Alrighty, just like the 60, there’s also an alternate path that’s significant enough on the 14 to warrant a part 2. This time, we start at the park & ride at RI-138.
The route splits off by not going express, but rather going straight down Boston Neck Road further. It’s still rural with some houses here and there, and unlike the 64, we got to skip the URI Bay Campus deviation. We kept running express-like, heading down Boston Neck Road and the various buildings along the road. We crossed the water and OH CRAP THERE’S A BEACH?!
Yes, we entered Narragansett Pier. And, in fact, it’s among the most popular beaches in RI. However, we didn’t go through the coastal part, and instead we took a couple of turns through side streets. From here, we turned onto South Pier Road, which then emptied out at the route’s terminus at Salt Pond Plaza, in Narragansett.
The good: Aside from the stuff specific to the shared section, it’s a direct link between the park & ride and points north to Narragansett. It also serves one of the most popular beaches in the state!
The bad: Two hours between buses on weekdays?! With only a handful of trips on the weekends?! Yikes. On Sundays, these runs don’t even run at all! It’s also the longest regular-running route in terms of runtime.
Nearby points of interest: Narragansett Pier is the big one!
Overall, it’s nice that a link to Providence exists that doesn’t involve URI. Hell, there’s one trip each way that comes here that involves a deviation into the Greenwood Church up in Warwick. Or maybe that was a Newport trip, I don’t remember. If anything, I’d turn this one into a Wickford-Narragansett route, and re-route the Newport runs to go through Wickford Junction. It’s clear that one’s the more frequent route, while Wickford to Narragansett could be its own route.
Rating change from original (Newport branch): 4/10 (-1 point)
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