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New Quonset Access Road Work Expected to Disrupt Traffic

Posted on: Thursday, 1 September 2005, 18:00 CDT

EAST GREENWICH - Starting this week and continuing through the fall, a stretch of Frenchtown Road near the Hunt River will be narrowed to two lanes as the state continues a massive reconfiguration of access and exit ramps to Route 4.

The entire project -- with a price tag of about $150 million -- will provide direct highway access to the Quonset Davisville Port and Commerce Park, in neighboring North Kingstown.

The work in East Greenwich involves relocating a stretch of Route 403 and the construction of new access and exit ramps on the northbound and southbound lanes of highway Route 4. The work will take place around Frenchtown Road, which is slated to get a refurbished highway overpass, as well as new spurs that will lead to either Route 4 or the new stretch of Route 403 leading to Quonset.

Edmund Parker, chief engineer for the state Department of Transportation, said that some of the work -- including the reconstruction of the highway bridge on Frenchtown Road -- will not begin until next spring. But starting this week, there will be work on Frenchtown where it crosses the Hunt River.

That is the portion of Frenchtown Road that will eventually pass under a new bridge that will be part of the new Route 403, so some of the work for that overpass will begin now as well, Parker said.

He said that the DOT wants to minimize the impact on the public while the various stages of work are in the Frenchtown Road area. For now, he said, motorists will still be able to drive both east and west on the road, with the only restriction being the narrowing from four lanes to two in the Hunt River area.

By the spring, he said, a large portion of relocated Route 403 should be completed so that road will serve as a bypass when the reconstruction of the Frenchtown Road overpass begins.

East Greenwich Town Manager William Sequino Jr. said yesterday that the DOT has kept the town apprised of the work and that there will be police details in the area. He also said he has notified the School Department that its buses may encounter delays on Frenchtown Road this fall.

Frenchtown is a busy thoroughfare, drawing a lot of traffic from the south as well as commuters who use the road to reach Route 4.

The state's plan to reconfigure highway access in that area is not only ambitious from a financial standpoint, but also slightly involved regarding the reconfiguration of highway access and exit ramps.

According to Parker there will be a new exit ramp from the southbound lanes of Route 4 that will make a sweeping curve before funneling into the new section of Route 403 that will pass above Frenchtown Road.

There will also be a new exit from the northbound side of Route 4 that will cut beneath Frenchtown Road before veering east onto the new stretch of Route 403.

The work will go on for three to four years, with some portions expected to be completed in 2008 and others parts slated to be finished in 2009, Parker said.

He said that the reconstruction of Frenchtown Road where it cuts across Route 4 is expected to start next spring and continue through the end of August 2007.

Source: Providence Journal

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