A third lane of travel westbound on the east portion of the Washington Bridge will be available to drivers as of Saturday, April 20.

The Rhode Island Department of Transportation made the announcement Thursday afternoon, April 18, that the latest attempt to ease congestion on the Interstate 195 corridor connecting the East Bay with the rest of the state will be ready for use by the weekend. Crews will be working on Friday night, April 19, from 9 p.m. to early Saturday morning to finish the conversion.

The change was first broached during a late February press event held by Gov. Dan McKee and RIDOT Director Peter Alviti. The director said it would take approximately eight weeks to convert the still relatively new and separate east side of the bridge complex into six lanes of travel, three in each direction.

With the implementation of the three-lane configuration, the lanes will be narrowed from 12 feet to 10 feet. Trucks will be restricted to the far-right lane in each direction, which will be 11 feet wide, and RIDOT will post signage that trucks must use the far-right lane only. The speed limit on I-195 through the bypass lanes in both directions will be reduced to 40 mph.

Because of the three-lane configuration eastbound, traffic entering the highway from South Water Street and India Street will need to yield when entering the highway. This may cause delays for motorists using this ramp to enter onto I-195 East during rush hour.

Thursday's press release concluded with the following, "RIDOT urges drivers to stay in their lane, avoid distractions, and be kind to one another."