WPRO News

The first day of a new, three-lane traffic pattern on westbound I-195 met with generally positive reviews, however traffic during the morning commute was backed up badly onto I-95 by paving aimed at easing the ride on the eastbound approach to the Washington Bridge.

“We milled the pavement down, half the pavement in the area approaching the Washington Bridge,” explained Rhode Island Department of Transportation Director Peter Alviti. He said the highway is going to be repaved over the next week or two.

“People are encountering maybe a little rougher surface so they’re slowing down as they ride over it, but the traffic does seem to be moving,” Alviti told WPRO’s Gene Valicenti.

Some callers, however, complained of long backups onto I-95 in both the northbound and southbound directions during the morning commute.

The weekend shift to three lanes westbound toward the doomed bridge was an improvement, he said.

“In the westerly direction today, it’s clear sailing,” Alviti said. Governor Dan McKee agreed.

“We’re pleased by it,” McKee told WPRO News later in the morning.

“As governor, I’m going to continue to try to reduce that travel time when we repave and put the improvements there. We’re optimistic but we still have to make sure that we’re focusing on the accidents,” McKee said.

Last Friday, in a news conference with Alviti and State Police Superintendent Colonel Darnell Weaver, McKee said accidents had increased significantly since the bridge was condemned due to structural weaknesses, and traffic was shunted onto the separate, eastbound span. They announced narrower travel lanes and a reduced speed limit of 40 miles per hour in an effort to curb crashes.

The new traffic pattern is expected to remain in place while the older, westbound span of the Washington Bridge is demolished and a new bridge erected, a project that McKee estimates will take at least two years.