Double Newport Bridge Crashes Bring Rush Hour Traffic To A Crawl

NEWPORT, RI — A pair of crashes on the Newport bridge slowed traffic to a crawl heading across the Pell Bridge Wednesday morning. While the crashes were cleared a little before 8:30 a.m., the traffic delays are expected to take awhile to clear.

The Rhode Island Bridge and Turnpike Authority reported the first crash in the left lane of the eastbound side of the bridge around 7:30 a.m. The second came just about 10 minutes later, also on the eastbound side.

One Patch reader reported their GPS estimated a one-hour drive time from Route 1 in North Kingstown to Newport, usually a 20-minute trip.

Google traffic maps showed the heaviest delays approaching the two bridges —Jamestown Verrazzano and Newport Pell — just after 8:35 a.m.