Rhode Island Roads - RI 114

RI 114



Southbound on Rhode Island, now known as Aquidneck Island to prevent confusion. Everything other than this island is Providence Plantations, technically. The first photo is at Boyds Lane, a state-maintained road but unnumbered, possibly because RI 114A, 214, 138A, and 238 are all taken. But hey, 124 is available. After forgetting first its font and then the state initials, RIDOT gets them both right near Newport but can't make up its mind on the new three-digit shields. 214 is certainly more deserving of one than 114, because 1's are narrow.


Northbound in Portsmouth, at the top of the island. I failed to get a good photograph, but the southbound side of 114 in the MA 24 interchange has clear remnants of the original northbound side being right alongside - in fact, the old NB lanes on the east side of the concrete divider are still used for the NB-SB turnaround - and are still striped for two lanes!
Mount Hope Bridge


Unfortunate pecularities found across Rhode Island: three-digit wide sign blanks with two-digit shields and cramming directions inside the shields.


Ultra-patriotism in Bristol, northbound. The southbound direction's diamond signs have red on the left, staying faithful to the actual stripe. In this case, plain old yellow would probably cause fewer accidents. Such is the price we must pay for our country? The sad thing is, this was actually Federally legislated (for Bristol only) as being equivalent to the double yellow. Dunno about you, but I don't think they're the same.


Skipping the RI 103 duplex (see the big link below for photos from that), and continuing northbound on the Wampanoag Trail. The second photo gets a pass the first one doesn't, because the last time these signs were updated, BGS shields did not yet have R.I. in them. The third photo gets no pass, because here is a case where one sign just can't fit what it needs to - and it clearly should not be TO 114A. RI 114A quickly turns into MA 114A, and spends most of its life in Seekonk before coming back into Rhode Island to end in East Providence.


The East Shore Expressway SB and then up the ramp to RI 114 NB (which is still the Wampanoag Trail, but leads to Pawtucket Ave. in the next photo). The East Shore, built in 1959, was also considered in some of the I-895 proposals, extending either to the Mount Hope Bridge or across T.F. Green flight paths to RI 37.


Remember how I said we skipped the RI 103 duplex? Well, RI 114 NB does go right here, but RI 103 does not join it. 103 begins to the left on Pawtucket Ave. Perhaps this is why the incorrect WEST shield appears entirely unrelated to the EAST shield.


Both new and old, signs remain true to the RIDOT philosophy - if it ain't cut out, don't fix it. The third one-piece assembly is brand new, as RIDOT decided to finally sign US 1A along I-195. 114 gets another duplex straight ahead with 1A, so follow the big link at the bottom of the page to see more.

H is for hydrant.


Southbound in the Mixed-Up Mile, which is terribly mixed up for RI 114. 114 SB comes into the area on RI 15, then turns onto Broadway (US 1 SB) before crossing I-95 to Underwood St. It jogs to Summit St. via Walcott St., and that's it. RI 114 NB comes up Summit and jogs to Underwood, still no trouble. Then when it gets to 15 at Exchange St., instead of staying on Exchange to get back to Broad St. and the rest of RI 114, it inexplicably turns left, ONTO RI 114 South! The two halves of the route then split from each other in one of the only instances anywhere of a wrong-way self multiplex (US 19 Truck in Pittsburgh, US 60 in Newport News), and 114 North makes its way through the one-way maze of downtown Pawtucket back to Broad St. It's no surprise, then, that RIDOT screwed up and put a right arrow in the second photo instead of a left arrow for RI 114 SB; also, that is a Massachusetts shield, since there's no state name. I can't call the first photo a screwup, but it sure looks screwy.


Southbound heading toward the Mile - since I-95 is a freeway, it's probably the easiest exit from the area once you get stuck in the endless circling.


Very old RIPTA bus station shield, Broad St. NB where RI 114 and RI 123 turn right to finish their duplex on Dexter St.


RIDOT encourages bad behavior. The first sign is on High St. SB at Blackstone St. in Cumberland, where RI 114 continues straight to Dexter St. If you do turn, you get the beautiful old shield in the second photo on Blackstone St., but it's wrong, all wrong.


Wrong for a different reason. RIDOT loves the one-piece assemblies, but either don't draw the outline for the direction, or widen the assembly and put NORTH on the left and SOUTH on the right.


Northbound through the I-295 interchange. The first 3di shield is ugly even by RIDOT standards - way too bubbly.


Dear RIDOT, I said bubble shields are ugly. So please don't go sticking them on perfectly good signs that I was only featuring here for the nice old shield. Now this gets an entirely different timbre of recognition.


Dear RIDOT (again), keep these around. That is all.

EWW EWW EWW EWW EWW! (NB)


Welcome to the world of Woonsignage! Woonsocket is unique in the U.S. in not only signing directions within the shield (which Providence has also done), but also adding arrows as well. The signage is consistently good, but sometimes the R.I. is missing, and sometimes it's above the direction instead of below. These are all old signs (the last sign is quite old, and in Woonsocket, but not Woonsignage), but new ones still have the same characteristics.


NB and SB respectively, and you can see the new signage in the second photo. This has become the standardized Woonsignage (as standard as it gets, anyway). I'm not sure where Woonie found the directional plates in the first pic; they probably slapped them together after realizing there was no room to put them on the shield directly.

On SB 114.

Mount Hope Bridge
RI 103 and RI 114/103
RI 15 and RI 114/15
US 1A and the RI 114/US 1A duplex
(scroll to the bottom)

To RI 138
Onto RI 24
To US 6 (in MA)
Onto I-195
Onto US 1
Onto I-95
Onto I-295
To RI 146
Onto RI 122
Into Woonsocket
East Shore Expressway on Steve Anderson's bostonroads.com
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