58 (Mineral Spring Ave./Smithfield Crossing)

A route that services North Providence via Mineral Spring Ave. and Putnam Pike, eh? I wonder what’s in store here. Let’s take a look at the 58.

To even get up here to start with, I took the 9X’s midday trip from Kennedy Plaza and rode it up to just outside Smithfield Crossing. The 9X used to deviate into Smithfield Crossing, however, but it got axed because the property owners didn’t want to host a park & ride lot anymore. So, instead, anyone wanting to get here via the 9X has to get off at the stop on US-44 and walk down. For this route, though, the route terminates in the shopping center itself. There’s three whole stops in this plaza, being one by Old Navy, Barnes & Noble, and the gazebo. Once we left the shopping center, we made a left turn and crossed the interstate.

However, after crossing 295, we took a left turn again, this time onto Esmond Street. Along this street were primarily suburban buildings in nature, some businesses but predominantly houses. A few people got on the bus as well. Eventually, the road ended and we turned right onto Waterman Avenue. From here, it was a straight shot into Centerdale Village, where transfers to the 27 and 57 can be made.

Now, while the 57 goes down US-44/Smith St., and the 27 goes down George Waterman and Woonasquatucket, the 58 instead goes down Mineral Spring Ave. From here, traffic was horrible. It was essentially stop and go, with the occasional bus stop. Fortunately, after about 15 minutes, we made it to Douglas Ave. and turned right. From here, the route largely followed the 50, complete with the Shaw’s deviation. There was also a Dollar Tree in this plaza. 🙂

We eventually, however, turned back onto Douglas Ave. and kept pressing on. Soon enough, we turned down Branch Ave. and things got quite urban on one side and green on the other. Soon enough, we passed an old mill and went under RI-146, Charles St., and Silver Spring Street. We also went over the Northeast Corridor, but not the interstate.

Instead of going down Branch Ave. further, we took a right onto West River Street. It was down here that a Stop & Shop can be found, however we did NOT deviate into it. We then turned onto Corliss Street, passed a USPS facility, and turned onto Charles St. However, we then banged a u-ey onto Ashburton St., as Charles St. was one-way at this section. From here, we kept going down Charles and Canal Streets, turned onto Park Row, and deviated into Providence Station. This would then begin the Downtown Transit Corridor section of the route.

DOWNTOWN TRANSIT CORRIDOR BLITZ TIME!!! LETS GO!

Alright, blink and you’ll miss the stops!
– Kennedy Plaza, stops B (south) and G (north)
– Dorrance and Pine St., near the Garrahy Courthouse and JWU
– Dyer and Ship St., as well as Dyer and South St., near the Nursing Education Center
– Lastly, RI Hospital. However, this doesn’t deviate into the front door like the 1.

With that out of the way, that’s the entirity of the route. The bus driver did, however, turn down Allens Ave. and let me off at the layover area instead. Probably just forgot I existed.

The good: It serves an otherwise unserved part of the state, and serves a major shopping center. It also serves a few major local roads (e.g. Mineral Spring Ave. and Branch Ave.).

The bad: I really want to like this route, but it tries waaaaaay too hard to be a crosstown route. But if we must have a crosstown Mineral Spring route, it should instead largely replace the 73. And, I don’t know if it’s just due to the time of day I rode this route (near the 3/4pm hour), but it seemed to be running quite late, too.

Nearby points of interest: There’s Smithfield Crossing, Centerdale, and the Shaw’s deviation. There’s also a Stop & Shop and Saver’s along the route. The southern terminus is at RI Hospital, and it also stops near JWU and at Providence Station.

Overall, I really want to like this route, but I just can’t give it that high a rating. It’s mostly the lateness factor that kills it for me, as well as the fact it tries and fails somewhat at being a crosstown route. At least, that’s the feeling I got. At least it’s definitely used, unlike the 49. In terms of ridership, how about 517 daily passengers on average. This puts it between important arterial routes like the 78, 55, and 35, as well as between a few crosstown routes like the 29, 63, and 71.
Rating: 6/10