New exit numbers should start appearing by Aug. 8
PROVIDENCE — The exit numbers on Route 95 will stay a week longer than anticipated as supply chain issues have delayed shipments of the aluminum used for the signs.
Route 95 is the last Rhode Island highway to be renumbered, with exit numbers now being tied to mile markers, part of a federal effort to standardize exit numbering across the country.
While work on the project started on July 31, including putting in the foundations for signs that are being wholly replaced, putting up new exit numbers has been delayed a week, to Aug. 7 or 8.
All about new exit numbers: Transportation department begins changing Route 95 exit numbers, a month-long process
“We had some supply chain issues with the aluminum panels for the signs, so there’s been a week delay,” Department of Transportation Spokesman Charles St. Martin said.
Most of the sign replacements are just the tabs with the exit numbers, but a few worn-out signs will be replaced entirely.
The project, to replace the exit numbers on Route 95, is expected to last a month, into early September.
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The mile markers begin in the south, at the Connecticut border. For exits clustered less than a mile apart or exits that fork, a letter is appended to the number, St. Martin said.
The cost of renumbering, $1.2 million for Route 95, is covered by the federal government. The total cost of renumbering highway exits in the state, which started in 2017, is $4 million, St. Martin said.
Exit numbers: See the full list from the Department of Transportation of the new exit numbers
Renumbering started in 2017 with Route 295. When the renumbering finishes, all the highways with exits in the state will have exit numbers that correspond to mile markers.
Routes 195, 10, 37 and 24 were completed in 2020, Route 146 was renumbered in 2019 and routes 4, 78 and 403 were finished in 2018.
Changes sent to GPS companies as they happen
All of the work will be done at night to disrupt as little traffic as possible. The next morning, the sign crews will tell the state which exits they renumbered and the state will then contact mapmakers with updates on the new exit numbers, St. Martin said.
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The companies are pretty quick with updating their maps, as evidenced by the state’s experience renumbering routes 195 and 295.
“If you have an older GPS system in your car, or a separate unit like a Garmin, you may need to update it to get the updated maps,” he said.
Maps that use real-time traffic data, like Waze, Google Maps and Apple Maps, tend to be quickest to update, he said.
The Northeast, including Massachusetts and Connecticut, has been the last part of the country to adopt the changes.
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Reach reporter Wheeler Cowperthwaite at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @WheelerReporter.
