As another busy summer season begins, City of Newport officially launches first full program Transport master plan.

Since the last study on transportation issues was undertaken for the City in 2001, there have been significant changes in population, development and the ways in which those who live, work and visit the City-by-the -Sea move. With Newport’s tourist activity also increasing throughout the year, the need to improve connectivity between the city’s water transportation system, roads, bike paths and transit options has become even more acute. more pressing.

The planning council and city staff will lead the effort, along with city council, the state planning division of the Rhode Island Department of Administration and a local residents’ advisory committee.

Once completed, the Newport Transportation Master Plan will provide city leaders with a comprehensive assessment of existing transportation infrastructure, along with an identification of the challenges and priority solutions to make city travel safer, greener and better. fair.

The development of the plan was validated through a series of public engagement activities held in the fall of 2019 where residents and business interests identified the need to improve public transit, bike paths, pedestrian access and take advantage of upgrades to the Newport Pell Bridge to improve vehicle flow throughout the city.

Newport’s transportation master plan will build on the recently adopted Rhode Island Long Term Transportation Plan, which includes the state’s very first bicycle mobility and transit master plans. The goal is to develop a plan for Newport and Newport access points that promotes the use of all modes of transportation, especially active transportation (cycling and walking), public transit and carpooling, in order to reduce the number of vehicles traffic during the high summer tourist season. Vehicle traffic will be addressed in the plan, as will the availability and supply of parking. The plan will benefit from continued public engagement which will hopefully coincide with the end of the Covid-19 pandemic. This commitment, including the availability of translation, will ensure compliance with mandatory regulations, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, Civil Rights Act, environmental regulations, and ensure fairness in the distribution of program material.

Toole Design, an engineering, landscape architecture, urban design and planning consultant, was selected by an evaluation committee made up of representatives from the Rhode Island State Planning Division, Planning Council of the City of Newport and the Departments of Planning and Utilities, Department of Rhode Island. of Transportation and the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA). Toole’s office in Boston will lead work on the Newport Transportation Master Plan, which is funded by federal, state and local sources.

The development of the transport master plan will take approximately 18 months, with a first contextual analysis which began in April 2021.

The project team hopes that in-person public engagement will be possible as early as this summer, with additional public engagement in summer 2022, public health permitting.

For updates, please visit www.keepnewportmoving.com.