https://twitter.com/Tessa_Roy/status/1063135295070265344
By WPRO News
Repairs to I-295 and Washington Bridges will be ongoing this weekend, which the state Department of Transportation says will cause some minor delays and traffic changes.
“We’ve been getting very good cooperation from the motorists recognizing that we’ve got a lot of work to do. This is necessary work, these are all bridges that are substandard and that need to be fixed. They have for years,” said RIDOT Director Peter Alviti. “In the case of 295, the bridges are over 50 years old. In the case of the Washington Bridge, it’s even older and is structurally deficient.”
The first changes begin on Friday night, and all will be in effect by Saturday morning.
RIDOT shared the following information about changes on different portions of I-295:
- Closure of the northbound service road. Access will be maintained for ramps to Route 6 East to Providence (Exit 9A) and Route 6 West toward Hartford, Conn. (Exit 9C).
- Closure of Exit 9B, which allows traffic to reverse direction to I-295 South.
- These changes will create minor delays during peak periods. Exit 9B is seldom used and any travelers using it can follow a detour utilizing Exit 9C to an on-ramp to I-295 South.
- Closure of the southbound service road. Access will be maintained for ramps to Route 6 West toward Hartford, Conn. (Exit 9C) and Route 6 East to Providence (Exit 9A).
- I-295 South already sees heavy traffic during the afternoon rush hour, which causes an average of 10 minutes of additional travel time. RIDOT estimates that delay to increase by a minimum of 3 minutes during peak periods.
- The ramp from Route 6 West to I-295 North will be reduced from two lanes to one. Traffic will have to merge again with mainline I-295 traffic given the closure of the service road.
- This change will create the greatest amount of travel time delay, adding a minimum of 10 minutes during afternoon rush hour
- For travelers using the ramp from Route 6 East to I-295 South, minor delays can be expected given the closure of the I-295 South service road.
- The on-ramp from Hartford Avenue West to I-295 South will be closed. Modifications will be made to Hartford Avenue to allow left turns onto the ramp to I-295 South used by Hartford Avenue East traffic.
