State Officials Say Eastbound Washington Bridge Remains Safe

State officials said Monday the eastbound Washington Bridge has not experienced any significant deterioration despite carrying twice the normal traffic since it was pressed into an expanded role last year.

The eastbound bridge was reconfigured to accommodate six lanes of traffic, three in each direction, after the westbound bridge was closed on an emergency basis in December 2023.

During a Statehouse news conference on Monday, Gov. Dan McKee said a monitoring report completed in November showed the need for what he described as routine “improvements, refreshes and minor repairs” to the eastbound bridge.

“It’s important to understand that none of the conditions we’re addressing in our maintenance affect the capacity of this bridge or its structural integrity to carry the six lanes we have on it,” said Peter Alviti, director of the Rhode Island Department of Transportation.

Alviti said the state has built redundancy into its assessment of the bridge and that reviewing it every six months is a standard set by the Federal Highway Administration.

This story was reported by The Public’s Radio. You can read the entire story here.