The Rhode Island Department of Transportation will start its next highway renumbering project, changing exit numbers on I-95 from the Massachusetts border in Pawtucket to the Connecticut border in Hopkinton on August 9. The new exit numbers are part of a multi-year federal program to update highway numbering for Interstates and other limited-access highways. I-95 is the last highway for RIDOT to renumber.
The new exit numbers are keyed to mile markers – a system used throughout the country for many years. Rhode Island and some neighboring New England states are among the last to change to this method which is required by the Federal Highway Administration’s Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways. The highway exit numbers traditionally were assigned sequentially.
A mile-marker exit number system lets drivers know how far they need to travel to reach their desired off-ramp. It also allows for easier expansion for future interchanges since the entire highway would not have to be renumbered to accommodate a new exit number. RIDOT will install temporary signs indicating the old exit number and will leave them up for an extended period of time.
RIDOT will reach out to communities, businesses, and organizations along these highway corridors to notify them of the change. The Department also will contact electronic mapping and GPS companies to inform them of the new exit numbers as they are changed.
For more information on the renumbering project, including a list of new and old exit numbers, visit www.ridot.net/ExitNumbers.
All construction projects are subject to changes in schedule and scope depending on needs, circumstances, findings, and weather.
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