On Friday, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation provided the following update on the ongoing Pell Bridge Ramps Phase 2 Project.
Our crews will continue to construct the new Park and Ride, install site lighting and finish demolishing the asphalt and curbing components of the old downtown off-ramp.
We also plan to work on drainage swales and install new bioretention basins off road along Admiral Kalbfus Road, the closed road to nowhere, JT Connell Highway, and the new Park and Ride. Electrical work at the Van Zandt Avenue/JT Connell Highway/Farewell Street and Admiral Kalbfus Road/Third Street intersections will require shoulder closures, weekdays from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
All businesses remain open during construction, with traffic personnel on site to help navigate.
The reconstruction of the Newport Pell Bridge Approaches was started in 2020 to address the need to make travel into Newport easy and safe and to provide an efficient ramp system with a smaller footprint, according to RIDOT.
“The project will reduce congestion and vehicle queuing on the Pell Bridge and improve the connection between Newport’s North End and the downtown area by reconfiguring the approach ramps to the Newport Pell Bridge. It will also spur economic development as it frees up parcels of land,” RIDOT shares on the project website.
The project is divided into two phases. Phase 1 ($10.9 million) will focus on reconstructing JT Connell Highway and Coddington Highway. Phase 2 ($74.6 million) focuses on the ramp interchange itself. Phase 2 is scheduled to finish in 2024.
For more information on the project, click here.
