This 2001 photo shows the northbound RI 146 Expressway approaching EXIT 1 (Branch Avenue) in Providence. Exit numbers on RI 146 were not added until 2019. (Photo by Steve Anderson.)

Length:
Constructed:

16.2 miles (26.1 kilometers)
1939-2025

PART OF AN OLD TURNPIKE: The earliest mention of a road between Providence and Worcester dates back to 1682, when town meeting records suggested that a road be "stated at or about Louisquissuck (Louisquisset)� to go up into the country." Beginning in 1805, the Louisquisset Turnpike was constructed when a company of the same name was formed to improve the road. The tollgate for that road was at the corner of Louisquisset (now Charles Street) and Mineral Spring Pikes.

The Louisquisset Turnpike, which was built to bypass the older and more circuitous "Great Road" (now RI 146A), was part of a network of several late 18th century and early 19th century turnpikes built between Providence and the small towns surrounding the city. Originally built to provide access to the Lime Rock settlement, which was part of the current town of Lincoln, the Louisquisset Turnpike eventually played a key role in connecting Providence with Worcester. The turnpike also saw the development of taverns, hotels, and other businesses to support the growing lime industry in the area. The turnpike was straightened in the mid-1920s, forming the basis for what would eventually become RI 146, continuing the route of MA 146 from Worcester.

A KEY TROLLEY ROUTE: According to documents from the US Department of Interior and the National Parks Service, a trolley line connecting Providence with Woonsocket ran parallel to the Louisquisset Pike beginning in 1904, serving as an alternative to the Providence and Worcester Railroad. The trolley lasted little more than a quarter century as trolley service - ultimately the victim of increased motor vehicle use - ceased by 1930. However, the state kept the right-of-way for future use. The preservation of the right-of-way would later influence highway alignments, reinforcing the corridor's long-standing transportation role.

ONE OF RHODE ISLAND'S FIRST DIVIDED HIGHWAYS: Towards the late 1930s, the increased number of vehicles, combined with the increased weight of trucks and other vehicles, prompted the state to build highways with stronger, wider pavements with better drainage and alignment. Where demands required it, the state sought to build four-lane divided highways with a six-foot (1.8-meter)-wide median barrier. While it was not the first divided highway in the state - US 1 through Warwick and East Greenwich, which opened in 1938, had this honor - the modernized Louisquisset Pike was the second in the state.

Built between 1939 and 1942, the updated RI 146 connected Sherman Avenue (current EXIT 6) in Lincoln with Park Avenue in Woonsocket. One of the most notable features of this 5.2-mile (8.4-kilometer)-long stretch of divided highway was a grade-separated overpass to carry RI 146 over RI 116 (George Washington Highway) and a cloverleaf interchange with RI 116 in Lincoln (current EXIT 7).

ADDRESSING POSTWAR NEEDS: To address the traffic needs of postwar Rhode Island, the state floated a $12 million bond issue for highway construction for road and bridge construction in 1950. One of the first projects completed under the bond issue was a 2.4-mile (3.9-kilometer)-long extension of the divided Louisquisset Pike as a four-lane expressway from Sherman Avenue south to RI 246 (Old Louisquisset Pike, current EXIT 4A) in Lincoln. Referred in planning documents as both the "Louisquisset Expressway" and "Louisquisset Pike," the extension was completed on December 21, 1951. Moving southward towards Providence, the state added a 2.6-mile (4.2-kilometer)-long extension to Branch Avenue (current EXIT 1B) on November 27, 1957, followed by a 1.1-mile (1.8-kilometer)-long extension to Admiral Street on July 18, 1958. The bypassed southern segments of RI 146 were given the new designation of RI 246.

YESTERDAY� This photo from 1959 shows the temporary end of the newly-completed RI 146 Expressway at the current EXIT 1A (Admiral Street) just north of Downtown Providence. View is looking south. The RI 146 Expressway was extended south from Admiral Street to I-95 in 1975. This photo shows that the original plan to extend RI 146 south to I-95 involved an overpass over Admiral Street, but the final roadway configuration for the RI 146 extension involved an underpass at Admiral Street. (Photo by Rhode Island Department of Public Works, from "A Highway Program for Rhode Island.")

� AND TODAY: This 2024 photo shows the southbound RI 146 Expressway at EXIT 1A (Admiral Street) in Providence. Note how the grade of the RI 146 mainline was changed from an elevated profile to a depressed one. (Photo by Steve Anderson.)

A BYPASS AND EXTENSION INTO MASSACHUSETTS: As work was wrapping up on the southern extension of RI 146 towards Providence, the state began construction in 1957 of a four-lane freeway bypass of North Smithfield. Called the "North Smithfield Expressway" in planning documents, the RI 146 bypass was designed to connect to an expressway being developed in Massachusetts, the Worcester-Providence Turnpike (now MA 146). The 5.6-mile (9.1-kilometer)-long freeway section was opened to traffic on October 29, 1962. However, it would be another two decades for Massachusetts to proceed with its own expressway conversion of MA 146.

A LONG-AWAITED CONNECTION TO I-95: At the Admiral Street terminus, two graded roadway stubs were built on an elevation in anticipation with its ultimate connection to I-95 (North-South Expressway), whose own plans were under development in the late 1950s. In its five-year "Rhode Island Roads" program announced in 1959, the state set aside $1.5 million for fiscal years 1962 and 1963 for right-of-way and construction, but as construction of I-95 progressed through Downtown Providence, the RI 146 Expressway still had its terminus at Admiral Street as plans to connect RI 146 to I-95 had yet to be determined. In response, the traffic engineering department for the City of Providence published a memorandum in 1964 that offered the following proposal:

In order to make such a connection (between I-95 and RI 146) operate effectively, it is necessary to establish Oriental Street, between Oregon Street and Admiral Street, as a one-way street in a northerly direction. It is also necessary to establish Whipple Street as a one-way street in a southerly direction from Admiral Street to Oregon Street, and to establish Oregon Street as a one-way street in an easterly direction from Whipple Street to Oriental Street.

This temporary bypass pattern is being constructed by the State Department of Public Works to serve not only as a traffic relief measure at the present time, but also as a temporary bypass pattern for the duration of the construction period for the permanent I-95 / Louisquisset Pike connection. At this time, it is not known how long this construction period will be, but it is anticipated that it will require not less than two years, and it may require three or four years before this permanent construction will be completed.

(Excerpted from City of Providence Traffic Engineering Department, planning memorandum, 1964)

The "temporary" period ended up lasting about a decade as the state focused on completing its Interstate highway program, delaying key projects like the RI 146 connection to I-95. In the fall of 1974, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) opened a permanent northbound connection from I-95 to RI 146. This was followed in early 1975 with the opening of the permanent RI 146-to-I-95 connection. The elevated fill intended to carry RI 146 over Admiral Street was replaced with an underpass; this was likely done to maintain the geographic profile of the nearby Charles Street overpass over the Amtrak-MBTA railroad right-of-way.

UPGRADES FOR A WOONSOCKET SPUR: Between 1987 and 1993, the RIDOT extended the existing collector-distributor (C/D) roads along RI 146 at the I-295 interchange in Lincoln - which were originally built in the early 1970s - about a quarter-mile (400 meters) north to accommodate the Woonsocket Industrial Highway (RI 99), a new freeway spur connecting to an industrial park in Woonsocket. The RI 99 spur was completed in 1993.

This 2024 photo shows the northbound RI 146 Expressway at EXITS 8A-8B-8C (I-295 / RI 99) in Lincoln. The collector-distributor (C/D) roads for the I-295 (Providence Beltway)  interchange were extended north in the early 1990s for construction of RI 99 (Woonsocket Industrial Highway). (Photo by Steve Anderson.)

This 2024 photo shows the northbound RI 146 Expressway at EXIT 10 (RI 146A / Eddie Dowling Highway) in North Smithfield. At this point, the original Louisquisset Pike alignment leaves RI 146 to continue north on RI 146A, while the "North Smithfield Expressway" bypass continues on RI 146. RIDOT recently rebuilt EXIT 10 as a diverging-diamond interchange ("DDI") as part of a comprehensive project to improve safety and ease congestion on RI 146. (Photo by Steve Anderson.)

ATTEMPTS TO CLOSE THE LIMITED-ACCESS GAP: As early as 1959, the state contemplated plans to build continuous service roads along RI 146 from RI 116 in Lincoln north to RI 146A in North Smithfield, and even budgeted $2 million for fiscal year 1961 for the right-of-way and construction costs. Nothing ever came of this proposal.

In 1992, the RIDOT published its "Transportation 2010" plan evaluating numerous highway improvement alternatives around the state, one of which was a widening of RI 146 from two to three lanes in each direction. RIDOT's analysis of the six-lane RI 146 alternative, which would have included the elimination of grade crossings and possibly continuous service roads from I-295 north to RI 146A, was as follows:

The importance of this alternative was to address capacity deficiencies on RI 146 and several other highways in the travel corridor between Providence and points north: the connection with central Massachusetts and northern Rhode Island. RI 146 is a four-lane highway with access fully controlled on most of its length. The alternative tested was to provide six lanes, and full access control on the entire length.

A capacity analysis was performed to determine the significance of these improvements. The capacity analysis shows that existing operating conditions result in a level of service D. This is expected to deteriorate to a level of service E/F in the year 2010. The increase in capacity to six lanes would improve the operating conditions to a level of service C, reduce operating time by about 12 percent, and increase travel speeds by about five miles per hour�

Overall, the traffic analysis shows that this improvement will provide better levels of service on RI 146 and will reduce congestion on most other highways in the corridor.

RIDOT did not provide a cost estimate for this alternative. Once again, nothing came of this proposal to expand RI 146. Besides the connection to RI 99 (Woonsocket Industrial Highway), the only major improvement to RI 146 was at EXIT 7 (RI 116), where the original bridges and some of the original cloverleaf ramps dating to the early 1940s were replaced. In 2008, a single loop ramp was created from northbound RI 146 to serve both directions on RI 116, while in 2021, the existing ramp from southbound RI 146 to westbound RI 116 was reconfigured to serve both directions on RI 116, completing the $15 million project.

WE'VE GOT YOUR (EXIT) NUMBER: In 2019, the RI 146 Expressway received mile-based exit numbers as part of RIDOT's push to implement mile-based exit numbers statewide. Prior to this, RI 146 did not have exit numbers.

FINALLY CLOSING THE GAP: In 2020, the RIDOT announced a comprehensive project to close the final limited-access gap on RI 146 while addressing safety on one of the most accident-prone stretches of highway in the state. The project consisted of the following improvements:

  • The most prominent improvement was the removal for the traffic signal at Sayles Hill Road and the creation of a new grade-separated diamond interchange (new EXIT 9) for Sayles Hill Road in North Smithfield. This part of the project includes the construction of a new four-lane elevated roadway over Sayles Hill Road, as well as the creation of short service roads to connect to Sayles Hill Road and local businesses. (However, the RI 146 Expressway bridge over Sayles Hill Road has limited shoulders, likely owing to concessions from nearby businesses.)

  • The other prominent improvement was the replacement of the existing "Y"-interchange at the EXIT 10 with a new diverging diamond interchange that allows complete movements between the RI 146 Expressway and RI 146A (Eddie Dowling Highway). Prior to construction of this interchange, the U-turn from northbound RI 146A towards southbound RI 146 was eliminated.

  • The ramp from southbound RI 99 (Woonsocket Industrial Highway) from the southbound RI 146 C/D road was realigned to reduce the weaving distance from southbound RI 99 to southbound I-295 (Providence Beltway).

  • The mainline I-295 bridges over the RI 146 Expressway are being replaced.

  • New bus lanes are being added to the shoulders of the RI 146 Expressway from EXIT 2 (RI 15 / Mineral Spring Avenue) south to the I-95 terminus in Downtown Providence.

  • The pavement was improved along the length of the corridor.

  • Fiber optic lines were installed along the length of the corridor to support an intelligent transportation system (ITS). The ITS is designed to enable real-time traffic monitoring, dynamic signage, and improved incident response.

Major completion of the project took place in December 2025 with the effective completion of the Sayles Hill Road interchange. The state contemplates completing the entire $196 million project by the summer of 2026.

IMPROVING THE CONNECTION TO I-95: Also in 2020, the RIDOT announced the I-95 Providence Viaduct Bridge project to replace a 1,295-foot (395-meter)-long section of the northbound I-95 bridge over the Woonasquatucket River, the Amtrak-MBTA Railroad right-of-way, and numerous local streets and highway ramps. The project included the construction of a two-lane northbound express roadway for I-95 and a four-lane northbound C/D road for entering and exiting traffic; two of the four lanes on the northbound C/D road exit from I-95 directly onto the northbound RI 146 Expressway. The $265 million Providence Viaduct project was completed in 2025.

According to the RIDOT, the RIDOT carries approximately 70,000 vehicles per day (AADT) on the average section from I-95 in Downtown Providence north to the I-295 / RI 99 interchange in Lincoln, and about 40,000 vehicles per day from the I-295 / RI 99 interchange north to the Rhode Island-Massachusetts border.

These photos from the fall of 2024 show the construction site on the RI 146 Expressway at EXIT 9 (Sayles Hill Road) in North Smithfield. Views are shown northbound on the C/D approaching the traffic light for Sayles Hill Road (left photo), and from the southwest corner of RI 146 and Sayles Hill Road (right photo). At the time of these photos, there was only one northbound RI 146 lane using the new overpass. (Photos by Steve Anderson.)

This 2025 photo shows the completed RI 146 Expressway overpass over Sayles Hill Road in Lincoln. Note the lack of shoulders on the completed viaduct. (Photo by Rhode Island Department of Transportation.)

The following section reflects the author's editorial analysis and long-term planning perspectives based on historical development patterns and current corridor conditions.

AN INTERSTATE CONNECTION TO WORCESTER: The RIDOT should consider longer-term plans to widen the RI 146 Expressway to six lanes from the I-295 / RI 99 interchange in Lincoln south to I-95 in Downtown Providence. It also should create continuous service roads from EXIT 8 (I-295 / RI 99) north to EXIT 10 (RI 146A).

Also in the longer term, the I-190 designation in Massachusetts should be extended south from Worcester down the MA 146-RI 146 corridor to I-95. The Interstate highway designation should take place only upon completion of all sections to freeway-grade status in Massachusetts, and upon completion of service roads in Lincoln and North Smithfield.

SOURCES: "New Road Brings Woonsocket 'Nearer' to Providence," The Providence Sunday Journal (11/25/1923); "Gammimo Company To Build Overpass in Lincoln," The Providence Journal (8/14/1941); "Open New Section of Louisquisset Pike," The Evening Bulletin (12/22/1951); "It's Easier To Drive Now" by K.S. Bartlett, The Boston Globe (5/25/1952); Rhode Island Roads," Rhode Island Department of Public Works (1956); "Louisquisset Pike Freeway Opens," The Providence Journal (11/28/1957); "Louisquisset Pike's Last Section Opened," The Providence Journal (7/18/1958); "A Highway Program for Rhode Island," Rhode Island Department of Public Works (1959); "Ceremony Opens 5-1/2 Mile North Smithfield Expressway," The Providence Journal (10/30/1962); "Transportation 2010: Ground Transportation Plan," Rhode Island Department of Transportation (1992); "The Turnpikes of Rhode Island" by Jason Tiner, Bryant College (2001); "Reconstructing the Rhode to Innovation: Safety and Congestion Improvements on Route 146 in Rhode Island," Rhode Island Department of Transportation (2020);  "The History Behind Lincoln's Street Names" by Nicole Dotzenrod, The Valley Breeze (11/04/2021); "RI Officials Break Ground on Route 146 Project" by Melanie DaSilva, WPRI-TV (6/03/2022); "RIDOT Breaks Ground on Route 146 Project To Kick Off 2022 Construction Season," New England Construction (July 2022); "Route 146 Lane To Shift onto New Flyover Bridge" by Leah Crowley, WPRI-TV (4/17/2025); "Project Paves Way to Road Safety While Fostering Young Engineering Talent," Civil Engineering Source-American Society of Civil Engineers (5/07/2025); "Remembering the Electric Trolley That Once Ran Through Lincoln" by Sofia Barr, The Valley Breeze (6/12/2025); "RIDOT To Fully Open Route 146 Flyover Bridge in North Smithfield," WJAR-TV (12/17/2025); Blackstone Valley Historical Society; City of Providence Traffic Engineering Department; HistoricAerials.com; Town of North Providence; Shawn DeCesari; Michael Kendricks; Dan Moraseski; Alexander Svirsky.

  • RI 146 and I-190 shields by Ralph Herman.
  • Lightposts by Millerbernd Manufacturing Company.
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RI 146 EXPRESSWAY LINKS:

RI 146 EXPRESSWAY CURRENT TRAFFIC CONDITIONS:

RI 146 EXPRESSWAY VIDEO LINKS:

THE EXITS OF METRO BOSTON:

  • RI 146 Expressway exit list by Steve Anderson.

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