Tri State Trails recommends two-way protected bikeway on Saratoga Street to link Purple People Bridge to 11th Street

Tri State Trails told the City of Newport Board of Commissioners on Feb. 9 that a two-way, protected bikeway running about seven-tenths of a mile from the Purple People Bridge at 3rd Street to 11th Street would improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety while preserving parking and the tree canopy.

The proposal, presented by Wade Johnston, executive director of Tri State Trails, grew from a feasibility study the group carried out with Compass Infrastructure and the city. Johnston said the project aims to provide a “safe and protected facility” that separates bicycles from pedestrians and motor vehicles while maintaining on-street parking where possible. “Our goal here is to have a 7 tenths of a mile, bikeway or trail that comes off the Purple People Bridge at 3rd Street and goes all the way down to 11th Street,” he said.

Johnston and Compass engineer Mike Yeager outlined three design approaches: a shared-use multiuse path, protected on-road bike lanes (two variations, 2a and 2b), and two one-way bike lanes (one per side). Yeager said the corridor has roughly…