Long Path Ahead for Burma Road Restoration – Newport This Week

One thing most can agree on is Burma Road, also known as Defense Highway, needs work. Now stakeholders, which include federal and local governments, need to figure out whos going to do it.

The two-lane, Navy-owned road, which runs across the western shores of Newport, Middletown and Portsmouth, serves as an access point and is home to or in proximity of many institutions, private firms and organizations in the defense and marine industries, including Raytheon, Naval Station Newport and the Naval Undersea Warfare Center. It is also utilized as an entryway into Melville and a decongestant of the frequented West Main Road in Middletown.

But over time, the roads condition, utilities and infrastructure have deteriorated, and there is a clear need for a comprehensive restoration that is likely to be longterm and costly.

Some improvements need to be made on Burma Road in the very near future just to ensure that people can continue to use it, get access to the properties and be able to go to work, said Erin Donovan

Boyle, executive director of the Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce.

The chamber is hoping to help facilitate a larger transfer of many Navy-owned assets in the area, including roads, utilities and real estate, to public entities, such as the towns of Middletown and Portsmouth, the city of Newport, the Portsmouth Water and Fire Authority, and the Rhode Island Department of Transportation.

There are about 250 acres of developable land along the route and adjacent to Narragansett Bay under federal government ownership. Prior to becoming Navy property, the land was owned by local municipalities. A gradual expansion of Navy operations leading up to and immediately after World War II resulted in the Navy acquiring the property. Now, as operations have scaled back, the Navy has less use for the space.

The Navy has expanded and contracted its position along Burma Road for a very long time, said Marco Camacho, Newport Board chair on the Aquidneck Island Planning Commission, a non- profit organization that advocates for local autonomy. It still belongs to the federal government, and we should be proactive in preparing for a time when it would no longer be a part of Naval Station Newport. At the same time, there could be a situation where the Navy might want to expand there.

With a majority of federal funding now being earmarked for more immediately critical Naval purposes, the routes maintenance has not been prioritized, and some Navy properties have become inactive, with the Navy now having no critical-mission assets north of Greene Lane in Middletown.

The funds that go to the base have been limited and need to stay mission critical, so the long-term, necessary improvements to the road that are needed to ensure stability have not been made, Donovan-Boyle said. Its been a longtime issue and a long-term process. The pipes under the road are owned by the Navy. They are maintained, but to what degree is, what I think, the question, because theyre not heavily utilized.

Donovan-Boyle was pointing to the Aquidneck Island Infrastructure Assessment, a 2021 study that documented existing conditions in the area through surveys, interview and observations which noted the many issues and extensive need for necessary improvements along the route, such as structural and drainage upgrades, pothole elimination and painting. The analysis put forward an estimated $6.7 million to address road issues, a figure that includes maintenance through 2033.

The areas stormwater systems were also extensively studied and multiple issues were identified.

According to the study, structures were mislabeled, pipes and manholes were missing and catch basins, inlets, headwalls, outfalls, swales, manholes and pipes either did not exist or could not be found.

An estimated $33 million is needed to address water and sewer maintenance in the area, according to the analysis.

The study also points to proposed plans for private businesses or public entities to take over Navy owned assets along the route and beyond. But different entities have different stakes in the area, and with a wide, potentially intimidating scope of work, the details surrounding which stakeholders should take responsibility is complicated.

Securing adequate financing for infrastructure investment and transfer is challenging, and due to the scale of the project or transfer, often one funding source will not cover the cost, the study reads.

For example, Middletown would like to connect Defense Highway with Coddington Highway to provide another route for north and south travel through the town and relieve congestion on the main roads, according to the study. Without that connection, the town does not recognize value in owning Defense Highway, it states.

Similarly, Portsmouth recently established a redevelopment agency to acquire Tank Farms 1 and 2 from the Navy and develop them as mixed-use communities consisting of 200,000 square feet of light industrial use, 45 acres of solar farm, and workforce housing to support the marine trades industry. The town, however, is concerned with the potential environmental cleanup liabilities associated with ownership of the former tank farms and recently hired Matrix Design Group to advise it on the Navy property acquisition and redevelopment.

There is hesitancy by some of those potential buyers due to the unknown conditions of the areas infrastructure and utilities, as some sites have been identified as superfund sites, or areas in which hazardous waste has been dumped, left out in the open or otherwise improperly managed. For example, lead was found in the soil of the former Newport Naval Hospital.

There have been some challenges with environmental degradation over the years, Camacho said. These were things we didnt know back in World War II and can take a long time to remedy. Before any land is transferred over from the federal government to local government, we need to make sure that were not inheriting a risk.

The 2021 analysis also highlights the economic potential of the road should adequate restorations be made to it.

Modernizing and right-sizing the infrastructure for reuse in and around a closed or realigned base is an important investment that can attract future development opportunities, stimulate business growth and create jobs, while generating tax revenue in accordance with a larger scale plan, it states.

Theres a lot of open space there, said Camacho. If it comes back to us, its a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and all stakeholders need to be included. Economic development is important, but so is quality of life.

Ultimately, the decision starts with cleaning up the hazardous sites and the will of the U.S. Department of Defense.

The Navys been a great neighbor, Camacho said. Its been a great employer.

A proposal was submitted by state Rep. Deborah Ruggiero (D-Dist. 74, Middletown, Jamestown) in the most recent legislative session to fund an estimated $50,000 to examine the economic significance of the route. However, the funds were not approved in the states operating budget this year.

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Long Path Ahead for Burma Road Restoration - Newport This Week