Island Transportation Study Results Released to Public

The Aquidneck Island Planning Commission (AIPC) released its final results of a comprehensive two-year multi-modal transportation study Wednesday evening at the Community College of Rhode Island campus in Newport.

The event started with an open house in the lobby and then progressed to the auditorium with a public comment session to finish the night.

Tina Dolen, executive director of AIPC, said she was happy with the team that had been assembled to complete the study.

Working with AIPC as paid consultant was Vanasse Hangen Brustlin Inc (VHB). William Ashworth of VHB gave the presentation of the results.

“This is the first comprehensive look at roadways on Aquidneck Island. VHB conducted 17 Road Safety Assessments,” said Dolen.

The recommended policies included focus on safety, land use policies, Zoning Ordinances to support transit development, access management and a parking plan for the city of Newport.

The most important of these policies was to establish better communication and coordination between state and local agencies during development site plan reviews.

Jody Sullivan, the executive director of the Newport Chamber of Commerce, praised the plan.

“I think this island-wide plan is without an agenda and contains very good analysis and a broad impartial look at what can be. Tina (Dolen) should be very proud,” she said.

Portsmouth Town Administrator Bob Driscoll also was impressed.

“This will definitely help with the coordinated planning between towns,” said Driscoll.

Mary Shepard a resident of Middletown although generally happy with the plan did suggest a change.

“I would like to see this plan include more aggressive use of rail service from the north of the island into Newport. Also I’d like to see it better marketed so visitors from Boston could park in the north and ride into the city. Of course it would have to be reasonable in price,” she said.

According to the report and Dolen, a Steering Committee was commissioned and included many different agencies. Some of these agencies included the Federal Highway Administration, the state Department of Environmental Management, the Naval War College, Rhode Island Public Transit Authority and the Sierra Club as well as several others.

Dolen said it was important to ensure that this study was truly an Aquidneck Island study so interviews with stakeholders were also conducted.

The 22 stakeholders included the Portsmouth Economic Development Committee, Raytheon, Peter Pan Bus Lines, Grow Smart Rhode Island, Coalition for Transportation Choices and the State Police.

The public was also encouraged to lend their views. During public meetings, more than 600 comments were collected.

Also part of the public participation, there was an online survey (300 responses), postcard surveys (1,700 returned), Evaluation Criteria Survey (260 responses) and Department of Transportation Voting of Preferences (750 votes).

The two most important evaluation criteria were "mobility benefits" and "safety" as determined by the Steering Committee and the online survey.

The transit improvements were broken down into 10 different improvements:

1. Encourage transit orientated development
2. Provide additional bus service
3. Establish Newport jitney service
4. Implement rapid bus service
5. Strengthen and expand island-wide multi-modal centers
6. Maintain active Newport secondary rail corridor
7. Enhance the transit experience
8. Encourage island employers to institute transit programs for employees
9. Create Park & Ride opportunities
10. Enhance ferry service

Another important component of the report was the recommended bicycle/pedestrian improvements. These were broken down into six improvements recommended:

1. Shoreline bike-way (Burma Road) shared use path
2. Connect missing links between suitable roads for bicycles
3. Provide island-wide destination signing for bicycles
4. East Main Road shared-use path
5. West Main Road shared-use path
6. General upgrades of pedestrian accommodations

There were nine recommended roadway improvements. Some of these projects are either underway or planned for the future, but were included in the report:

1. Pell Bridge access improvements
2. Traffic signal optimization
3. Two Mile corner improvements
4. Localized intersection safety/capacity improvements
5. Cory’s Lane/Hedley Street realignment
6. West Main Road left-turn lanes
7. Burma Road improvements
8. East Main Road roundabouts
9. Broadway Street-scape and traffic calming improvements

To view the study report and get more updates, click here.