195 delays persist after week of road work

August 24, 2018 6:47 pm

By John Krinjak

Email: jkrinjak@abc6.com

Twitter: @johnkrinjakABC6

EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — It’s been a nightmarish work week for drivers headed west on I-195 into Providence.

"A lot of traffic, a lot of angry people," said Jazz Torres of Providence.

The Washington Bridge rebuild is closing lanes, and the westbound exit at Gano Street. The Rhode Island Department of Transportation says depending on the route, some drivers are facing almost an extra hour of travel time.

"While we are trying to minimize it, some of the impact is unavoidable on a project this size," said RIDOT Director Peter Alviti.

It doesn’t help that this isn’t the only construction project on I-195 right now, but officials say it’s necessary due to a backlog of unsafe bridges across Rhode Island.

"We’ve got nearly 700 bridges that we’re going to have to do work on during the ten-year period, it took decades for them to get in this state of disrepair, and we are working to get ourselves out of that," said Alviti.

The Washington Bridge project couldn’t wait, with much of it structurally deficient.

"Well they should get it done. Looking at the alternative, the bridge falling down," said Ken Cabral of Providence.

But for Anthony Pichardo, who drives for GrubHub, the delays are hurting business.

"The food gets a little cold. Customers get aggravated, get mad," said Pichardo.

With the construction projected to last through fall of next year, drivers say you just have to adjust to a new normal.

"Yeah, definitely, patience, man. You always need the patience," said Torres.

The DOT is now looking at changing things up to ease delays in time for the start of school next week. Among those options, opening up certain lanes at certain times, but that could add time to the overall project.