If you’ve driven along I-95 from Hopkinton to Pawtucket within the past week, you may have noticed a change in exit numbers closer to the Massachusetts border. The Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) started its highway renumbering project on Aug. 28 – changing exit numbers on I-95 from the Massachusetts border in Pawtucket to the Connecticut border in Hopkinton.

According to an Aug. 29 press release, the new exit numbers are part of a multi-year federal program to update highway numbering for Interstates and other limited-access highways. I-95 is the last highway for RIDOT to renumber.

RIDOT will work for a month – Sunday through Thursday nights – to complete the renumbering process. Workers began renumbering three exits on I-95 South in Pawtucket. RIDOT plans to change three exits at a time, with two nights for each set.

In Cranston, Rte. 37 West/Cranston will change from Exit 14B to Exit 31B. Jefferson Boulevard’s Exit 15 will change to Exit 31C and Rte. 10 North/Rte. 2/Cranston will change from Exit 16 to Exit 33A.

According to RIDOT, the new exit numbers are keyed to mile markers – a system used throughout the country. Rhode Island and some neighboring New England states are among the last to change to this method which the Federal Highway Administration’s Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways requires. Traditionally, the highway exit numbers were assigned sequentially.

A mile-marker exit number system lets drivers know how far they need to travel to reach their desired off-ramp. It also allows for easier expansion for future interchanges since the entire highway would not have to be renumbered to accommodate a new exit number. RIDOT will install temporary signs indicating the old exit number and will leave them up for an extended period of time.

For more information on the renumbering project, including a full list of new and old exit numbers, visit www.ridot.net/ExitNumbers.