The Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT ) is reminding motorists that this weekend a portion of the Dyer Street/Eddy Street service road in Providence, which carries northbound traffic along the west bank of the Providence River, will be closed. This is the second of three consecutive weekend closures to allow for safe demolition of the old I-195 highway.
The service road closure this weekend is scheduled from 6 a.m. on Saturday, July 23 to 11 p.m. on Sunday, July 24. The final closure (one day only) is scheduled for Saturday, July 30 from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. All schedules are weather-dependent and subject to change.
The closure is the last in a series of road closures that have occurred since March. Under a $6.8 million Iway demolition contract, RIDOT will demolish more than 3,500 feet of old I-195 and seven bridges. Former Iway contracts demolished an additional 1,500 feet of old highway. Old I-195 was built in the late 1950s and was officially closed in October 2009.
RIDOT is restricting the closures to weekends to minimize the impact to traffic in the Financial and Courthouse districts. Additionally, RIDOT is reopening the road by 4 p.m. on July 30 to avoid impacting motorists, pedestrians and cyclists coming to WaterFire that evening.
Vehicular detours are as follows. Pedestrians should use Dyer Street.
Eddy Street Northbound: Turn left onto Ship Street, then turn right onto Richmond Street. Turn right onto Friendship Street and follow onto Dyer Street/Memorial Boulevard.
Dyer Street Southbound: Turn right onto Ship Street, and then follow directions above to Dyer Street/Memorial Boulevard.
Maps and turn-by-turn directions also are available on RIDOT's website at www.dot.ri.gov.
Those 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