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Town, DOT discuss ADA crosswalk upgrades and broader Route 108 repaving; coordination promised
Summary
RIDOT has begun ADA-focused crosswalk improvements along Route 108; town staff and RIDOT officials told the council the work currently under way addresses accessibility upgrades but that larger traffic-calming and repaving efforts are planned and the agencies are coordinating on scope and timing.
Town staff and representatives from the Rhode Island Department of Transportation briefed the council April 14 on several separate but overlapping projects along Route 108 and Kingston Village. RIDOT is undertaking ADA curb, sidewalk and crosswalk upgrades as part of a statewide package of accessibility improvements; those projects do not, in RIDOT’s description, include comprehensive traffic-calming or intersection redesigns.
Town staff said they had flagged the corridor and sought coordination; RIDOT sent plans to the town but initially proceeded on the statewide ADA package timeline. Town planners, the town manager’s office and the council later secured additional RIDOT engagement: RIDOT engineers walked the corridor with staff, agreed to install certain pedestrian safety measures (including a flashing crosswalk beacon planned near the Old Mountain Field/School Street crossing), and indicated they may repave longer stretches of Route 108 as part of a broader contract that could include curb and intersection improvements.
Planning Director Jamie Rabbit and DOT liaison Rich Bourbonnais said the ADA improvements could have some calming effects — curb ramps and warning strips can slow vehicles in some locations — but that formal traffic calming (bump-outs, speed tables, curb extensions and crosswalk design) generally requires separate design work and funding. The town is pursuing opportunities to package larger safety improvements into forthcoming RI grant programs (including Safe Streets for All) and asked the council to support ongoing coordination.
Council members asked whether RIDOT had informed the town before work began; RIDOT representatives said the ADA package was part of a statewide program and that direct local coordination is being improved now that town staff raised specific safety concerns. The council voted to add a related RIDOT coordination item to the agenda for a subsequent meeting and to continue working with RIDOT on design and funding for safety measures along the corridor.
