Iway: Different complications on the way home
11:20 AM Thu, Jun 18, 2009 | Permalink
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PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A big traffic shift early Thursday means many drivers heading home from Providence in the afternoon will have to take different routes, Rhode Island Department of Transportation engineers said. Where traffic backed up somewhat on Route 195 westbound Thursday morning, RIDOT is worried about a different problem this afternoon, tie-ups on local streets because the ramp from Route 195 west to Route 95 south was closed early Thursday. That means that commuters used to entering Route 195 from ramps downtown can no longer get to Route 95 southbound, only northbound. The DOT suggested that commuters headed from downtown south on Route 95 take Memorial Boulevard to the highway entrance at the Providence Place mall. Another route south is either Allens Avenue or Eddy Street to a temporary southbound ramp onto Route 95 from Blackstone Street. DOT officials say that the ramp to Route 95 south had to be closed to allow continued construction on the last phase of the $610-million 195 relocation project, a ramp from the new highway to Route 95 north. The changes only added a few minutes to backups on Route 195 westbound during the morning rush, the DOT said. Its staff members repeatedly drove through the congestion to compare travel times with a normal day. "We're more worried about what will happen in the city tonight," than about Friday morning, said Michael P. Lewis, state director of transportation. (This entry was originally posted at 10:40 a.m.) Follow our continuing report on the new Iway section, and give your own traffic reports at projo.com. 
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It's nuts to expect everyone to drive through downtown to the mall at rush hour. That's jammed than without all those extra people.
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Exactly. That's why they built a ramp at Blackstone Street.
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Oh man. I take Eddy St. to Allens Ave going home from South Main St. every afternoon. Even without this mess, Point St. westbound gets backed up over the bridge and beyond with people trying to turn left on Eddy. Halp!
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Try taking College Street to Memorial Boulevard/Dyer Street southbound. That might be faster than turning left from Point Street.
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God only knows why they made this change mid week instead of on Saturday morning to people could drive their route over the weekend without rush hour traffic. Way to go geniuses.
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Actually, it's rather smart to do it during the middle of the week. To make the change on the weekend puts off the inevitable to a Monday! People are already grumpy and ill at ease on a Monday, and then to have to deal with a major traffic change just adds insult to injury. Plus, you avoid weekend overtime by completing the shift during the week.
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Would someone please tell me the fastest way to get onto Route 95 Southbound from downtown WITHOUT having to go through the city????
Will we still be able to take 95 S from Service Road near The Crossroads? Or has that been closed?
Thanks for anyone's help
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the smartest thing to do is to hop on north main and take that to the branch or smithfield ave onramps....
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i would not go to branch just to get onto 95 south. then you'll get stuck in the backup before the malls. there will be back upgetting onto 95 sotuh at hte mall becuase it ALWAYS is due to the 195 ramp being on the right, nad travelers wanting 95 south have to get over to the left.
now with people coming on from the 195 merge @ thurbers, it's going to be worse.
hop on route 6, take it to 10 and get 95 south that way if you're headed to warwick and any points south!
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RIDOT = BOZOS
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Combining bad drivers, functionally illiterate lunckheads, and a Rhode Island construction project, don't expect miracles. Those plastic barrels should be cement after the first ten of them.
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