Newport Transportation Plan

What’s New?

The Newport Transportation Plan has been approved, and the Monitoring Committee has been meeting since 2022 with the purpose to help guide and fulfill the recommendations of the Plan.  The Monitoring Committee meets regularly for updates by the project partners:  WILMAPCO, DelDOT, DTC, and New Castle County Department of Land Use on the projects and studies that were recommended in the plan. There have also been annual public workshops held in the spring.  The partners provide support for the committee and the public, and work to  coordinate existing projects with the recommendations in the plan. To view the presentations from the Monitoring Committee meetings and the workshops, please click on the links, below:

Public Workshop Presentation 5.21.24
Monitoring Committee Presentation 6.13.23
Public Workshop Presentation 3.7.23
Monitoring Committee Presentation 12.14.22
Monitoring Committee Presentation 6.21.22
Monitoring Committee Presentation 3.2.22
Monitoring Committee Presentation 2.7.22

 

The Newport Transportation Plan has been approved.  The recommendations of the Plan can be viewed in on our interactive map.  If you wish to view the report and appendices separately, or require a smaller file size, please use the links below:

Newport Transportation Plan Interactive Map

Newport Monitoring Committee

To help implement the recommendations of the Newport Transportation Plan, a Monitoring Committee has been set up. The Monitoring Committee includes, Newport civic leaders, elected officials, residents, and business interests throughout the Newport Study Area, in addition to WILMAPCO, DelDOT and Town officials.

Kickoff Meeting – March 2, 2022

Meeting #2 – June 21, 2022

 

Public Workshops

January 2020 Public Workshop Presentation and Boards

September 2020 Virtual Public Workshop Materials

December 2020 Virtual Public Workshop

About the Newport Transportation Plan

The Town of Newport Transportation Plan develoedp transportation recommendations for the town center and surrounding areas. The study analyzed issues raised in the Town of Newport Comprehensive Plan. Transportation goals in the Comprehensive Plan include:

  • Improve mobility, accessibility and transportation alternatives to provide for the safe and efficient movement of people and goods.
  • Provide for the safe, efficient and convenient movement of people and goods within the Town by integrating land uses, circulation routes and transportation facilities.
  • Provide traffic calming and landscape techniques to mask the noise and traffic generated from State Route 141/41 and State Route 4.
  • Additional relevant goals address smart growth policy, economic development, redevelopment, health and safety, recreation and open space.

The study addresses the following issues raised in the Newport Comprehensive Plan.

Roadway and Multimodal Transportation

  • Develop measures to manage traffic from the regional vehicular roadway network. Issues include limiting speed, buffering noise, reducing air pollution and addressing growing threats to pedestrians.
  • Develop a plan for the regular monitoring of vehicular traffic (including the vehicle mix of cars vs. trucks) and associated impacts over the next decade. The plan should include regular (annual) reporting from the appropriate agency to Newport Town Commission.
  • Establish a seasonal air quality monitoring program in the vicinity of SR-141/41 and SR-4 to track changes over time.
  • Develop a system of pathfinder signage throughout Newport to guide visitors to various locations, including lots. Such a system will reduce traffic congestion and thus noise and air pollution.
  • Capitalize on Newport’s accessibility from SR-141/41 and SR-4 while concurrently implement measures to manage regional traffic.

Traffic Calming

  • Evaluate options for appropriate traffic-calming techniques to improve both traffic and pedestrian safety, especially for the downtown commercial section of the Town.
  • Explore opportunities to incorporate traffic-calming with appropriate development design standards in order to help ensure safety and mobility for pedestrian and non-motorized modes of transport. Design standards may include, but not be limited to, shorter and narrower blocks, on-street parking, through street and walkways and other elements designed to keep regional traffic dispersed and at low-speeds.

Pedestrian and Bicycle Transportation

  • Evaluate options for improving aesthetics and providing pedestrian accessibility and amenities along SR-4 through Newport, including the design and installation of signalized pedestrian crossings throughout the Market Street section of SR-4.
  • Consider promotion of pedestrian and bicycle paths to link residential and commercial sections of town as well as to link the new boat ramp and nature center to the Town’s residential and commercial areas. Develop and encourage the use of other alternative transportation systems.
  • Consider extending the above-recommended pedestrian/bike path along the Christiana River. The new boat ramp has potential to attract large numbers of people to Newport. A well established pedestrian/bike path may entice tourists to walk/ride and shop or eat in local establishments.

Parking

  • Explore municipal purchase of select parcels throughout the downtown area for conversion to centrally located (metered) surface parking lots or parking structure to serve surrounding land uses.
  • Work with select business-owners with parking to institute shared parking arrangements as appropriate. Commercial tenants whose primary office hours are during the day can share parking facilities with establishments whose patronage is primarily at night. Newport can facilitate “Parking Agreements” between the parties in order to define the terms of such shared parking arrangement.
  • Consider locating parking lots behind buildings or street walls. Successful urban design for commercial downtown places retail and office buildings close to the sidewalk with no set back. Rear parking becomes a logical extension of such a design.
  • Explore public/private partnerships with downtown businesses to effectuate the above-recommended parking plans.

Public Involvement

Public involvement is a key. We sought public input through media coverage, town meetings and joint public workshops of Newport, DelDOT and WILMAPCO. Workshops gave the community the opportunity to comment on transportation and land use issues and discuss possible solutions. A management committee consisted of a variety of stakeholders from Town officals, DelDOT and WILMAPCO. A steering committee consisted of a variety of stakeholders including elected officials and civic, business, and historic preservation groups. Both the steering and management committees guided the study by proposing potential solutions, determining how information is presented to the public and reviewing technical analysis.

Additional Information

  •  For more information about this study or to send comments, please email Dave Gula at dgula@wilmapco.org.
  • To view the 2013 Newport Train Station Feasibility Study, click Here