Rhode Island Turnpike & Bridge Authority (RITBA) announced on February 5th that starting on March 5th they will begin work on the Route 138 corridor from the Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge to the Newport Pell Bridge Toll Plaza.
“The road is beyond its useful life and the project is necessary,” the press release states.”The project includes resurfacing the roadway and making essential improvements, including drainage repairs”.
The Route 138 Resurfacing and Roadway Improvement Project will take place from March 5th and be complete by June 15, according to RITBA. Work will primarily take place during nights and weekends. However, weekend work is scheduled to be complete by Memorial Day weekend.
Throughout the project, some work will take place during non-commuter rush hours between 9 am – 3 pm.
With thousands expected to attend the Volvo Ocean Race Newport Stopover between May 8th – 20th, What’sUpNewp reached out to RITBA to see what impact there could potentially be on traffic.
“We have put in the contract that the contractor will not be allowed lane closures during the Volvo event, so we do not anticipate any significant impact,” Eric Offenberg, Director of Engineering for RITBA told What’sUpNewp. “We have also just lifted the weight restrictions on the Newport Bridge as of today (March 1st) so there should be no impact to the deliveries starting in late April with all of the Volvo tents”.
This project is part of RITBA’s ongoing Ten-Year Capital Plan which was launched in August 2016. The cost of the project is $3.5 million dollars. The contract for the project was awarded to T. Miozzi Inc. located in North Kingstown, RI.
For a full list of upcoming projects and to stay up-to-date on construction activity and real-time traffic, visit RITBA’s site at RITBA.org.
This story was originally published on February 28th, it was last updated on March 4th to include the response from RITBA.