The Rhode Island Department of Transportation announced that it has reopened I-195 in both directions in East Providence.

 

The highway had been closed since Friday night at 10 p.m. for the safe demolition of the Potter Street Bridge, which is part of the Washington Bridge rebuilding project. That demolition, RIDOT said, was done in order to increase the number of lanes traveling underneath the overpass.

 

Initially, a partial lane reopening was expected at 10 a.m., with a full reopening expected by noontime. RIDOT announced early Saturday morning that the partial reopening would be pushed back due to adverse weather conditions throughout the night.

 

The main cause of the slight delay, RIDOT leaders said, was because of the rain mixing with crushed concrete.

 

“It took a little extra time to get that slick, sticky concrete paste off the roadway,” RIDOT interim director Bob Rocchio said. “That did delay us a little bit, but we did end up opening up the eastbound direction, all lanes, before the noontime anticipated opening.”

 

Eastbound lanes opened at 11 a.m. and westbound lanes began opening at noontime.

 

Local business owners said that the impacts from the overnight closure were not as bad as they had feared.

 

“This was making me nervous, but it’s over, nothing like before,” Marta Morais, the owner of Loja Portugal said. “I have to tell the truth. It didn’t affect us very much. I mean, 10:00, we started getting our customers as usual.”

 

Rocchio said the overnight closure would be the last full highway closure as part of the project.

 

“Potter Street is the only bridge that we have to remove over 195,” Rocchio said. “This is probably the most significant traffic disruption that we’re going to see throughout this whole project.”

 

See more at wpri.com.