The Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) recently announced that new traffic patterns will be coming to the Washington Bridge ahead of new construction phases on the bridge.
RIDOT will be working with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to alleviate congestion and lower the traffic times on Route-195.
“Vehicles will be crossing over the westbound direction will be crossing over to the eastbound lane a little bit earlier than they are now, about 3000 feet west from where they’re crossing right now but there’ll be an additional lane or a 50% increase in both directions in both eastbound and westbound,” said Peter Alviti, RIDOT director, in a statement to WLNE-TV.
The existing three lanes will be narrower than they are now, with two ten foot lanes for vehicles, and the righthand lane will measure 11 feet. Trucks will be restricted to the righthand lane.
“We know that adding 50 percent capacity to what is there right now is going to save considerable amount of time, but depending on the time of day and traffic conditions, weather or accident conditions that will vary, we do know there will be overall savings in both directions,” said Alviti to WLNE-TV.
The speed limit will be reduced to 40 mph to avoid accidents, and the construction is expected to last eight weeks depending on weather and external factors.
The westbound and eastbound sides will each get an additional lane when the work is concluded.
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Source: WLNE-TV News
