As Newport continues to thrive as a travel and tourist destination, and as the climate change crisis continues to grow, now more than ever biking and walking are paramount for our community. So how can we achieve this in a safe way?
Education – Not only is it important to provide the community with information on how to safely bike, drive, and walk around Newport but I think it is also important to provide them with information on how to be cognizant of each other and methods that will assist individuals to work towards keeping each other safe.
Enforcement – We seem to have enough traffic and parking enforcement but could use more focused on bicycling and skateboarding.
Parking –The Pell Bridge redevelopment was designed to increase connectivity to Downtown Newport and free up land for new development. Even though there are many outlets for parking in Newport, they are primarily located in the central part of the city where the most congestion appears to happen. Perhaps entertaining the idea of satellite parking in the freed up land from the redevelopment, that can be utilized for day visitors and the tourist population. Including bike-share options and trolleys at this satellite parking facility that can transport visitors to downtown would help in decreasing some of the congestion and could work towards making Newport less car-centric. This could assist in removing cars from the busiest parts of the city and creating more pedestrian and bicycle only zones.