MIDDLETOWN, R.I. – West Main Road won’t win any awards for its streetscape. In fact, in the recently launched Aquidneck Island Transportation Study, it constantly comes up as one of the worst roads on the island.
Now, thanks to a multi-million dollar improvement project currently hitting its stride, motorists will soon be able to travel more smoothly and pedestrians walk more safely.
Expect to see new sidewalks along this portion of West Main Road in front of the Barnes and Noble plaza. Staff photo.
Since May, the 2-mile stretch beginning at Coddington Highway and ending at Kesson Lane, has been undergoing significant improvements including the installation of new curbing and pedestrian signals, and will soon be repaved.
In addition, the chatter strip in the center lane that stretches from Kesson Lane to Route 24 will be removed, and the traffic lights in the lower project area will be synchronized. That means once you catch your first green, you should be able to keep hitting them.
That’s right: gone will be the days of the road rage-inducing starts and stops between lights that has come to typify driving on West Main.
The improvements come courtesy of some $4.9 million in federal stimulus funds doled out by the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT).
According to RIDOT spokesman Charles St. Martin, the project is running roughly 50 days ahead of schedule and should be wrapped up by October 2010.
It’s one of 54 projects that the statewide being funded by the $134 million the state received under the $789 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
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Newport, RI
