Highway traffic should consider using I-295 and Route 146 to avoid congestion and delays
The Rhode Island Department of Transportation will begin a series of eight periodic extended-weekend highway lane closures and local street closures on Friday, May 8 for work at the bridges that carry I-95 over Roosevelt Avenue and East Street in Pawtucket. RIDOT expects delays during extended-weekend highway lane closures and recommends travelers use I-295 and Route 146 as alternate routes.
During the extended-weekend operation, one of the three I-95 South through lanes in the area of Exit 30 will be closed and reopen prior to the morning rush hour on Tuesday, May 12. Travel lanes on I-95 North will not be affected.
When the lane reopens, motorists will encounter a lane split for I-95 South in this area with one lane to the right and two lanes to the left of the split. All lanes go through and motorists should not stop or slow down at the split. The lane split will be in effect until early June.
The first weekend operation will affect local traffic on Roosevelt Avenue, with the road closed at the I-95 overpass. Motorists on Roosevelt Avenue (which is one-way running westbound) will follow a detour by turning left onto George R. Bennett Highway, right onto Broadway and right onto East Street to return to Roosevelt Avenue. Additionally, RIDOT will make a short section of Middle Street, just west of the highway overpass, open to two-way traffic to provide access to homes off the closed part of Roosevelt Avenue.
Seven additional weekend construction periods will be scheduled over the course of the next year. RIDOT will announce each weekend closure period well in advance. The tentative schedule is as follows:
I-95 South
- Early June 2020: I-95 South lane closure & Roosevelt Avenue closed
- Early and Late July 2020: I-95 South lane closure & East Street closed
I-95 North
- Late August and Late September 2020: I-95 North lane closure & Roosevelt Avenue closed
- Early May and Late May 2021: I-95 North lane closure & East Street closed
Exit 30 on I-95 South remains closed until late summer. In July, the lane split will return just south of Exit 30 for work on the East Street Bridge and remain in effect until early August. Detour maps for all closures can be found at www.ridot.net/DetourMaps.
A total of four bridges will be replaced in this $25 million design-build project which will be ongoing through Spring 2021. The bridges are functionally obsolete and carry approximately 90,000 vehicles per day. The entire project is scheduled to be finished in Spring 2021.
All construction projects are subject to changes in schedule and scope depending on needs, circumstances, findings, and weather.
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.