The Potter Street Bridge Came Down for the Highway Beneath It. Watchemoket Crosses at Purchase Street Until 2028.

The Potter Street Bridge carried about 1,200 cars a day across I-195, according to RIDOT's estimate reported by EastBayRI. On a regional road map, that is a minor crossing. It was demolished overnight on November 6 and 7 anyway, and its replacement isn't expected until summer 2028. The reason has to do with the highway lanes running underneath it.

For people who live on either side of the gap, that leaves one main change for the next year and a half. Between Warren Avenue and Cobb Street, crossing the highway now means using the Purchase Street Bridge, one block east.

A 1959 Bridge That Pinched I-195 to Three Lanes

RIDOT spokesperson Charles St. Martin told EastBayRI that the Potter Street Bridge was built in 1959 in a way that forced I-195 down from four lanes to three in each direction as it passed underneath. "We wanted to clear up congestion pinch points," St. Martin said in that report. "The bridge is located in an area where there has been chronic congestion as long as most people can remember."

Mayor Bob DaSilva described the same backup in a Facebook post after an October 16 meeting with RIDOT and Providence Mayor Brett Smiley. As quoted by EastBayRI, he said: "Anybody who's lived in East Providence for any amount of time knows that even prior to this bridge shutting down, every single morning there would be backed up traffic on 195 into Seekonk during rush hour."

That's the reason a quiet local street lost its crossing. Rebuilding the Potter Street Bridge with a wider span lets the state lay out a corridor it couldn't fit before. The state's November 7 release describes four continuous westbound lanes between the Broadway interchange and the Washington Bridge, plus a fifth lane leading to a new off-ramp at Waterfront Drive.

The old bridge also explains why the demolition happened in one night instead of over several weeks. Its design meant that taking it down in pieces would have required bracing supports installed in the roadway. In St. Martin's words to EastBayRI, "We were looking at having lane closures for several weeks over the demo period as opposed to the one day full closure."

How the Crossing Works Now

According to RIDOT's travel advisory page, Potter Street has been closed between Freeborn Street and School Street since November 5. The City of East Providence and RIDOT have set out the alternatives:

1. Driving: Use the adjacent Purchase Street Bridge to cross over I-195. RIDOT estimates it adds about one minute of travel time between Warren Avenue and Cobb Street.
2. Walking: Take the shorter pedestrian detour along School Street, Purchase Street and Freeborn Street.
3. Planning ahead: The new Potter Street Bridge is expected to reopen in summer 2028. The state notes that construction schedules and scope can change with conditions and weather.

The Purchase Street Bridge stays in service throughout. St. Martin told EastBayRI it would not be affected by the Potter project. In practice, a single bridge now handles all the crossing traffic between Warren Avenue and Cobb Street, and it will through at least two more winters.

RIDOT has described the rebuild as a 12 to 18 month job starting from the November demolition, which lines up with the summer 2028 reopening the city published. The new Potter Street span should open a few months before the Washington Bridge itself.

Warren Avenue Already Had One Night as the Detour

The overnight shutdown on November 6 and 7 showed how the local streets absorb highway traffic when they have to. RIDOT closed I-195 in both directions near the Taunton Avenue exit at 10 p.m. that Friday. The state reported that eastbound lanes reopened at 11 a.m. Saturday and westbound lanes started reopening at noon.

For those twelve hours, Warren Avenue served as the interstate. The city's detour plan covered the stretch from the I-195 East off-ramp near the Comedy Connection to the I-195 East on-ramp near S. County Street and Sip'N Dip Donuts. Along that stretch:

• Pawtucket Avenue and Waterfront Drive were the only streets where traffic could cross Warren Avenue north to south.
• On-street parking was prohibited, and the center of the road was reserved for emergency vehicles.
• Broadway closed between Freeborn Avenue and Warren Avenue.
• Three on-ramps to I-195 West closed: Warren Avenue westbound at the East Shore Expressway, Pawtucket Avenue in both directions, and Broadway southbound.

According to WPRI's coverage, Exit 1B for Veterans Memorial Parkway and Exit 1C for Taunton Avenue stayed open the whole time. RIPTA told Route 60 riders to allow extra time in East Providence during the closure. That alert ended on November 7.

The Warren Avenue businesses that sat along the detour are open as usual on regular days. The corridor includes Black Duck Tavern at 31 Warren Avenue, Big Mike's Smokehouse at 35 Warren Avenue, and Café Alma, the Portuguese-inspired café at 227 Warren Avenue. EastBayRI covered Café Alma's opening in March and described owner Kevin Matos's ambitions for the avenue's Portuguese food scene. Once the one-night shutdown ended, the street-crossing restrictions ended with it.

Most of the Next 18 Months Happens After Dark

The long rebuild depends far less on daytime closures than the demolition did. St. Martin told EastBayRI that, like the work on the Washington Bridge, much of the Potter Street reconstruction and the lane widening beneath it will happen at night to limit the effect on commuters.

You can already see that pattern in RIDOT's advisories. For the week of November 7 through 13, RIDOT's travel advisory page listed:

• Up to two overnight lane closures on I-195 West from Pawtucket Avenue to Broadway, 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., Sunday through Thursday nights except Tuesday and Wednesday.
• Overnight closures on the I-195 East Exit 1D and Exit 2C off-ramps to Warren Avenue on Tuesday for wrong-way detector testing, with signed detours.
• Westbound bypass lanes open on the Washington Bridge, with traffic running three lanes in each direction on the eastbound span.

That page also listed weekday utility work on Taunton Avenue West at #332 and #354, with alternating lane closures from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. through mid-November. RIDOT posts these closures one week at a time, so the advisory page is the place to check before a late-night drive.

What Fills the Gap in 2028

The finished corridor changes how traffic reaches the Waterfront District. The new westbound off-ramp at Waterfront Drive will be served by its own fifth lane. Waterfront Drive is home to Bold Point Park at 555 Waterfront Drive. Today, the venue's directions send northbound visitors from Warren Avenue onto Waterfront Drive.

The bigger schedule belongs to the Washington Bridge, which closed without warning on December 11, 2023. RIDOT's October 2026 monthly report names Walsh Construction as the design-build contractor. The contract schedule lists November 3, 2028 for opening to traffic and June 29, 2029 for substantial completion. Closer in, the Boston Globe reported RIDOT's sequence for the next few seasons: piers on the foundation this fall, steel substructure installation this winter, and west-side arch footings and ramp piers in spring 2027.

Here's how the dates line up for Watchemoket:

Until summer 2028, the daily route goes over Purchase Street. Drivers lose about a minute, and walkers go around by School, Purchase and Freeborn streets. Below the bridge, RIDOT works at night on the four-lane corridor that the old 1959 bridge was in the way of.

If you're weighing a sale or purchase around Watchemoket while Potter Street is closed, The Blackstone Team can go over what the 2028 corridor timeline means for the specific blocks you're considering. Schedule a private market consultation.