Work Continues on America's Cup Ave., Memorial Blvd.

Work continues to move at a steady pace on Memorial Boulevard and America’s Cup Avenue.

The state Department of Transportation this week will install curbing on the median and center island on Memorial Boulevard from Bellevue Avenue to Thames Street.

Grading work for the new pedestrian walkways is expected to be completed, too.

On America’s Cup Avenue, from Market Square to Thames Street, the DOT plans on installing curbing for pedestrian walkways and will reconstruct catch basins.

“We will also place concrete for the new pedestrian walkways from Long Wharf to Commercial Wharf. These operations will involve lane and shoulder closures in the project area weekdays from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.,” the DOT said in a statement.

The progress means good news for Newporters who have been driving by fencing and boards for several weeks as the project has been underway since November.

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.

Meanwhile, frustration about the condition of Broadway continues to mount.

Business owners say they’ve been dealing with the rough road for more than two years as crews have worked to install new water and sewer lines.

Hurting matters is the fact that the project has been put on hold because of a federal funding logjam. Though the project has been ready to go for some time, Congress’s squabble over spending, budget sequestration and other issues led to a severe backlog in the distribution of money from the Federal Highway Trust to the state’s Transportation Improvement Plan fund.

The good news is that National Grid has completed most of its work on the street and the road will finally be repaved sometime next year.