Route 2 Closes Monday Night for Barton Corner Bridge Replacement

Route 2 is closing tonight, Monday, at 8 p.m. for demolition of the Barton Corner Bridge’s southbound lane as part of the ongoing bridge replacement project, which is ahead of schedule.

The bridge replacement project is more than halfway complete with the northbound section of the bridge already in place.

Beginning Monday night, southbound traffic on Interstate 95 will be shifted onto the new northbound bridge shortly before 8 p.m.. There will be no access to Exit 8 from I-95 south through Aug. 28.

Route 2 will be closed until 4 a.m. Tuesday.

Exit 8B will also be closed.

The on-ramp from Route 2 north to I-95 south will remain closed.

The state Department of Transportation has up-to-the-minute updates on the bridge replacement project here: http://www.dot.ri.gov/news/barton_corner/index.php

You can also watch the demolition live.

The bridge, which carries Interstate 95 over Route 2 on the Warwick and West Warwick town lines, provides access to Routes 4 and the New England Institute of Technology’s East Greenwich campus.

The state Department of Transportation said that the replacement project will use an innovative method to drastically reduce the overall impact on motorists. In all, the entire process, which entails moving the pre-assembled bridge segments into place, installing the road surfacing and connecting on-ramps, will take just 11 days.