The Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) announced that it will temporarily close Route 146 North and South in Lincoln during the overnight hours on Sunday, April 10, 2011, and Monday, April 11, 2011, for construction on the Wilbur Road Bridge. The closures will allow for the safe installation of steel beams for the new structure spanning Route 146.
RIDOT expects to fully close the highway at approximately 10 p.m. All lanes will be reopened by 5 a.m. the following day. Motorists can expect delays, especially at the beginning of the closure period, and may wish to seek alternate routes.
Due to the highway closure, RIDOT also will close the Wilbur Road on-ramp to Route 146 North, the Sherman Avenue on-ramp to Route 146 North, the Route 246 (Old Louisquisset Pike) on-ramp to Route 146 South, and the Breakneck Hill Road on-ramp to Route 146 North.
Detour maps can be found online at: http://www.dot.ri.gov/travelri/detourmaps.asp. The detours with turn-by-turn directions are as follows:
Route 146 North
• All traffic will be required to use the Route 123 (Breakneck Hill Road) exit • Turn left at the end of the ramp
• Turn right onto Route 246 North • Follow Route 246 to the Route 116 (George Washington Highway) interchange
• Turn left and follow to Route 116 East
• After passing under the Route 146 overpass, turn left for the on-ramp to return to Route 146 North
Route 146 South
• All traffic will be required to use the Route 116/Route 246 exit
• Bear left at the split on the ramp
• At the stop sign, proceed straight onto Route 246 South
• Follow Route 146 to Route 123 (called Jencks Hill Road)
• Turn left, and then take the first left for the on-ramp to return to Route 146 South
Reconstruction of the Wilbur Road Bridge is a part of a larger project that included resurfacing of Route 146 from south of the Sherman Avenue exit to the area of the Route 116 interchange. While the resurfacing work wrapped up last year, the bridge reconstruction will continue until this summer. The $8.2 million project is being built by D’Ambra Construction and is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Motorists with questions can contact RIDOT’s Customer Service office at 401-222-2450 weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Additional information will be available on RIDOT’s website (www.dot.ri.gov) and its social media sites on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and Blogger.
Contact: Charles St. Martin 401-222-1362 x4007
