RI DOT to temporarily reopen Gano Street off-ramp overnight Thursday

October 17, 2019 12:50 pm

By Brittany Comak

Email: bcomak@abc6.com

Twitter: @BComakABC6

PROVIDENCE, R.I (WLNE) – After being closed the last 14 months, and mounting frustrations from business owners, the Gano Street off ramp on I-195 West will temporarily reopen to traffic overnight Thursday.

The reopening may provide area businesses and commuters some relief, however short lived it may be.

“My hope is that it won’t be temporary,” said Wendy Brown, Owner of Wendy Brown Home in Wayland Square.

Brown is one of the many business owners in the area who signed a letter to RI DOT Director Peter Alviti last week asking that the closure not be permanent because their businesses are suffering.

“Wayland Square’s been around a long time. It’s a lot of small businesses,” said Brown. “All the support we can get from the state keeping the traffic flowing is what we really need to have.”

Alternatively, the owner of a bike shop on Ives tells us he’s actually liked the decrease in traffic.

“When it’s calm and there’s only a few cars around people are more comfortable to just hop on a bike and give it a try,” explained Owner of Mission Electric Bike Tyler Justin.

According to RI DOT, the exit will remain open while they study traffic patterns in the area before building a new off ramp on the Washington Bridge, but they don’t yet know when that work will begin.

“It’s very inconvenient to have to skip an exit that was conveniently right off the highway onto Gano Street,” said Manager of Aleppo Sweets, Khaled Soulaiman. “It’s just the extra inconvenience, the extra steps that could be avoided.”

Some say while it may be helpful to reopen the exit for now, they’re not getting their hopes up.

“The city’s infrastructure needs to be improved all around,” said Brown. “And by saying they’re not going to have that exit to access this part of the East Side of Providence is detrimental.”

According to the DOT, construction on the Henderson Bridge will begin next spring and it’ll be coordinated with construction on the Washington Bridge.

They say by fixing the two together, it’ll ultimately provide better access to the East Side overall.