Rhode Island transportation map

[MrDisco99]

I just did a road trip of much of the east coast and managed to get paper road maps from welcome centers of most of the states I went through.  However, Rhode Island's welcome center on I-95 was closed for some reason and I didn't see any others.

Is there somewhere I can order a map from them?  I couldn't find anything on their DOT or tourism websites.

[shadyjay]

That welcome center was, unfortunately, closed permanently in September 2011....
http://www.ri.gov/press/view/14858

Seems real stupid to me to close a welcome center at a major point of entry, and forcing those to park or take a break at private businesses off Exit 3.  When I'm traveling, I'd rather stay on the highway rather than get off, if I have to use the restroom, check the oil, take a break, etc. 

So that leaves the only rest area with facilities being on I-295 North near Woonsocket, which is actually a "welcome center" but not far from the Mass state line, and for a time, had commercial tenants (Baskin Robins and Dunkin Donuts, but Google streetview shows they're gone).  And the only on-I-95 "facility" is between Exits 4 & 5, signed as a "Rest Area" but nothing more than a parking lot.  The least RIDOT could've done was leave the Hope Valley facility open as a parking area or pulled a Massachusetts and throw up some port-o-lets.  Maybe one day it'll reopen. 

As far as getting a map, I'd try to contact the tourism department... http://www.visitrhodeisland.com/.  There's a 800# at the bottom of the page.  The actual map section shows the map from 2011, which still has the I-95 Hope Valley welcome center listed, along with NJ-style route shields.

Seems like their state motto should be
"Welcome To Rhode Island.  Nothing To See Here... Move Along"

[southshore720]

There was *supposed* to be a companion rest area on I-295 SB in Lincoln on the site of the former rest area (now ghost town), but I don't know what happened to that idea.

RE: the Hope Valley Visitor Center, the sprawl of fast food "Easy On/Easy Off" options on Rte 138 (Exit 3A) makes up for the lack of visitor center.  The Wendy's on Rte 138 has become my new "rest area" for those desperately needed bathroom breaks!  If those restaurants were smart, they would include some tourist literature inside of them!

[KEVIN_224]

"Rhode Island I-95: Our 43 miles of it beats New Hampshire's 16!" 

[Alps]

I think RIDOT just doesn't have the money to keep these things open. FWIW I picked up my last map at the I-295 center.
Yeah, the website just lets you view online or download a PDF. Maybe they've stopped printing them?!

[CtrlAltDel]

For my trip to the Northeast, I got my map at the Newport Visitor's Center. There's also one in Providence.

Newport Gateway Visitors Center
23 America's Cup Avenue, Newport
http://www.discovernewport.org/visitor-center
401-845-9123


Providence Main Visitor Information Center
1 Sabin Street, Providence
http://www.goprovidence.com/planning-tools/visitor-center/
401-751-1177

[ixnay]

The Virginia welcome center on U.S. 301 as you come off the Harry Nice Bridge was closed last October when I went on vacation to Richmond (although the 2014-2016 VDOT map shows the circled ? at its location).  I crossed the Nice Bridge several times on the way to various destinations (Williamsburg, Savannah, Charleston, Roanoke, that Richmond trip) in the past decade and it was closed each time although the building was still standing.

Here it was in Sept. 2014...

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.3588698,-77.0181842,3a,77.5y,4.3h,80.86t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sZYuvuaQQDbFhmKy9gaT0fA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!5m1!1e1

OTOH the MD welcome center at the Nice Bridge was apparently thriving in June 2014 (it's set back from 301 and hidden behind trees so you would have to actually drive in there [which I've never done] to see the place)...

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.3693078,-76.96051,3a,48.1y,213.31h,87.19t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-Bxo7bZNx2-Q%2FU5oMjVC_KfI%2FAAAAAAALTi8%2FaN2N3O_FTbE!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2F-Bxo7bZNx2-Q%2FU5oMjVC_KfI%2FAAAAAAALTi8%2FaN2N3O_FTbE%2Fw203-h101-n-k-no%2F!7i7168!8i3584!5m1!1e1

ixnay

[Beeper1]

You can still get the paper RI maps at the info booth at TF Green Airport, the I-295 visitor center, and a number of local chambers of commerce.   Most of the Blackstone Valley Heritage Corridor museums seem to have them.

[MrDisco99]

I'm no longer in Rhode Island, so is there any way to order one?

[CtrlAltDel]

I'm no longer in Rhode Island, so is there any way to order one?

Call one of the centers and find out.

[ixnay]

I'm no longer in Rhode Island, so is there any way to order one?

Call one of the centers and find out.

Or click on http://www.visitrhodeisland.com/make-plans/rhode-island-maps/#Maps, scroll down to the bottom, and call one of the toll free numbers and ask about ordering.  (There's one toll free number under "Visitor Information", and the other is in the wide blue strip near the bottom, on the right).

ixnay

[MrDisco99]

So yeah... I called the number on the web page and left my address on the voicemail.  A map showed up in the mail a few days later.

[shadyjay]

Well ain't this interesting..... the Feds (ie - we) will be paying for a new welcome center just off I-95 at Exit 1 near the CT state line:

http://www.providencejournal.com/article/20151026/NEWS/151029449

And I have to wonder what the redevelopment of the former welcome center into a "full service truck stop" will entail.  A "full service truck stop" I would think would involve a gas station and restaurant.  But such an amenity is prohibited on I-95 in RI as it was a roadway built with federal funds and wasn't a pre-interstate toll road.  Even if RI did manage to get a waiver to construct a facility, why even bother with this proposed Exit 1 facility?  Not to mention, there's a full service truck stop off, what, Exit 5, 10 miles or so up the road?

[Beeper1]

And a full service truck stop just about 1 mile away off Exit 93, just over the state line.

[southshore720]

I think both will thrive...the Exit 1 rest-stop will likely draw the attention of NB drivers, and the Exit 93 rest-stop will likely draw the attention of SB drivers as those facilities are on the SB side of the road.

If they make the former Visitor Center a full-service truck stop, does that mean they will close the Exit 4 rest area?  And the "phantom" Exit 5B truck stop that we know is there, but no one visits? (It still boggles me that tractor trailers have to navigate the sharp clover leaf at RI 102 in order to access the truck stop!)