Let’s take a quickie look at SR 146 from Providence, RI up to Worcester Mass. The pictures are from last weekend, when the New England spring was in full swing with budding dogwoods and hordes of people moving to Vermont.
Route 146 has the distinction of being Rhode Island’s first divided highway, and was originally constructed way back in the 1940s. In RI, the ROW is fairly dense with the carriageways often separated by a simple guardrail.
As a Texan, i’m always surprised by the seemingly ridiculously low distances between things in New England. I’m used to the next big city being 240 miles away…
I love the Pilgrim Hat. Construction of this interchange took place from 1996 to 1998, and cost about $100 million. The freeway’s design touches through here are pretty nice. The lights evoke thoughts of the industrial 19th century past of the region, in my opinion.
I’m not one to complain about highway markings that often but come on. Arguably the most historic state in the nation with the richest and most progressive culture out there and a square?
Construction is ongoing in Worcester to upgrade the road. Traffic is relegated to the future southbound lanes as the northbound lanes are completed. Interestingly, the signage is already up – completion is expected by the end of this year. When the freeway is completed from Providence all the way though to Worcester, it would be a great candidate for an extension of I-190 southward (Also handy would be an actual connection to its parent)…
The bridges here are fuschia, which is a color I cant say I’ve ever seen used much on freeways before. It’s better than plain concrete, though – and thats what makes Route 146 unique.
I haven taken MA/RI 146 a number of times. Improvements to MA 146 between I-90 and I-290 have been going on since at least 2004.