Construction recently began on the $22.6 million I-295 Bridges Contract 1 project. The project, which kicked off the Rhode Island Department of Transportation’s (RIDOT) 2019 construction season, will reconstruct four bridges over Plainfield Pike on the Johnston/Cranston line.
The bridges were built in 1968 and 1969, and three are structurally deficient. The bridges carry 82,000 vehicles daily.
Two bridges carry I-295 north and south over Plainfield Pike, and two bridges pass over a Providence Water Supply Board aqueduct.
“We have another banner year for construction, with hundreds of millions of dollars of construction underway and scores of new, well-paying jobs rebuilding Rhode Island,” Gov. Gina Raimondo said. “We’re delivering on the promises in RhodeWorks to pull us out of the bottom of lists that talk about poor roads and bridges and move us toward a day when we’ll rank among the top states in the country with a well-maintained transportation system.”
RhodeWorks is a program designed to restore the state’s bridges and roads to proper working order.
This year, RIDOT will spend $715.6 million on 77 projects, including 177 bridges.
Other projects include the repair of 15 bridges on Route 37 and the restoration of seven bridges on I-95 as well as the I-295 Bridges Contract 2 project.