On November 14th, 20 people together toured the length of Valley Road in Middletown – from Aquidneck Avenue to West Main Road. The purpose of the tour was to conduct a “Bike and Walk Audit”.
What is a Bike/Walk Audit?
According to the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center of the US Department of Transportation:
A bike/walk audit is an unbiased examination/evaluation of the walking and biking environment. The general purpose of an audit is to identify concerns for pedestrians and bicyclists related to the safety, access, comfort, and convenience of the environment. In addition to identifying problem areas, an audit can be used to identify potential alternatives or solutions (such as engineering treatments, policy changes, or education and enforcement measures).
Valley Road is identified in the Ride Island Bike Plan as a priority north-south connection through Middletown, including several schools, community service organizations, residential facilities, and commercial establishments whose customers and members will greatly benefit from improved bicycle and pedestrian infratructure. Due to higher speeds and volumes, and available space, separated infrastructure is recommended.
Because Valley Road is scheduled for improvements in 2029 in the Rhode Island State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP), now is the best time for the community to consider what improvements they will request of the RI Department of Transportation. Time also allows for valuable community discussion and demonstration projects to experience candidate solutions.
As the participants biked, walked, and took a bus along Valley Road, they considered what they were experiencing on the roads, sidewalks, crosswalks, and intersections:
“How can we create a better, safer, more inviting environment for transportation modes other than cars – an environment that invites people to walk and to ride bicycles?”
The group gathered to discuss their impressions at five key locations:
- Valley Road at Aquidneck Avenue
- Valley Road at the Middletown Police Station and the entrance to Middletown High School.
- Valley Road at East Main Road
- Valley Road just east of West Main Road
- Valley Road at West Main Road
Experts from Toole Design Group introduced some best practices in engineering solutions that can improve safety, such as reduced turning radii, pedestrian islands, rumble strips to keep cars out of bike lanes, use of sidewalk heights at driveways to slow cars entering and exiting, among others.
Participant observations included:
“At the intersections of Green End and Valley Road as well as Aquidneck Ave and Valley Road, the shoulders disappear, making the movements of bikes even more dangerous.”
“There was a section from West Main to East Main that only had sidewalks on one side, it should be improved to have on both. Sidewalks should be connected all the way down Valley Road.”
“The Aquidneck light is a challenging transition for cycling – It would be great if the flow went smoothly into a roundabout or something to improve this area!”
“There’s lots of potential for a cut through via the middle and high schools, to avoid East Main Road and the steep hill on Green End Ave. I rode this way back to Turner Road and enjoyed it much more than the alternatives.”
“It would be amazing to see cycling improvements near the Y as well as light/speed/school considerations for lowering the overall speed limit on Valley.”
“While it seems like biking would be easy due to the shoulders along much of the roadway, there are significant problem areas, including at intersections where there is nowhere for bikes to go as the shoulder disappears.”
“ALL intersections need huge bicycle and pedestrian improvements. There’s no dedicated room for cyclists at any of them really.”
“Crossing over traffic and the intersections didn’t feel safe enough to me as a pedestrian, I would have felt less safe on my bike. There needs to be some sort of protective barrier between bikes and cars so cars don’t use the bike/walking lane as a passing lane when a car in front of them is turning.”
“It was great to get out in the field, and out of my car, to see how Valley Road works (or doesn’t) for other users.”
What are YOUR thoughts about Valley Road? Where do you want to bike and walk? What would make you feel safer and more invited? You can begin to be part of the community discussion and assessments. Here are some steps you can take:
- sign up for updates at rideisland.org/subscribe
- Become active in your municipality’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission (BPAC) Email Bari Freeman to be invited to an upcoming information session.
- follow Bike Newport and Ride Island on social media – @bikenewportri and @rideisland401
Thanks to the 20 people who participated in the Valley Road Bike/Walk Audit :
Middletown Town Administrator Shawn Brown, Director of Planning and Economic Development Ron Wolanski, and Planner Anita Guo; Members of the Middletown Bicycle and Pedestrian Commission Emily Buck and Pat Grimes; Paige Myatt of the Aquidneck Resilience Project; Cori Kilzi of the Newport County YMCA; Josh Kurman of Newport County Mental Health; Bill DeWitt of People’s Credit Union; Middletown residents Melissa Welch and Chyleene O’Connor; Newport residents Shivani Sood, Zane Randall, and Jim Fry; Bari Freeman and Jayne Baran of Bike Newport; Andy Clarke, Shawna Kitzman, and Rosie Jaswal of Toole Design; and Thomas Brendler of van Beuren Charitable Foundation.
Bike Newport