The main road connecting Barrington and Riverside is going on a diet. 

According to the Rhode Island Department of Transportation, a section of Willett Avenue and County Road is shrinking from two vehicle lanes to one vehicle lane and one bike lane. The traffic shift is called a “road diet” by RIDOT officials. 

“Road diets are a proven traffic calming measure to reduce speed and improve safety for turning traffic and pedestrians crossing the road,” stated a press release from RIDOT. “RIDOT has implemented road diets in numerous communities across Rhode Island.”

The construction project is turning the right travel lane into a buffer zone and bike lane. The left travel lane will remain dedicated to motor vehicles. New sidewalks are also being built along County Road east of the Willett/County rotary. 

“The reduction of a travel lane provided an opportunity for the installation of a bike lane to make it safer to bike along this road,” stated the DOT release. “The bike lanes will run along Willett Avenue eastbound from Metropolitan Park Drive to Richmond Avenue in East Providence, and along Willett Avenue westbound from County Road at the beginning of the traffic circle in Barrington to Metropolitan Park Drive in East Providence.

The road diet on Willett Avenue and County Road has left some motorists a little bit confused — they thought the bike lane abutted the traffic lane. In fact, that area of the road is the buffer between the bike lane and traffic lane. 

RIDOT officials said the changes were planned in coordination with East Providence and Barrington officials. 

“Aside from serving residents along this section of Willett Avenue, the bike lane could connect to other bike lanes or routes the state or local communities may consider in the future,” stated the release. “Additionally, the East Bay Bike Path is a short distance to the west of the traffic circle at Metropolitan Park Drive where the new bike lane begins.”

Rhode Island Department of Transportation recently started painting the road stripes along Willett and County, reducing the number of travel lanes and laying out the bike lanes. Work on the bike lane installation will take place Sunday through Thursday nights, finishing in approximately two weeks, weather dependent. 

The final configuration will include a buffer zone with diagonal hash lines. To the right of the buffer will be the new bike lane. There also will be signs and stenciled bike symbols on the bike lane section of pavement. On many other projects, RIDOT has incorporated a buffer zone between bikes and cars for an improved measure of safety.

As part of this project, on County Road from Washington Road to Route 114 in Barrington, overnight road milling is scheduled for Sunday through Tuesday nights from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. 

“Noise can be expected, and RIDOT will make every effort to minimize the disruptions,” stated the press release.