City Releases Final Draft Transportation Master Plan

Friday, March 24, 2023

Public Invited for Workshop, Wednesday, March 29th
 
NEWPORT, R.I. (FRIDAY, MARCH 24th, 2023) – With an eye toward making Newport a safe and inviting place for all people to travel, whether on foot, by bike, bus, or vehicle, the City of Newport on Thursday released the latest draft of its comprehensive Transportation Master Plan.
 
Entitled Keep Newport Moving, the draft plan is the culmination of almost 2 years of public outreach, community engagement, and collaboration with the Rhode Island Division of Statewide Planning.
 
In addition to examining the City’s current transportation network, the plan offers suggestions for improving traffic circulation, enhancing the City’s parking infrastructure, and investing in additional pedestrian and multimodal transit infrastructure to make getting around Newport safer and easier for residents and visitors alike.
 
It also includes a number of aspirational concept projects, including expanding the City’s bike lane network and taking steps to prepare the City’s transit network for climate change.
 
Among the key goals of the plan are the following:

• REDUCE TRAVEL STRESS - The continued pursuit of multimodal street design programs that facilitate better traffic flow, reduce travel stress, and make walking connections safer.
• MAKE WALKING CONNECTIONS SAFER - An expanded sidewalk network with street calming and pedestrian safety improvements targeted at some of Newport’s busiest streets.
• EMBRACE MICROMOBILITY – Embrace new technologies that will held reduce car use and guide motorists to available and convenient parking facilities.
• CONNECT THE COMMUNITY- Improving bus service and facilities on Broadway, Bellevue Avenue, and America’s Cup Avenue to encourage wider use of public transit and develop greater connectivity between the downtown area and North End neighborhoods.

 
City Councilors will be meeting to discuss the plan in a special workshop on Wednesday, March 29th at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.
 
For more information, or to download the full draft Plan, be sure to visit the City’s dedicated project website at www.CityofNewwport.com/KeepNewportMoving.
 
First launched in the summer of 2021, The Transportation Master Plan aims to establish a collective vision to make it safer and easier for residents and visitors navigate Newport streets and sidewalks. Over the last two years, the City collected public comments about transportation conditions and issues from over 200 people and received over 500 responses through an interactive mapping activity.
 
A report on the existing conditions was released in 2022. It outlined the history of Newport transportation and the transportation conditions in Newport today. From this background, the project team developed draft walking, biking, public transit, driving, and parking policy recommendations and asked the public for feedback. Keep Newport Moving is funded through a partnership between the Rhode Island Division of Statewide Planning and the City of Newport.