Third lane on Washington Bridge opening ahead of schedule

EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — A new third travel lane on 195 west over the Washington Bridge will open Friday night ahead of schedule.

This is according to the director of the Rhode Island Department of Transportation, Peter Alviti.

He made the announcement yesterday after a road safety event.

That will make for a total of six lanes over the bridge, three in each direction.

Traffic was initially slowed down after the third lane was put in on 195 east last week, but engineers are now seeing benefits Alviti said.

Alviti said most of the backups on 195 east over the last three days have been because of crashes, rather than any lane changes or congestion.

Trucks remain limited to the far right lane in the three-lane set up.