No decision yet on Cranston CVS pharmacy proposal

01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, July 8, 2010

By Maria Armental
Journal Staff Writer


CRANSTON — A hearing on a proposal by CVS Corp. to raze the Rocky’s Ace Hardware store and Rite Aid Pharmacy and build a new pharmacy at Broad Street and Norwood Avenue Wednesday has been tentatively continued to July 21. The CVS proposal calls for a 13,013-square-foot building with two drive-through windows and 75 parking spaces closer to Broad Street. Access would be from Broad Street and Norwood Avenue. John Bolton, the company’s lawyer, requested the continuance Wednesday after learning the city had Cranston-based RAB Engineering independently review the proposal. “We would like to review any reports generated by that peer review and a chance to respond,” Bolton said. David A. Ferguson, the city’s traffic engineer, said no documents had been drawn up and offered CVS Corp. to hire a third party to review the proposal independently. “And then, both of us will have the opportunity to review that document,” Ferguson said. “The concerns that came up in this peer review,” Ferguson said, referring to RAB Engineering’s examination, “are ultimately the concerns that the city had all along.” “Last week, we got a new set of plans that changes drastically what I expect to happen out there,” Ferguson said, adding, “It actually created some more problems.” Approached after the hearing, Ferguson would not comment on what the new problems were. City officials have expressed concerns over how the already busy intersection, used as a drive-through between Providence and Warwick, would handle the traffic. Providence-based Garofalo & Associates — which conducted a “traffic-calming study” for the city on a 175-acre section that includes the area of the proposed pharmacy — proposed new traffic signs and a rotary at the intersection of Norwood Avenue and Broad Street. That project would cost an estimated $350,000 to $400,000. [email protected]

NOTE:
Please continue to write letters and send emails to State and local officials.  The CVS contact person for this project is:

Mr. Syed Husian, Regional Director of Real Estate
CVS Corporation
One CVS Drive
Woonsocket, RI  02895