Newport's long-stalled plan to rebuild a collapsed stretch of the Cliff Walk has cleared a major regulatory hurdle, with the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council approving the repair plans on Tuesday. The roughly $23 million project aims to fix the section of coastal trail that crumbled between Narragansett Avenue and Webster Street back in 2022, though the city says full completion is not expected until 2029.
According to WJAR, Newport Mayor and City Council Chair Charlie Holder called the CRMC vote a major step in the repair process. With that approval in hand, the city can now move forward with other outstanding permits needed before any construction begins. Holder said he hopes to complete permitting and solicit construction bids by the end of 2026, with work expected to take about two years once it starts.
The timeline laid out by the city points to a 2027 construction start and a 2029 finish, assuming the remaining permitting and bidding process goes as planned. In the meantime, Cliff Walk visitors continue to be detoured around the fenced-off section and through the Salve Regina University campus, per WJAR's reporting.
A Winding Road Through State Review
The approval caps months of back-and-forth at the state level. Rhode Island Current reported in July that CRMC had postponed a final decision to give the city time to modify its proposal, after staff raised concerns about one specific piece of the plan: a 25-foot sliver of bluff beside a private overlook tied to the Ochre Point estate. CRMC's environmental and engineering staff had recommended against approving stone riprap work below that private overlook while letting the public-path repairs move ahead on their own track, the outlet reported.
A separate news item from Providence Business News indicated CRMC approved the revised plan on Oct. 13 without objection, though the full details of what conditions, if any, came attached to that approval were not specified. Newport's application describes a five-section repair plan that goes beyond just the two path sections that collapsed in 2022, extending the scope of the project into broader bluff stabilization work, according to the same Rhode Island Current report.
Coordinating With Private Property Owners
Part of the complexity stems from the fact that the Cliff Walk runs alongside private estates, and Newport city leaders have been coordinating the reconstruction with those property owners as part of what WJAR describes as a public-private partnership. Holder said the city needed confirmation that a bridge over the path would be considered part of the Cliff Walk and included in ongoing maintenance plans, and he emphasized that the city is responsible for keeping the easement safe and secure.
Funding for the project has come from multiple layers of government, though the reported totals have varied. Newport's public works department secured $11 million in federal funding this year, according to the city's account relayed by WJAR. A year earlier, in July 2025, WPRI reported that Newport was awarded an $11 million federal PROTECT grant, which the station said brought total project funding to $22 million at that time. Rhode Island Current, meanwhile, described a funding package made up of a $13.8 million federal grant, a $6.25 million congressional appropriation and a $3 million state bond. The city's $23 million project estimate has stayed consistent across reporting even as the funding breakdowns differ.
A Landmark That Still Draws Crowds
The detour has not seemed to keep visitors away. Cassandra Earle, associated with Discover Newport, said Cliff Walk visitor numbers have not dipped and that activity along the trail remains healthy, with the attraction still drawing more than a million visitors each year by her account. WPRI has separately cited an estimate of roughly one million annual visitors, while a 2023 study referenced by the Associated Press put the figure closer to 1.3 million — a reminder that even estimates of the walk's popularity vary depending on who's counting.
For now, the city's own guidance confirms that detours remain in place between Narragansett Avenue and Webster Street because of the structural damage, while the rest of the historic trail stays open to the public. The City of Newport says that arrangement is expected to continue for the foreseeable future as permitting, bidding and eventually construction play out over the next several years.
