The Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) will install a lane split on I-95 North near Exit 30 in Pawtucket on Monday, August 24. On Friday, August 28, RIDOT will reduce travel lanes from three to two throughout the weekend. Both changes are part of an ongoing $25 million project to replace four bridges that carry both directions of I-95 over Roosevelt Avenue and East Street.
When RIDOT installs the lane split on August 24, there will be two lanes to the left and one lane to the right of the split. Motorists should reduce speed through the work zone but not stop or suddenly change lanes - all lanes go through. Also on August 24, RIDOT will temporarily close the on-ramp from Fountain Street to I-95 North. It will remain closed until November. Follow signed detour via Roosevelt Avenue and Broadway.
For the weekend of August 28, RIDOT will demolish and replace a portion of the Roosevelt Avenue Bridge. With the reduction of a travel lane throughout the weekend, travelers should expect delays and use Route 146 and I-295 as alternates.
All traffic on Roosevelt Avenue under the bridge will be detoured. Motorists will need to turn 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. A detour map is available at www.ridot.net/DetourMaps.
The lane split will remain in place for approximately two months. In late September, RIDOT will modify the split to have one lane on the left and two lanes on the right.
The Roosevelt Avenue and East Street 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.