Traffic Change Coming To Newport Rotary

NEWPORT, RI — Lane changes are coming to the Newport rotary at JT Connell Highway and Admiral Kalfbus Road. Starting Thursday, the traffic pattern will shift, moving traffic inward on the circle.

The change is for construction on the rotary, part of the $74 million Pell Bridge Ramps Phase 2 project, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation said. While traffic will shift inward on the circle, all lanes will remain open.

During construction, the rotary will be converted into a roundabout, the department said. While many people use the words interchangeably, roundabouts have slower speeds and smaller footprints, RIDOT said, and can reduce fatalities by up to 90 percent.

The Pell Bridge Ramps project plan reimagines the road leading to the bridge, creating new ramps aimed at cutting down on traffic congestion. The new design is smaller than the original, which will free up about 25 acres of land for development, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation said. Gov. Dan McKee and state leaders broke ground on the second phase of the project in July. The main part of the project, $74 million, will include all changes to the ramps. The first phase is set to be complete by the end of the year, with phase two scheduled to wrap up by the end of 2024.