Newport St. Patrick's Day Parade: Route Info, Parking, Traffic Detours

NEWPORT, RI — Newport will hold its annual St. Patrick Day Parade on Saturday.

Traffic flow and parking in Newport will be affected by the parade. The parade kicks off at 11 a.m.

City officials said traffic will be congested in the downtown area from about 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Parking will be limited. The parade participants begin staging on lower Broadway at about 9:00 a.m. , so city officials recommend people coming to Newport to view the parade avoid Broadway.

The two best routes into the city with available public parking are: Westbound on Memorial Blvd, right onto Bellevue Avenue (northbound), left on Church Street and right into the Waterfront parking lot (situated between Church and Mary streets) or Farewell Street south to America’s Cup Avenue and right into the Gateway parking garage.

Parking is prohibited on the following streets from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. All vehicles parked in these restricted areas will be towed:

• Broadway from Cranston/Equality Park West to Washington Square
• Equality Park Place and Equality Park West
• Dr. Marcus F. Wheatland Boulevard. (West side)
• Bull Street at Spring Street
• Spring Street at Bull Street
• Washington Square from Broadway to Thames Street
• Thames Street from America’s Cup Avenue to Morton Avenue
• Carroll Avenue, from Morton Avenue to Harrison Avenue
• Both sides of America’s Cup at the Gateway Center
• Narragansett Avenue, between Spring Street and Bellevue Avenue.

City officials said the Newport Police Department will have a strong presence to make this a fun, safe and family friendly event, and will be strictly enforcing city ordinances (open containers of alcohol in public, noise violations, disorderly conduct, and underage drinking) along the parade route and the surrounding areas.

Parade Route

The parade begins at lower Broadway. Here's the route from there:

1. Lower Broadway southbound to Washington Square
2. Washington Square to Thames Street southbound to XOA
3. XOA to America’s Cup southbound
4. Americas Cup Southbound to lower Thames Street at Memorial Boulevard.
5. Lower Thames Street to Carroll Avenue.

The parade ends at St. Augustin's Church.

Traffic Detour

• Southbound Broadway diverted onto Marcus Wheatland Boulevard southbound at Equality Park
• Spring Street northbound diverted away from Broadway and up Bull Street to Kay Street
• Westbound Memorial Boulevard west, diverted northbound at Spring Street
• Northbound Thames Street diverted away from America’s Cup up Mill Street to Spring Street.