Dan

I’d choose returning East Main Rd to 2 lanes from 4 dangerous high speeds lanes without shoulders over preserving Burma Road, a bit of discontinuous route bicyclists and bike advocates have always favored. Going way out of my way for a bit of western overlook might be swell, but then you get Coddington Hgwy and Naval base between you and Newport.

Why choose one over the other? I too am concerned about the upcoming development along Burma road. The cycling community definitely needs to keep our eyes on the plans and make sure we are represented. We should push hard on the town to make sure that bicycles are accommodated along Burma road as they make infrastructure changes.

Dan

The problem with Aquidneck Is has never been a direct bottom-to-top route that supports cycling. This is just awful, since ALL roads on the island, by law, are supposed to support bicycling and pedestrians. There are no banned interstates, so a 6′ shoulder and sidewalks are minimally required.

Mid-2012 opening likely for new Sakonnet bridge.
By Marcia Pobzeznik
Newport Daily News correspondent
TIVERTON — Construction of a new bridge over the Sakonnet River is not expected to begin until the spring of 2009, with a completion date of mid- to late 2012.

The replacement of the existing span with a new $150 million bridge is “a top priority,” Michael P. Lewis, director of the state Department of Transportation, said during a meeting Monday in Tiverton.
The existing 2,900-foot-long bridge, which officials said is deteriorating in some spots at a rate of 17 percent a year, will continue to be inspected annually, with “critical components” inspected every six months, said Vartan Sahakian, an engineer with Commonwealth Engineering. He was one of five engineers who attended the meeting with the newly appointed Tiverton Sakonnet River Bridge Steering Committee to discuss specific design criteria for the Tiverton side of the bridge.

Sahakian said a report on the most recent inspection should be ready in a week or two, and if engineers find there is a need to further reduce the 22-ton weight limit of the four-lane bridge that carries traffic along Route 24 between Tiverton and Portsmouth, it would be reduced by a few tons.

Much of the discussion between the DOT and Steering Committee focused on the 500-foot-long earthen berm that would be built on the Tiverton side to replace superstructure at a savings of some $16 million.

How the 40-foot-high berm, which would measure 180 feet across at its widest point, should be landscaped is one of the outstanding issues.

“We want to make sure what we are putting in the contract is what the community wants,” said Kazem Farhoumand, acting chief engineer for the DOT.

The slope could be seeded and planted with grass, but it also could be terraced and planted with bushes. Alleviating maintenance is important to the DOT, Farhourmand said.

Residents have indicated to state officials that they want plantings that are low to the ground because trees could entice children to climb them and play on the terraced areas, said Thomas Cunningham, an engineer with Commonwealth Engineering.

A terraced bank could be harder to maintain because litter would collect on the different levels, as opposed to a grassy slope that could just be mowed, said Stephen Berlucchi, director of the town’s Department of Public Works.

The depth of the two retention ponds worried Planning Board Chairman Noel Berg, who said he would like to see fencing around the ponds that would be on each side of the berm.

One pond would be 5½ feet deep and the other would be 3½ feet deep, Cunningham said. The DOT would maintain them, Farhoumand said.

The number of truckloads of soil that would be required to build the berm was of special interest to Hank Curran, a resident who lives within 1,000 feet of the existing span.

Some 84,000 cubic yards of soil would be required to build the berm. That equates to 3,230 tractor-trailer truckloads. If smaller, 10-wheel trucks were used, it would require 4,670 loads, or about seven an hour for several months, Cunningham said. Curran wanted to know if the loads would be tamped as they’re delivered, because stockpiling them would increase the amount of dust in the area. He was told the plan is to use the loads as they arrive.

No decisions were made Monday by the Steering Committee; members will have a separate meeting to discuss the issues before they meet again with the state, according to Acting Town Administrator James Goncalo. That meeting has been scheduled for Monday, May 19, at 7 p.m. at Town Hall.

Send e-mail to correspondent Marcia Pobzeznik at Pobzeznik@NewportRI.com.

Portsmouth and Middletown persist in maintaining a public safety hazard in the name of East Main Road, where 30 years ago I witnessed a fatal, high speed, head-on collision between passenger cars, sadly, not an isolated incident. Since then, nothing at all has been done to improve safety. You still have stone walls which block drivers’ visibility of oncoming traffic, narrow lanes without dividers, no shoulders to allow them to ease out, and nothing to calm 70 mph traffic. It’s a recipe for tragedy that’s been mercilessly cooked countless times. How many more people have to die before traffic planners wake up? Roads with 4 lanes, no shoulders, undivided, unobstructed access have been proven to be death traps. Hardly a year goes by that we don’t hear of another collision fatality there.

Cyclists argue that calming all roads would be in their best interests. Why not just raise the price of gasoline to $40/galllon? That would work even better, but it’s unrealistic. One must compromise. I’m willing to accept a bicycling ban AS LONG AS there are adjacent bikelanes or bikeways, or nearby, unbroken parallels, which are shoveled and swept SAME AS banned roads. I will never accept closed bridges, multilane intersections, or rail corridors which completely cut off cycling. It’s illegal and need not be tolerated.

It’s laughable to me how Islanders complain about a few cars on an obscure stretch, while I’m riding every day in major congested travel lanes dodging busses and tractor trailers on route through Providence. You can’t ride through this state without somehow passing through its capitol. Meanwhile, Providence city planners and RIDOT closed bike access to Washington Bridge, forgot about the closed Division Street bridge in Pawtucket, and plan to deny access to the only other way across the Seekonk River, the Henderson. No motorist would tolerate this detour! They could have easily, even temporarily, spanned the short distance between Bold Point and India Park, but bicyclists get absolutely no consideration. They leave segments of bikeways closed or uncompleted for years or decades, when it’d be no big cost or deal to finish compared to highway construction. Between the I-way and Quonset connector overruns, there’s no money left.

I want immediate compliance in Providence. I only engaged in this conversation because bike planning everywhere ought to equally suit local need. A few minor restripings of roads would make Aquidneck much more bikeable, whereas the entire roadnet of Providence is a bicycling nightmare. I forwarded a low cost, easily implemented, on street, well received plan 4 years ago. Lipservice is all I got for my efforts. Things are so bad here, city firemen and police haven’t had a contract renewal in over 5 years. About the only thing you can do is move to some idyllic island and stay away. Unfortunately, many of my clients are not moving to Aquidneck, but out of state entirely.

Sorry for the confusion.