PROVIDENCE – The temporary bypass lanes on Interstate I-195 westbound on the Washington Bridge opened Friday, four days after the R.I. Department of Transportation shut down the bridge due to structural failure.
State officials on Dec. 11 originally said it could take two weeks or more for bypass lanes to be created and opened on the bridge after the sudden closure that day led to hourslong traffic backups for some commuters on Dec. 12.
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In a press release, RIDOT said the temporary pattern will be two lanes of travel westbound and two lanes of travel eastbound – all operating on the eastbound Washington Bridge.
Most ramps that had been closed have been reopened, according to RIDOT. However, the Gano Street off-ramp (Exit 1D) will remain closed, as will the on-ramps to I-195 West from Veterans Memorial Parkway and Taunton Avenue. RIDOT will continue to maintain passage on the westbound bridge for emergency vehicles only.
Although delays are expected, RIDOT expects it will help alleviate congestion along I-195. RIDOT has posted estimated travel times for each detour route on the Washington Bridge closure page at www.ridot.net/WashingtonBridgeClosure and will update this information continuously.
R.I. Department of Transportation Director Peter Alviti Jr. has said the bridge closure was necessary after engineers working on the $78 million Washington Bridge reconstruction project discovered faulty components, including the failure of steel anchor pins that hold major beams of the bridge in place.
The bridge project isn’t slated to be completed until August 2026 and the repair job was expected to take months. But Alviti is hoping those repairs can be done faster.
