Above: The issue is Post Road northbound traffic backing up at the first roundabout, typically in the late afternoon.
Representatives Evan P. Shanley (D-Dist. 24, Warwick, East Greenwich) and David A. Bennett (D-Dist. 20, Warwick, Cranston) are calling for the R.I. Department of Transportation, in conjunction with the federal government, to study a roundabout in the Apponaug section of Warwick that frequently sees two-mile traffic jams along the northbound stretch of Post Road.
“It can be extremely frustrating and stressful for drivers who find themselves on Post Road during those windows of high traffic congestion,” said Shanley. “Since Post Road skirts Greenwich Bay, anyone along the coast who is traveling to the northern part of Warwick is forced to go through that area unless they go miles out of their way to avoid it. Maybe transportation officials could find a solution to the bottleneck in the roundabout closest to Warwick City Hall, which seems to be the source of the backup. Perhaps a right-turn only lane could be built so that traffic going by City Hall could circumvent the roundabout entirely, easing the afternoon congestion.”
The Apponaug Circulator is a five-roundabout project completed in 2017 to drastically reduce the number of vehicles (25,000 daily) that pounded through the historical village center of Apponaug and relocate them to major roads thus creating a free traffic flow through Warwick.
While that project was mostly successful, allowing traffic to flow more freely on Centerville Road, Greenwich Avenue and Veterans Memorial Drive, vehicles traveling north on U.S. Route 1 often find themselves in long traffic jams, particularly during the afternoon commute, when bumper-to-bumper traffic can stretch up to two miles.
“The traffic on Post Road starts to back up at around 4 p.m. every day and doesn’t ease up until about 6,” said Bennett, who lives in Apponaug not far from the Circulator Project. “The situation is exacerbated at certain times of the year. For example, beach traffic coming off Route 4 at that time seriously adds to the log jam during the summer months. The four other traffic circles in Apponaug are two-lane roundabouts, but that one is only one lane due to the density of buildings in the immediate vicinity, which adds to the problem. But I’m sure a solution can be found to improve the flow of traffic.”
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guess they don’t remember the traffic when quonset was in it’s hay day. apponaug has always been a bottle neck. first we had vets drive, then “walsh’s whirl away” and now roundabouts. seems apponaug will not let go of its bottle neck.seems they all have brain storms, and each just cost more money. maybe a bridge from arnolds neck to greenwood
These roundabouts caused a panic when first installed but for most of us, when we got used to them, well the things have worked out and worked out well. Good for me, I hardly ever have to stop in the off-times I go through. Sure there are backups. There is a lot of traffic through Apponaug certain times of day. What can one possibly do to alleviate this problem more than has been done? What about those times when traffic comes in from the west? If there were no traffic coming in from the west, the northbound traffic could progress non-stop right through all the loop-de-loops.
Mr. Ingerson suggests a bridge from Greenwood to Arnold’s Neck and that is an interesting notion. Follow the railroad tracks — put in a two lane, one direction road on each side of the tracks. North on the right, RR in the middle, south on the left.
Let’s face it, this problem will not go away and all the careful considerations of our Reps will amount to nothing because the problem cannot be solved. We can’t move the Bay. We can only encourage people to use other routes, depending upon where they want to go. Access to 95 from Post Road south of Apponaug could help but Rt 95 is so far west and the land in between is so developed, there is no cure. Less traffic, less cars. Even the mighty Alviti, head of the DOT, cannot make a highway out of a sow’s ear.
Anyone that looks at a satellite map can see that a right turn ramp or any kind of additional ramps/roads will not be feasible unless you are going to eminent domain Walgreens or the numerous other businesses. Perhaps adding realtime signage alerting drivers to wait times at the following spots: Post Rd and 1st Ave in EG, Post Rd and Division St. in EG, and Post Rd and Cowesett Rd Warwick. This will give drivers the option of turning down these alternate routes prior to reaching the bottleneck.
That rotary is way too small and it’s blocked with landscaping, another lane to go south on post road may help, ’cause nobody uses their blinkas.