Closure is the first of many changes for highway bridge work in Pawtucket
The Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) will temporarily close Exit 30 on I-95 South on Tuesday night, April 28 until late Summer 2020. 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.
Motorists will follow a detour using Exit 29 (Downtown Pawtucket), turn left at the end of the off-ramp and follow Fountain Street northbound.
Motorists should plan extra travel time to reach their destinations during this closure. The Exit 30 off-ramp carries about 3,400 vehicles per day at peak periods.
Starting on Friday, May 8, as part of the same project, RIDOT will begin a series of eight periodic weekend highway lane closures and local street closures for work at the bridges that carry I-95 over Roosevelt Avenue and East Street. RIDOT will announce the additional weekend closures in advance. Detours will be established for street closures. Travelers can avoid delays by using I-295 and Route 146 as alternate routes.
When all lanes open at the end of the weekend construction, there will be a lane split near Exit 30 on I-95 South 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. In July, the split will return just south of Exit 30 for work on the East Street Bridge and remain in effect until early August.
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.
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.