Downtown Transit Connector (DTC) project that will provide a high frequency transit corridor between Providence Station and Rhode Island Hospital via Downcity in Providence, RI. We oversaw the design of four paired stops at Kennedy Plaza, Dorrance Street, Dyer Street at Ship Street and Eddy Street at South Street, to be iconic, highly visible and include custom-designed Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)-like features.

Design criteria was provided on stop siting, configuration and length, ideal sidewalk space and layout for amenities, considering pedestrian flow and passenger boarding/alighting areas, as well as pedestrian and bicycle facilities and infrastructure design surrounding stops. Bus stop enhancements included sidewalk widening and reconstruction, and an exposed aggregate treatment that defines the stop. Unique, large, custom-designed shelters and custom bench seating accented with lighting, iconic totems with integrated transit screen for real-time and other information, as well as fare validators, Wi-Fi enabled Big Belly Trash and Recycling Stations and bike racks, are also proposed.

McMahon was responsible for concept, preliminary and final design plans and specifications for each of the bus stops, in coordination with the architectural, structural and corridor civil design teams, and was involved throughout the public and stakeholder engagement process. Initial phases of the project included a bus hub near Rhode Island Hospital, for which we prepared concept plans for inclusion of layover space, an operator restroom and reconfiguration of an existing parking lot, as well as preliminary design plans for a pair of on-street bus stops.

We supported the corridor infrastructure design with a parking study – curbside inventory and all-day parking utilization study – to understand needs and availability of space for enhanced bus stops and bus priority measures. McMahon identified strategies to accommodate displaced on-street parking to facilitate bus lanes. We also documented sidewalk conditions around proposed stops.