DOT starts upgrades to Newport bike, pedestrian facilities

NEWPORT – R.I. Department of Transportation last week began work on a project that will upgrade bike and pedestrian facilities throughout the downtown.
According to a news release, the project was an outgrowth of the two-year Aquidneck Island Transportation Study. It will enhance existing facilities along America’s Cup Avenue and Memorial Boulevard, as well as introduce several new features.
The $2.8 million contract with D’Ambra Construction is part of the RI*STARS program, an initiative focused on delivering low-cost, high-benefit improvements throughout the state. Construction will take place throughout the fall and winter, and is scheduled to be finished by late spring 2015.
The improvements to America’s Cup Avenue and Memorial Boulevard were designed in concert with the state’s Complete Streets law, which requires that all federal- and state-funded road-construction projects equally consider motor vehicles, bicyclists, public transportation and pedestrians. Many of the improvements proposed integrate this approach, including the addition or alteration of seven pedestrian crosswalks, installation of accessible pedestrian signals, enhancement of crosswalk visibility through signing and striping, and installation of bump-outs and bike lanes. •