Officials unsure what traffic times will be with new lane expansion on Washington Bridge

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — State officials announced a new traffic pattern is in the works to help alleviate congestion and lower traffic times on the Washington Bridge.

The lane expansion is expected to take an estimated eight weeks and is also expected to increase vehicle capacity by 50%.

The Rhode Island Department of Transportation is working with the Federal Highway Administration to increase that vehicle capacity.

“Vehicles will be crossing over the westbound direction, will be crossing over to the eastbound lanes a little bit earlier than they are now, about 3,000 feet west from where they’re crossing right now but there will be an additional lane or a 50 percent  increase in capacity in both directions, both eastbound and westbound,” RIDOT Director Peter Alviti said.

The three lanes will be narrower, and there will be two ten foot lanes for vehicles, and the right hand land will be 11 feet. Trucks will be restricted to the right lane.

“We know that adding 50 percent capacity to what is there right now is going to save a considerable amount of time but depending on the time of day and the traffic conditions, weather or accident conditions, that will vary, we do know that there will be an overall savings in both directions,” Alviti said.

However, officials are not sure what the new traffic times will look like at this time.

“As I mentioned, I’m not going to be talking about time as much as I had in the past,” Gov. Dan McKee said. “I got in trouble for that but we continue to keep the information flowing to people so that they can kind of plan their schedules and anticipate their schedules.”

To avoid accidents while crossing the bridge, the speed limit will be reduced to 40 miles per hour.

Construction will start Monday and its length of time can be affected by weather and supply chain issues.

The timing lines up with the ongoing investigations and inspections on the bridge to determine its fate.

Alviti said regardless of the final outcome the lane expansion will be “beneficial for now.”