Aquidneck Island Transportation Study

Summary

The Master Plan will guide the investment of future funding into the Island's overall transportation system through a program of recommended short, medium, and long-term capital improvements suitable for inclusion into the State of Rhode Island Transportation Improvement Program.

Progress and Implementation

The AITS study team completed the plan in spring 2011 and presented the final results at a public meeting on May 4. The final study report can be downloaded from the study website vhb.com/aquidneck/.

In the year since the transportation study’s completion, the Aquidneck Island municipalities as well as state and federal agencies have made significant progress in the implementation of the transportation study’s recommendations, including improvements to the Pell Bridge ramps, Newport ferry enhancements, and targeted safety improvements at 25 island intersections.

April 29, 2010: Community College of Rhode Island - Newport

Public Meetings Public input was critical to the success of the AITS, and AIPC held four workshops as part of the study planning process. It received more than 3,000 comments during the development of the plan. Materials from the meetings are available on the AITS website. Meeting 1 September 29, 2009, Middletown, RI Meeting 2 April 29, 2010, Newport RI Meeting 3 December 9, 2010, Portsmouth, RI Meeting 4 May 4, 2011, Newport, RI

Goals

• To develop, through an open, public planning process, recommendations to accommodate future travel demands while enhancing environmental quality, multimodal traveler safety, and other important quality of life aspects, where possible.

• To recommend multimodal transportation system improvements that enhance efficiency and safety.

• To promote the equitable sharing of the transportation system's benefits and to accommodate such considerations as age, income, physical and mental ability and transit dependency.

• To build consensus for proposed transportation improvements and sustainable development through public forums.

Timeline

Task 1	Outreach & Community Vision: Public Involvement and Participation	May 2009 to April 2011
Task 2	Technical Investigation (Data Assembly & Analysis)	June 2009 to November 2009
Task 3	Transportation Improvement Alternative & Integrated Scenarios	October 2009 to June 2010
Task 4	Evaluation of Alternative Transportation Improvements & Integrated Scenarios	May 2010 to November 2010
Task 5	Transportation Improvement Plan	October 2010 to February 2011
Task 6	Plan Implementation	January 2011 to April 2011