Delays likely for project to remove long-standing dip on ramp near hospital campus
Heavy traffic and long delays are possible this coming weekend on I-195 West in Providence as part of a bridge repair project. The Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) advises motorists to plan extra travel time and consider alternate routes, especially during peak travel times from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday.
RIDOT will reduce the number of lanes on the ramp from I-195 West to I-95 South in Providence, from two lanes to one, starting Friday night at 7 p.m. The lane will remain closed through the weekend, reopening by 5 a.m. on Monday, October 23.
The ramp closure is needed so the Department can repair an existing depression, while placing and curing concrete on the ramp, and to replace a bridge joint. This will resolve a longstanding dip that has annoyed motorists for several years, located near the hospitals campus after Exit 1B to Eddy Street.
The work is part of the $3.2 million Providence Area Bridges Project, underway since mid-April, which is on time and on budget. Completion is scheduled for the end of 2017. This preventative maintenance project addressed three areas of the Iway.