SMITHFIELD – Residents along winding Greenville Avenue and its side neighborhoods between Newport Creamery on Route 44 and Sanderson Road (Route 5) will have some relief from heavy truck traffic.
The Rhode Island Department of Transportation installed signs on Friday prohibiting truck traffic here, particularly WB50 Class vehicles, or those with a wheelbase of 50 feet commonly referred to as semitrucks or tractor-trailers.
This is good news for residents in this area at the Smithfield/Johnston line, said Sen. David Tikoian, who was among those who advocated for the change.
Back in July, the State Traffic Commission, at the request of local legislators and officials, took up the matter of evaluating whether truck restrictions are needed. Sean Raymond, of RIDOT, said a traffic study was completed to determine the feasibility of excluding trucks along this stretch. Pavement conditions and roadway geometry were both evaluated, including truck turning templates.
“The study indicated 1 percent of the vehicles traveling along the roadway are trucks and the condition of the pavement is good,” stated a synopsis of a July meeting, and neither the percentage of trucks nor the condition of the pavement would warrant a truck exclusion. However, truck drivers making a right turn from Putnam Pike eastbound to Greenville Avenue southbound are unable to negotiate the turn without mounting the sidewalk, so the State Traffic Commission approved the exclusion of trucks along the roadway.
When the state added the new Exit 10 ramps to accommodate the Citizens Bank campus, said Tikoian, traffic on Greenville Avenue increased exponentially, and drivers were cutting through the portion from Route 5 to Newport Creamery. That became even worse during truck tolls, he said.
“I’m grateful that the study found that it’s not safe,” he said.
