Traffic will be reduced to one lane in each direction throughout the weekend
The Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) today announced the second phase of lane closures scheduled to take place the weekend of November 1-4 to replace the Lafayette Road Bridge. The bridge carries Route 4 over Lafayette Road in North Kingstown, located between the Exit 3/Route 102 interchange and Oak Hill Road, near McKay's Furniture.
During this phase, RIDOT will replace the southbound side of the bridge. It will use a similar traffic pattern put in place in late September for the installation of the northbound bridge. Route 4 will be taken down to one lane in each direction and shifted to a newly constructed center lane on Route 4 from 9 p.m. Friday, November 1 through 6 a.m., Monday, November 4. Motorists should plan for extra travel time or consider alternate routes during this weekend.
Lafayette Road also will be closed to traffic for the weekend. The detour map can be found at www.ridot.net/DetourMaps.
Built in 1988, the Lafayette Road Bridge is structurally deficient and carries approximately 56,000 vehicles daily. The $8.7 million project will be finished in Summer 2020.
RIDOT will use accelerated bridge construction (ABC) for this replacement. The ABC method that will be used is Slide-in Bridge or lateral slide. With this method, a new bridge is built on temporary supports parallel to the existing bridge. The existing bridge is demolished or removed, and the new bridge is slid into place, tied to the approaches, and paved, usually within 72 hours. The installation of the northbound bridge finished about three hours ahead of schedule.
The Slide-in Bridge method causes less traffic disruption and provides greater safety for motorists and construction workers because of the condensed time frame. There are also fewer environmental impacts from vehicle and construction equipment emissions.
All construction projects are subject to changes in schedule and scope depending on needs, circumstances, findings, and weather.
The Lafayette Road Bridge project is 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.