The Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) announced today that it will be closing lanes on I-95 North and South in Pawtucket during overnight hours on a regular basis beginning Sunday night, November 15, 2009. The closures are needed for work on an interim bridge repair project for the Pawtucket River Bridge, between Exit 26 (Lonsdale Avenue) and Exit 29 (Broadway) in Pawtucket.
The $2 million project will focus on steel repairs and other work needed to keep the bridge serviceable until it can be replaced.
RIDOT is planning to seek bids this winter for a replacement of the structure and begin work in mid 2010. Once construction begins, motorists can expect to see the traffic shifted to the new bridge in phases over a three-year period of time.
RIDOT expects to close one lane of I-95 at 9 p.m. and up to two lanes after 11 p.m. on Sunday through Thursday nights. Specific closure information will be announced each Friday afternoon and posted on RIDOT’s Travel Advisories web page at www.tmc.dot.ri.gov/traveladvisories/default.asp.
This work will not change the 18-ton weight limit RIDOT set in May 2008. Trucks weighing more than 18 tons with more than two axles will need to continue to use alternate routes to bypass this section of I-95 using I-295, Route 146 or marked detour routes through Pawtucket.
The interim repair project is scheduled to be completed in late winter 2010.
Motorists with questions regarding the work can contact RIDOT’s Customer Service department at 222-2450 on weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Contact: Charles St. Martin 401-222-1362 x4007