Starting Friday night, Nov. 11, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) will begin the process of sliding two bridge decks into place at the Pontiac Avenue interchange in Cranston. The bridge slides will require two consecutive weekend closures of Pontiac Avenue. Parts of Route 37 westbound and eastbound will be affected but travelers will access the Pontiac Avenue ramps to move easily on Route 37. The first closure will be from Nov. 11 at 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Nov.14. The second closure will be from Nov. 18 at 8 p.m. to Nov. 21 at 6 a.m.

RIDOT expects travel delays and strongly encourages travelers to consider alternate routes to access the Reservoir Avenue commercial district, including the Garden City and Chapel View shopping centers. For the first closure, RIDOT also needs to close I-95 South to Exits 31B and 31A. RIDOT recommends drivers consider alternate routes such as Route 10 to Route 2, I-295 to Route 2 and I-295 to Route 37 to reach their destinations.

Each weekend RIDOT will demolish one half of the bridge and slide the new bridge deck into place using multi-wheeled, self-propelled modular transporters. This $75.9 million, multi-bridge project is repairing deficient bridges along the Route 37 corridor with preservation, major rehabilitation, and/or reconstruction of 15 bridge structures in Cranston and Warwick. With a daily traffic count of 42,000 vehicles, Route 37 is one of the state’s busiest corridors.

The project is funded in part by a $20 million federal TIGER grant secured by Rhode Island’s Congressional delegation and will be finished in spring 2023. All construction projects, however, are subject to changes in schedule and scope depending on needs, circumstances, findings and weather. (Warwick Beacon photo)