Five nights of I-195 lane closures hit Somerset and Fall River, then a full closure Friday in East Providence

SOUTH COAST Drivers on Interstate 195 between Somerset and Fall River will find lanes closed overnight on five nights starting Tuesday, Nov. 3, and in both directions on Wednesday night, MassDOT's Mass511 listings show. The work runs from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. on the stretch between Exit 10 at Route 103, near Somerset, and Exit 13 in Fall River.

Wednesday night is a lane closure. The highway stays open with some lanes closed, according to the listings. The full shutdown in both directions comes two nights later and farther west: the Rhode Island Department of Transportation plans to close I-195 completely near the Taunton Avenue exit in East Providence starting at 10 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, to demolish the Potter Street Bridge.

The nights between Somerset and Fall River

MassDOT lists each of these from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. with some lanes closed:

• Tuesday night, Nov. 3: eastbound
• Wednesday night, Nov. 4: both directions
• Thursday night, Nov. 5: westbound
• Sunday night, Nov. 8: both directions
• Monday night, Nov. 9: eastbound

MassDOT describes the job as nighttime roadwork and lists no detour for any of the five nights, so traffic between Fall River and Somerset or Swansea keeps moving on the highway in the lanes left open.

Mass511 lists other I-195 nights this week as well: lanes closed in both directions between Exit 14 at Route 24 in Fall River and Exit 19 in Dartmouth from 8 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights, and Thursday night closures from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. in Swansea, between Route 136 and Exit 10, and in Westport, between Exits 16 and 19.

Friday night: no I-195 through East Providence

RIDOT says lanes will start closing earlier in the evening, ahead of the full closure at 10 p.m. The full closure should last about 12 hours, with some lanes reopening by 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 7, and all lanes by noon. The agency is asking drivers to put off trips that can wait and to plan another route. For anyone heading from Fall River, Swansea or Seekonk toward Providence that night, that means getting off the highway in East Providence.

Eastbound drivers will leave I-195 at Exit 1D for Warren Avenue, turn left at the end of the ramp, follow Warren Avenue for about a mile and turn left onto the ramp back to I-195 East, according to RIDOT. Westbound drivers, headed toward Providence, will take Exit 2 for Broadway, turn left at the end of the ramp, turn right onto Warren Avenue and, in about three quarters of a mile, turn right onto the Warren Avenue on-ramp to I-195 West, which RIDOT is opening for the night.

Three on-ramps to I-195 West will be closed during the work: from Warren Avenue westbound at the East Shore Expressway, from Pawtucket Avenue in both directions, and from Broadway southbound. Broadway will be closed between Freeborn Avenue and Warren Avenue, and parking will be banned on the detour stretch of Warren Avenue. RIDOT says the schedule can change because of the weather.

The detours, the turn rules on Warren Avenue and why RIDOT chose one long night are in our full story on the Potter Street Bridge closure.

Before you go

Every listed state and town closure on the South Coast is mapped on SC360's roadwork tracker. Fall River's street list for the week is in our Fall River roadwork story, and the region's other highway nights are in our week of Nov. 2 highway story.

Mass511 posts each closure as it starts and clears. RIDOT posts updates at dot.ri.gov and on its RIDOTnews Facebook and X accounts.

Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.