Broadway, Americas Cup Blvd. Work Continues this Week

Work will continue on two major projects in Newport on America’s Cup Boulevard and Broadway.

On America’s Cup Boulevard, the state Department of Transportation will continue landscaping, loaming, seeding and working on brick and concrete sidewalks, electrical items and signing.

There will be partial lane closures during the work from 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Route 138A, including America’s Cup Ave. from Bridge Street to Memorial Boulevard. There could also be closures on the Boulevard from Thames Street to Bellevue Avenue.

Meanwhile on Broadway, long-overdue work on the pavement begins in earnest. Paving and temporary striping will be installed and lane shifts will be possible from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. along Broadway from Summer Street to Cranston Avenue.

Parking is not permitted on the street during construction. Use Van Zandt Avenue to access side streets West of Broadway and Kay Street for streets east of Broadway.

The Broadway project had been stalled since Federal Highway Trust Fund money stopped being doled out to states during the federal shutdown and sequester last year.

The City Council kickstarted the repairs after finding a creative alternative — loaning money to the state — in January.

You can find out more information at the city’s Broadway Streetscape project page HERE.

The America’s Cup Boulevard project is an outgrowth of the two-year Aquidneck Island Transportation Study, the project will bring needed enhancements to 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 for completion 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.

The work will also narrow travel lanes, reconstruct wheelchair ramps for ADA compliance, increase pedestrian crossing times and replace curbs to remove tripping hazards.