There is a route down to Newport that does not use them. Just some sidewalk and some grass, a little hard packed dirt. (OK on a road bike) on one of them. No need to ride in east main or west main. You do have to cross east main right at a crosswalk, that in itself is pretty scary. I think I still have images of the route I mapped for a friend. You do have to be very carefull and go slow on the sidewalk and some of the grass/dirt sections.

If you search the forums for "Bailey" you can see a lot of photos of the East Bay Path.

I probably have a lot of photos of riding on that route and in the Newport area. I start in East Providence. The night photo in my sig is the East Bay path.