Rhode Island
New lanes to ease traffic over Rhode Island’s Washington Bridge – The Boston Globe
Under the plans announced Wednesday, the temporary bypass lanes will get a 50 percent boost in capacity in both directions.
âWe know that adding 50 percent capacity to what is there right now is going to save a considerable amount of time,â RIDOT Director Peter Alviti said at a State House news conference announcing the plan.
In originally announcing the closure, the state said it would take about three months to repair. That estimate went out the window weeks ago: After finding more problems in the bridge, the state now says it may have to replace the entire westbound span, and expects to get reports back on it by late February or early March. Meanwhile workers will now spend about the next eight weeks, depending on weather and other factors, reconfiguring the roadway in a way that would benefit commuters no matter what the ultimate outcome is on the westbound side.
Alviti on Wednesday declined to offer more specifics when pressed by reporters about when the state would know what would be required to get the westbound side back open again, or about the likelihood that itâll have to be rebuilt.
A spokesman for the Department of Transportation said putting the plan in place required studying feasibility, as well as getting federal approval, which is why itâs taken until now to do it.
The state is fitting the new lanes in by reducing their width by two feet, to 10 feet. Trucks will be restricted to the rightmost lane, which will be 11 feet wide. And the speed limit on the bypass lanes will be reduced to 40 miles per hour.
The DOT also said that because of the new eastbound configuration, traffic from South Water Street and India Street in Providence will need to yield when entering the highway, which could cause delays for drivers on the ramp to 195 east at rush hour.
Work will begin Monday with design and ordering materials, the state said. The construction will move the start of bypass lanes in East Providence about 3,000 feet west of where it is now.
State officials said the new traffic pattern should reduce travel times and ease spillover congestion on local streets, although exactly how much remains to be seen. Some people who are opting for different routes right now may go back on the bridge once the third lanes are open, which would increase traffic.
âIt certainly will improve travel time,â said Governor Dan McKee, who also remarked that wasnât going to talk about travel time as much as he had in the past, given the criticism of his previous statement that the closure was adding just 10 to 15 minutes to peopleâs commutes.
Brian Amaral can be reached at brian.amaral@globe.com. Follow him @bamaral44.
The Rhode Island Blood Center is asking for donations after the fatal shooting at Brown University on Saturday.
Several donor centers have extended hours available as they respond to the emergency.
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Anyone interested can sign up for an appointment on the organization’s website.
PROVIDENCE — The Rhode Island Blood Center’s blood supply was low before Saturday’s mass shooting at Brown University, and it is immediately stepping up blood drives to meet the need, an official said Sunday.
“We were definitely dealing with some issues with inventory going into the incident,” Executive Director of Blood Operations Nicole Pineault said.
The supply was especially low for Type 0 positive and negative, which are often needed for mass casualty incidents, she said. Type 0 negative is considered the “universal” red blood donor, because it can be safely given to patients of any blood type.
Pineault attributed the low supply to weather, illness, and the lingering effects of the pandemic. With more people working from home, blood drives at office buildings are smaller, and young people — including college students — are not donating blood at the same rate as they did in the past, she said.
“There are a lot challenges,” she said.
But people can help by donating blood this week, Pineault said, suggesting they go to ribc.org or contact the Rhode Island Blood Center at (401) 453-8383 or (800) 283-8385.
The donor room at 405 Promenade St. in Providence is open seven days a week, Pineault said. Blood drives were already scheduled for this week at South Street Landing in Providence and at Brown Physicians, and the blood center is looking to add more blood drives in the Providence area this week, she said.
“It breaks my heart,” Pineault said of the shooting. “It’s a terrible tragedy. We run blood dives regularly on the Brown campus. Our heart goes out to all of the victims and the staff. We want to work with them to get the victims what they need.”
She said she cannot recall a similar mass shooting in Rhode Island.
“In moments of tragedy, it’s a reminder to the community how important the blood supply really is,” Pineault said. “It’s an easy way to give back, to help your neighbors, and be ready in unfortunate situations like this.”
The Rhode Island Blood Center has donor centers in Providence, Warwick, Middletown, Narragansett, and Woonsocket, and it has mobile blood drives, she noted.
On Sunday, the center’s website said “Donors urgently needed. Hours extended at some donor centers, 12/14.”
Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at edward.fitzpatrick@globe.com. Follow him @FitzProv.
Authorities said two people were killed and eight more were injured in a mass shooting at Brown University, an Ivy League school in Rhode Island. Authorities said students were on campus for the second day of final exams.
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