A coastal path along Aquidneck Island’s west side sounds straightforward until you consider what’s already there: an active railroad carrying dinner trains, specialty excursions, and Rail Explorers along the Newport Secondary tracks. Instead of choosing between the rails and a trail, a long-discussed project is now exploring how both could share the corridor.
The proposed Rail with Trail would add a shared-use path for walkers and cyclists alongside the tracks, giving people another way to move between island communities without displacing the rail activity that’s already part of the route. It’s an idea that’s been in the conversation for more than two decades, with a 2000 conservation strategy calling for safer walking and biking connections, including a path beside the railway.
Now that the project has reached the design phase, the first stretch is coming into focus. Plans begin with 4.5 miles along Burma Road, running from the Melville area of Portsmouth to Access Road in Middletown, while future work would need to navigate around the Navy Base before connecting with the existing shared-use path along Connell Highway toward downtown Newport.
Aquidneck Resilience is leading the effort alongside the Aquidneck Island Land Trust, Bike Newport, Green Street Associates, and the Navy, and community input will help shape the early designs.
Residents can see what’s being considered at an October 27 open house at Innovate Newport from 5:30-7pm, where engineering consultants will share a brief presentation and organizers will offer a family-friendly art activity. A November 1 train ride through the corridor has already sold out, but the open house still gives locals a chance to ask questions and weigh in before the plans move further along. For more information on the Rail with Trail project, visit aquidneckresilience.org.
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