With major changes in the works for U.S. 27 and Carothers Road, Newport leaders have greenlit a new traffic study to determine whether Monmouth Street can go two-way.
The Newport Commission approved an order at its July 21 meeting to bring in TEC Engineering to complete a two-way traffic impact study on Monmouth Street. The new study is required to ensure that a two-way Monmouth would be feasible with the U.S. 27 and Carothers Road improvement projects moving forward after years of holdup.
Newport Assistant City Manager Brian Steffen said the projects don’t align with each other.
“The reason for bringing TEC in is to look at this globally, about how the South 27 and the proposed changes affect Monmouth Street in the downtown business district, if potential backups could occur,” Steffen said. “A two-way could possibly not work at all with the U.S. 27 road proposal.”
The original study for a two-way Monmouth Street was conducted 20-plus years ago, and a second study has been completed since then. The proposal and contract with TEC Engineering is not a complete redo, according to Steffen; it utilizes and builds upon the existing data from those studies, as well as the studies from the U.S. 27 and Carothers Road improvements project.
“This is a highly complex issue with two-way Monmouth, and there are some gaps that we need to fill in from the original study and the follow-up study that was done for that project,” he said.
Additionally, the contract includes provisions for inspecting the mast arm poles (a type of support structure typically used for traffic signals or streetlights) that have been in place for over two decades and were previously identified in a report for their condition.
TEC conducted the original study on Monmouth Street for a two-way. Over time, York Fourth and Fifth Streets were added as potential inclusion for two-way traffic.
“All of this is traffic calming, pedestrian, bicycle safety, those things, trying to reduce,” Steffen said. “There are known traffic incidents, accidents and pedestrian accidents along these corridors.”
All of those streets are state routes, which Steffen said involve the state highway department and an additional layer of complexity.
“When the study was done with Carothers Road and U.S. 27, that was before we had Newport Racing and Gaming, and that was before, as of late, 7 Brew,” Newport Commissioner Mike Radwanski said. “So, I do think that’s encouraging, that we’ll have the most accurate data so that we can make a decision on what we want to do with just planning infrastructure, period, whether we do one way or another.”
Steffen said once the contract is signed, he estimates a quick turnaround of about 30-60 days.
“I think we are going to be poised to make a very good decision that will be important for all of Newport and for Monmouth,” Newport Vice Mayor Julie Smith-Morrow said. “We want Newport businesses on Monmouth to do well, and we certainly don’t want to do anything to hurt them.”
Newport resident, former mayor, and city commissioner Jerry Peluso was the only person who spoke during public comment and asked the city where they were getting the money for the project, as it would be substantial.
Newport City Manager John Hayden said the city plans to work with the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments, also known as OKI, which he said is very supportive of the project. The city intends to use grant funding, which will come with a matching requirement attached. Hayden said he did not think anyone on the board would want to expend general funds for the project.
