Letters: Reconsider road diet for East Main Road

NOAA Newport headquarters result of years of planning

The exciting announcement that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will construct a new headquarters for its Atlantic fleet at Naval Station Newport is a testament to years of strategic planning in Rhode Island through the federal Base Realignment And Closure (BRAC) decisions dating back to 1991, 1995 and 2005. The team effort included local, state, and federal officials and the Newport County Chamber of Commerce-led business community, with particular leadership from U.S. Sen. Jack Reed. Today, Naval Station Newport's combined operations are the largest single employer in Newport County and third overall in Rhode Island.

Keith W. Stokes, Newport

Reconsider road diet for East Main Road

It’s unfortunate that there was such a short deadline before a decision had to be relayed to RIDOT about a road diet on East Main Road.

Most of us know East Main Road as a “failed highway,” a designation pointed out in the Middletown Town Council meeting. Oncoming vehicles can be just inches away from a head-on collision, turning left across two lanes of traffic can be a white-knuckle undertaking, and cars are competing with commercial vehicles that block visibility and don’t even fit within the lane.

Yes, a road diet might have diverted some traffic to other roads. But at the Town Council meeting, several people who had traveled extensively, some with the military, described East Main Road as one of the most dangerous roads in their experience. Any diversion to any other roads would only be an improvement, and if East Main Road can be made to be safer, some drivers may actually have moved from West Main Road to East Main Road.

It also seems that if road diets with a center turn lane can be made to work in similar situations like Rt. 136 in Bristol (Metacom Avenue), a road diet may also have helped East Main Road. The road diet as planned in Middletown and Portsmouth could have been easily reversed if it did not improve safety.

A study done by RIDOT several years ago determined that East Main Road was too busy to employ any road improvements. So nothing was done.

Since, according to RIDOT, the road cannot be made to be safer, what can be done? Increased standard law enforcement is not an option, as East Main Road is too congested to vigorously patrol, and traffic stops only cause more congestion and additional delays and hazards.

One option is the use of electronic enforcement or speed cameras. Enabling legislation in the current session of the General Assembly would have to be passed very soon for this option to even be a possibility.

Another would be a ban of commercial vehicles when “mirror to mirror” they do not legally fit within the lanes.

And the third option is to reconsider the center turn lane option, as it has been proven to reduce crashes by up to 47%.

Judith A. Byrnes, Bristol

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Letters: Reconsider road diet for East Main Road