The Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) this morning reopened Exit 30 on I-95 South. The off-ramp is located close to the Massachusetts border in Pawtucket, and provides access to Roosevelt Avenue, East Street and parts of Pawtucket and Central Falls.
The exit was closed in October as one of the first steps in a $19.1 million design-build project that will replace four bridges that carry both directions of I-95 in this area. The Exit 30 off-ramp was interconnected with one of the bridge structures, and had to be relocated and modified slightly to separate it from the bridge so construction can proceed.
RIDOT expected this closure to last until mid-December, but was able to accelerate the construction and open it approximately two weeks early.
The design-build project will replace two bridges that carry I-95 North and South over Roosevelt Avenue and two bridges that carry the highway over East Street. RIDOT will employ accelerated bridge construction methods, including building the new bridge superstructure components adjacent to the highway and rolling them into place when done. Bridge construction is expected to begin in Spring 2019 with one set of bridges installed next year and the other in 2020. The entire project is scheduled to be finished in Fall 2020.
The I-95 Corridor Bridges Project was made possible by RhodeWorks, RIDOT's ongoing commitment to repair structurally deficient bridges and bring Rhode Island's transportation infrastructure into a state of good repair, promote economic development, and create jobs. Learn more at www.ridot.net/RhodeWorks.