City Will Loan State $1.3m To Finally Fix Broadway

Bone-rattling Broadway will finally get fixed this year thanks to $1.3 million loan from Newport to the state in what local officials call a “strategically innovative funding solution” to detour a backlog in federal highway funds and finally get the Broadway Streetscape Project completed.

It is unusual, if not unprecedented for a municipality to lend money to the state, a fact noted by members of the Newport City Council Wednesday night before unanimously approving the loan, which will be repaid to the city within two years, without interest.

“I would think there’s irony in that the city is more flush than the state,” said City Councilor Naomi Neville, who joined other council members in lauding city staff for the creative solution but expressed concern that the state might somehow try to get out of the contract.

They’re telling us they’ll pay us back,” Neville said. “But what if a new administrator or Governor came in and says ‘we’re not going to pay them back’?”

Acting City Manager Joseph Nicholson said that the contract, which was developed collaboratively with the state Department of Transportation, “is a contract” and the state is legally required to pay back the money.

“The legal answer is that this is a contract,” Nicholson said. “We have no choice. Broadway is horrible and we need to get in the ground and we want to get in the ground in April.”

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

The improvements to Broadway, which include a new road surface, new markers, striping, crosswalks, sidewalks and work on numerous side streets, have been planned and engineered for months and even put out to bid. But with the federal money tied up, the road has remained in deplorable condition and the much needed upgrades to the broader streetscape have withered on the vine.

With the loan, the project status would switch from “pending” to “approved for construction,” allowing the city to award a contract in advance of the spring construction status, according to a city memo.

The city would be paid back within two years, according to the contract, and the state would eventually recoup their end of the deal under the assumption that the federal money will eventually flow to the state.

Councilor Katherine Leonard said she wants to see Broadway finished along with “everyone that owns a car in this town or bicycle or motorcycle” but she hoped state officials won’t ever look back on the loan and assume the city is really flush with cash.

“I just hope that this doesn’t backfire,” Leonard said.

Director of Public Services William R. Riccio Jr. told the City Council that the former federal transportation bill expired on Oct. 1 to coincide with the federal fiscal year and Congress has still not addressed the issue of federal funding.

With “no money in the bucket” and the improvements to Broadway expected to be done this year, the city tried to come up with a way to guarantee the job would finally get done while minimizing the cost to the city, Riccio said.

Without the loan, the city would have no way to get the contract awarded, he said, and it’s anyone’s guess when the federal backlog ends.

The contract includes roadway improvements to Broadway and Marlborough Street from Farewell Street to Bliss Road and side street approaches to Broadway.

In the southern section, 2,200 feet of full-depth reconstruction of the roadway will occur from Farewell Street to Cranston Avenue. About 85 feet of Marlborough Street will also be reconstructed.

At the same time, sidewalks will be reconstructed on both sides and curb extensions, granite curbing, wheelchair ramps, raised crosswalks, landscaping, decorative street lights, bike racks, markers and new signs will be installed.

On the northern section from Cranston Avenue to Bliss Road, work includes micro-milling the existing surface and the addition of a new surface along with new signs, replacement of traffic loop detectors and pavement markings.

Federal money is paying for 80 percent of the project costs, Riccio said.

The loan would be recorded in the state’s general fund as a loan receivable in the state’s General Fund.

Mayor Jeanne Marie Napolitano praised Riccio for his work on the issue and said the completion of the project will bring much relief to everyone in Newport.

“Everyone that has to travel Broadway has gone through quite a bit,” Napolitano said.

To review the full text of the contract, click HERE.