Newport is hoping to revitalize its city center over the next several years.
One idea on the table involves a complete overhaul of Highway 101, which currently splits the city as a four-lane thoroughfare; hazardous for pedestrians and unfriendly to cyclists. City leaders say they want a more walkable core, and more housing.
A potential solution, suggested by a group of consultants the city hired to study the issue, is to turn 101 into a couplet. That proposal would move northbound traffic to the parallel Southwest 9th Street, while keeping southbound traffic on its current alignment.
Planning Director Derrick Tokos told the city council on Dec. 16 that Newport has urban renewal funds set aside, but getting essential state support, planning, and then construction could take six to ten years.
“The expectation here is not only would we be re-working the streetscape, and in terms of sidewalks and bike lanes, we would be redoing the entire roadway surface,” Tokos said. “We would be looking at our underlying water and wastewater lines, and upgrading those along the way. It's a big project.”
Splitting traffic into two roadways would allow the city to add more bike infrastructure, street trees and other pedestrian-centric improvements.
If the city council decides it doesn’t want to split Highway 101 into a couplet, it could make more modest improvements to improve safety and allow more housing to be built.
The city is also looking at the area around Highway 20 for possible reinvestment in hopes of transforming it into a “ocean view gateway” corridor into the community.
Improvements to either highway would also be accompanied with other efforts to revitalize the city’s core, including zoning updates to encourage housing development and improvements to public spaces.
Newport has a committee studying the issue, and is taking public feedback for the next several months, with the next public event likely scheduled for February.
