Washington Bridge closure affects morning commute for second day

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Many drivers are preparing for another day of traffic delays.

The Rhode Island Department of Transportation abruptly shut down the westbound lanes on the Washington Bridge and officials said by closing those lanes, the state is avoiding a catastrophic situation.

Around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, traffic was already slow-moving on I-195 West.

During a press conference Tuesday, RIDOT officials said that navigating the plethora of traffic is a work in progress. The department said it is actively working with the communities most affected by the bridge closure to figure out solutions to the traffic.

Gov. Dan McKee spoke publicly for the first time on Tuesday following the immediate closure of the westbound lanes on the bridge.

While many Rhode Islanders spent hours in traffic, McKee said officials are working to figure out new travel times for residents.

“I think it’s in minutes, is it going to take you 25 minutes from point A to point B on a normal day and now we have to measure what that now is. Is it 50 minutes now? An hour? We’ve got to communicate with people what the time frame is on those particular trips and also try as best we can to lower that count for people going to use the bridge by finding other options,” McKee explained.

RIDOT Director Peter Alviti said the bridge was last inspected in July and was in good condition, but now, engineers found a critical failure of original bridge components.

“There are on each side of the bridge 8 pins that are anchor pins that hold major beams in place that as old bridges like this go, if one pin becomes deficient then it can have a compounding effect on the other pins in the bridge and that’s what happened in this case,” Alviti said Tuesday.

Alviti said there was no choice but to close down the bridge for repairs, citing safety as a top priority.

CORRECTS TO 195 NOT 295 FILE – Construction crews work on the eastbound lanes of the Washington Bridge in Providence, R.I., Aug. 4, 2007. Authorities say they have found a critical structural failure in one of the busiest bridges in Rhode Island and have closed its westbound side to begin a repair job expected to take months. The Washington Bridge carries Interstate 195 over the Seekonk River from Providence to East Providence and serves as a key gateway to the state’s largest city. The Rhode Island Department of Transportation said Monday, Dec. 11, 2023 that a critical failure of some original 1960s bridge components was located in the bridge. The agency says the repair work could take three months or more. (AP Photo/Stew Milne, file)

Credit: AP

A single lane for emergency vehicles is open to help first responders get from the East Bay to hospitals in the West Bay.

“We have a portion of the old bridge structure that we can use safely and our engineers have certified that we can use at lease one lane of the old bridge for emergency vehicle purpose, police vehicles and rescue vehicles,” Alviti continued.

With at least 90,000 people traveling over the Washington Bridge every day, RIDOT said it’s working to open up temporary lanes within the next two weeks.

“I’m confident that we can have a temporary two lane opening to the westbound traffic that will utilize two lanes of the eastbound bridge that are adjacent to this,” Alviti concluded.

The current repairs also require a two lane closure on I-195 east near exit 1A for roughly two weeks.

Officials expect the bridge to be ready to reopen in three months as long as weather cooperates.