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November 5, 2007

A pleasant morning drive across the Iway

A broken-down car on the side of the road, lane changes without signals, blind merging.

Things have settled into business as usual on Route 95 leading up to the new section of highway known as the Iway.

The drive from the Thurbers Ave. entrance onto 95 northbound to the Gano Street exit took less than a minute at 7:15 this morning.

Smooth, new pavement, sparse traffic and a new, open view of the Providence River and its associated commerce made it possibly the most pleasant 1.5 miles of highway in the state.

Survey: Tell us about your drive across the Iway.

Not so fast, though.

“This would be people leaving the city,” said project supervisor Paul Grimaldi, noting the sparse traffic.

“This is fine now because it's morning,” but for the real test, he said, come back around 2 or 3 in the afternoon.

He’ll be there.

This is just the beginning of the massive highway relocation project. Just two of eight lanes are open. New exits are still closed off by Jersey blocks. And westbound traffic on 195 at 7:30 a.m. is the same as it ever was: a parking lot.

Standing on what will eventually be the four 195 westbound lanes, you can see trucks and backhoes and a machine called the crusher hard at work, crushing debris to be used as fill.

“That’s over,” Grimaldi said, motioning to the two lanes of eastbound traffic on the new road.

“Onto the next thing.”

Posted by Brandie Jefferson  at 9:54 AM | Permalink

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