'This gave me some clarity': Residents get a closer view of Newport Pell Bridge ramp project

NEWPORT — A large crowd gathered in the empty parking lot adjacent to the former Newport Grand Casino to hear a more detailed explanation about the Newport Pell Bridge ramp realignment, the Department of Transportation’s $85.5 million project to redesign the highway connections from the Newport Pell Bridge to Newport’s North End and downtown on Tuesday afternoon.

“There’s a lot of interest, I know even they’re surprised that this many people came out,” Mayor Jeanne Marie Napolitano said. “I thought they did a good job explaining and now people know who to contact if they have questions and I think that’s important.”

The first phase of construction began in 2020, focusing on smaller improvements to JT Connell Highway and Coddington Highway. It added the bike path to Coddington Highway, resurfaced the roadway and replaced sidewalks for about $10.9 million. Now, RIDOT has moved on to the much larger construction phase, which will readjust the bridge on and off ramps. 

Instead of splitting off in two directions at Farewell Avenue, the bridge will continue in a slight curve until it crosses in front of the Newport Grand Casino parking lot and intersects with Admiral Kalbfus Road. A new on-ramp system will also be added in the area of where the current North End/Middletown exit sits today.

During this process, RIDOT also plans to remove the “highway to nowhere,” the overpass which terminates next to the Wayfinder Hotel, freeing up about 25 acres of land for development.

“We started this project in 2021 as a way to give Newport a new, efficient ramp system,” RIDOT Director Peter Alviti Jr. said. “That was the primary concern, to cut down the back-up we see on a daily basis on the Newport bridge, but we looked at this as an opportunity to take an alternate in designing, and garnering additional funding from the federal government that allowed us to look at alternatives here and create and enhance economic development in Newport by improving the connection between the North End of Newport and the downtown area.”

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Originally, the information session held Tuesday afternoon was planned as a walking tour around the construction site, however, RIDOT did not prepare enough safety equipment for everyone who showed up. Instead of the tour, attendees were encouraged to ask various project leaders their questions about the construction process.

Resident Mike Cullen, who, alongside his wife Beth Cullen, has been regularly engaged with the project for years now, said Alviti’s presentation on Tuesday afternoon still leaves him with a question: who will have the authority to make development decisions on the newly available land, the city or state government?

“There’s going to be a lot of acreage, the number has bopped around between 20 acres and 50 acres, so today it was really good to hear from him that it’s 25 acres,” Cullen said. “The big question is who’s going to work that. (Alviti) is a part of the state executive function, he’s not going to be able to overstep the governor and the future governor, whoever that is, and the General Assembly, the funders, and say, ‘yeah, I’ve signed a letter and simply handed it over to Newport, guaranteeing them, promising them, that they can develop that area’.”

For City Manager Joseph J. Nicholson Jr., who was in attendance on Tuesday, that will be a bridge to cross when the project gets there.

“They still have a while to go on the project,” Nicholson said. “We’ll eventually get to where we need to get to in terms of issues like that, but it's nice to see a nice clean, paved area with sidewalks, that’s kind of exciting, so I think it can only enhance the rest of the area.”

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Although the parcel is technically state land, state Sen. Lou DiPalma, who was in attendance on Tuesday, said the city of Newport should be given the opportunity to decide what should be done on the property.

“At the end of the day, if the state is going to excess some land, the right of first refusal is with the city or town,” DiPalma said. “It really should be in true concert and collaboration with the city.”

In the same vein, City Councilor Angela McCalla was in attendance to speak with members of RIDOT and ensure the state was collaborating with the city on the project, but she is more focused on the immediate impact construction will have and whether it complies with the city’s sustainability efforts.

“It’s going to be the First Ward residents that really, for the next five years, are going to be directly impacted, whether it’s waking up at 6 o’clock in the morning to the sound of jackhammers or the change in the traffic patterns,” McCalla said. “There’s a lot of development going on and I just want to make sure I’m on top of everything.”

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Like McCalla, City Council candidate Stephanie Smyth also had concerns about the impact on nearby neighborhoods, but overall she is happy to see the planned changes making headway.

“I hope it’s going to be successful, I do have concerns with a few spots; neighborhoods this is going to impact, specifically Malbone Road and how traffic is going to increase in certain areas and how they’re going to navigate through that, but I am happy they’re putting this throughway back through it,” Smyth said. “What they’re trying to do now is what it used to be like, so it’ll be interesting to have that back the way it technically should be.”

Although the event did not go quite to plan, Newport resident Kerry Clougher said the presentation helped better clarify RIDOT’s plans for the bridge ramps. 

“I thought it was important to have a clearer picture of what was transpiring because for about, I don’t know, three years now, I’ve been wondering, even though I’ve looked at all the different maps that tried to explain what’s going on it wasn’t very clear,” Clougher said. “I think this gave me some clarity. We still have questions about drainage issues and I have questions about the residents bordering and how they’re affected, so that concerns me, but it’s just good to get information.”

Maps and links to more information about the project are available on the RIDOT website and the department has launched an email service for residents to receive regular updates as well.