Effective Thursday, October 14, 2010, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) will be expanding its overhead lighting curfew by shutting off highway lighting on Route 37 in Cranston and Warwick. The Department earlier last month turned off the overhead lighting on Route 44 at I-295 in Smithfield. The lighting curfew is expected to save the State $600,000 annually.
“Our reduced overhead lighting tests done over the spring and summer have gone very well as we have achieved significant cost and environmental savings,” said RIDOT Director Michael P. Lewis. “The Department has decided to expand the lighting curfew and will continue to monitor it should the need arise to make any adjustments.”
RIDOT already has timers in all of the overhead lighting on Route 4 between Exit 8 in East Greenwich and Route 1 in North Kingstown, all of Route 403 between East Greenwich and North Kingstown, and on Route 6 from Hartford Avenue in Providence up to and including its link with I-295 at Exit 6 in Johnston.
New lighting timers are located at Post Road and Route 37 in Warwick, Pontiac Avenue and Route 37 in Cranston, and Route 2 and Route 37 in Warwick. The overhead lights on these roadways will be off from midnight to 5 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. Friday and Saturday.
As RIDOT continues to evaluate its lighting system, more overhead highway lights are expected to be shut off on additional State roadways before the end of the year. Turning these lights off during the late night and early morning hours when traffic volumes are very low has been an energy saving step to both reduce light pollution and electrical costs as the State works to preserve the limited funding that is available to maintain its transportation infrastructure.
Contact: Heidi Gudmundson (401) 222-1362 x. 4009