The Project

The $78 million Washington Bridge project is much more than a bridge project. While it will address the structural deficiencies of the westbound portion of the Washington Bridge, which carries I-195 over the Seekonk River between East Providence and Providence, it also includes a new off-ramp to support economic development opportunities and address chronic congestion issues on the Interstate.

Thanks to the efforts of Rhode Island’s Congressional delegation in support of a $25 million federal BUILD grant, we can expand the project to include a new exit to Waterfront Drive in East Providence – providing access to dozens of acres of developable land. We also will construct an additional through lane on the bridge to better accommodate Interstate traffic and the high volume of traffic entering the highway from the Veterans Memorial Parkway, Warren Avenue and Taunton Avenue ramps.

The bridge carries more than 96,000 vehicles per day and is one of the busiest sections of Interstate highway in Rhode Island. It is the source of chronic congestion with backups often extending as far back as the Massachusetts state line, particularly during the morning rush hour. When the project is done, the average morning commute from the state line to I-95 will be trimmed by 40 percent, from 16 minutes to 9.5 minutes.

Other Improvements:

• Partial widening to provide five continuous lanes of I-195 westbound traffic over the bridge.
• A new bridge structure in East Providence to carry traffic from the Taunton Avenue/Warren Avenue/Veterans Memorial Parkway on-ramps over the new off-ramp to Waterfront Drive.
• A new bridge structure to carry traffic from Gano Street in Providence onto I-195 westbound.
• Restriping of I-195 westbound from the Broadway overpass to the new Waterfront Drive off-ramp to allow four lanes of through traffic on the mainline, eliminating the current lane drop at Broadway.
• Adding a through lane on the western end of the Washington Bridge to reduce the weaving movements between the Taunton Avenue/Warren Avenue/Veterans Memorial Parkway on-ramps and the Gano Street off-ramp.

Washington Bridge Public Meeting

What's Happening:

A new traffic pattern is in place on I-195 West for Washington Bridge construction. We expect this to create travel time delays for I-195 West traffic and for those entering I-195 West using the on-ramp from Taunton Avenue, Veterans Memorial Parkway and Warren Avenue. RIDOT is maintaining four lanes of traffic on I-195 and all lanes go through.

The changes include:

• Narrowing and shifting all lanes on I-195 West to the right between the Broadway interchange in East Providence and the South Main Street exit in Providence.
• Reducing the number of lanes from two to one at the Taunton Avenue/Veterans Memorial Parkway/Warren Avenue on-ramp, requiring drivers to merge into a single lane prior to entering the highway.
• All lanes on the Washington Bridge go through to I-95. Do not change lanes quickly or cut across solid lines. This will only cause delays for motorists behind you.

Our Recommendations

• Plan extra time for travel, or shift travel to outside the busiest periods of 8-10 a.m. and 3-7 p.m.
• Utilite Waze, Google, Apple Maps or other GPS programs with live traffic to provide delay information and suggest alternate routes.
• Local traffic in East Providence may find the on-ramps at Broadway and Pawtucket Avenue will provide shorter travel times instead of the Taunton Avenue/Veterans Memorial Parkway/Warren Avenue on-ramp.
• Consider alternate routes including the Henderson Bridge.
• Travelers from southeast Massachusetts, the Cape, or New Bedford area may find taking other routes such as Route 24, Route 140 and I-495 may save time during peak periods, especially if they are going to northern Rhode Island.

See the latest press release for more information