City & Government

Starting Sunday, September 11, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) will begin a series of night time closures of Route 4 to remove the temporary arches at the Division Street Bridge on the East Greenwich/Warwick line. All the closures will take place from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.
The southbound lanes of Route 4 will be the first set of closures and will occur as follows:
Sunday, September 11; Monday, September 12; Tuesday, September 13
During these closures, motorists on I-95 south who wish to take Route 4 south should follow a detour using exit 8 to Route 2/South County Trail and Division Street to access the Route 4 south on-ramp just after the East Greenwich Square shopping center. Police details will keep traffic moving through the traffic signals along the detour route.
The northbound lanes of Route 4 closures will occur as follows:
Wednesday, September 14; Thursday, September 15
For traffic wishing to get to I-95 north, all traffic will use exit 9A toward East Greenwich and then get back on I-95 north using the ramp at the next traffic signal. For traffic wishing to get to Route 2 and I-95 south, follow the detour above using I-95 north to exit 10 to reverse direction onto I-95 south. Police details will be on site along the route.
In order to accommodate traffic on the Route 4 north detour, all traffic on Division Street eastbound will need to use the on-ramp to Route 4 south. Take exit 7A to Frenchtown Road and follow the detour to get onto Route 4 north, then take exit 9A toward East Greenwich.
The demolition schedule will be updated daily dependent on the amount of work completed the night before.
The Division Street Bridge is a $22.9 million project to replace a 55-year-old bridge which carries 14,000 vehicles daily.
The Division Street Bridge project is made possible by RhodeWorks and the Bipartisan Infrastructure and Improvement Act [r20.rs6.net]. RIDOT is committed to bringing Rhode Island’s infrastructure into a state of good repair while respecting the environment and striving to improve it. Learn more at www.ridot.net/RhodeWorks.

I-95 is the last highway segment to be changed
The Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) last night started its highway renumbering project, changing exit numbers on I-95 from the Massachusetts border in Pawtucket to the Connecticut border in Hopkinton. The new exit numbers are part of a multi-year federal program to update highway numbering for Interstates and other limited-access highways. I-95 is the last highway for RIDOT to renumber.
Last night RIDOT renumbered three exits on I-95 South in Pawtucket. Exits 30, 29 and 27 are now Exits 43, 42, and 41, respectively. Work will continue for about one month on Sunday-Thursday nights, with no work on weekends or holidays. RIDOT will change approximately three exits at a time, taking two nights for each set of three exits before moving on to another set.
The new exit numbers are keyed to mile markers – a system used throughout the country for many years. Rhode Island and some neighboring New England states are among the last to change to this method which is required by the Federal Highway Administration’s Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways. The highway exit numbers traditionally were assigned sequentially.
A mile-marker exit number system lets drivers know how far they need to travel to reach their desired off-ramp. It also allows for easier expansion for future interchanges since the entire highway would not have to be renumbered to accommodate a new exit number. RIDOT will install temporary signs indicating the old exit number and will leave them up for an extended period of time.
For more information on the renumbering project, including a list of new and old exit numbers, visit www.ridot.net/ExitNumbers.
All construction projects are subject to changes in schedule and scope depending on needs, circumstances, findings, and weather.