Rhode Island Route 114

Route 114 is a numbered state highway in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. To follow Route 114 southbound, one must turn left from Broad Street onto Exchange Street (Route 15) and cross the river using Exchange Street. From there, turn right onto Broadway, left onto Underwood Street, which curves right. At the end of the street, turn right onto Wolcott Street, left onto Summit Street, and right onto Division Street. Finally, turn left onto School Street. Note that the portion of the one-way Broadway between Exchange Street and Underwood Street carries both northbound and southbound directions of the route—a wrong way concurrency with itself. Though the routing seems odd by conventional thinking, it is well-defined in the 2001 edition of the Pavement Log kept by the Rhode Island Department of Transportation. As of July 2005 the signage in the vicinity is very spotty and offers no evidence to dispute the pavement log and, in some cases, the little signage that does exist actually seems to support it. On the other hand, Pawtucket's Department of Public Works has Route 114 northbound using Exchange Street, which is shorter and matches the southbound direction. (Pawtucket's log also shows the old northbound alignment—see above.)|group=lower-alpha|name=Pawtucket After crossing the Blackstone River into the town of Cumberland, Route 114 shifts one block east to High Street as it heads towards the village of Valley Falls. The road continues north as Diamond Hill Road towards the rural areas of Cumberland, intersecting I-295 along the way. At the intersection with Route 121, Route 114 turns west along Pine Swamp Road towards the city of Woonsocket. In Woonsocket, Route 114 continues west as Diamond Hill Road, Privilege Street, and Winter Street, ending at Route 122.

History

right|thumb|RI 114 in Portsmouth

Two sections of modern Route 114 were previously laid out as turnpikes in the early 19th century. In 1805, a charter was granted to the Rhode Island Turnpike corporation, which constructed a road from Portsmouth center to the Bristol Ferry at the north end of Aquidneck Island. The road is now Bristol Ferry Road (Route 114) and Turnpike Avenue. In 1813, the road from northern Pawtucket to the village of Valley Falls in Cumberland was also laid out as a turnpike, known as the Valley Falls Turnpike. The old road is what is now Broad Street in Pawtucket, Central Falls, and Cumberland.

Route 114 was an original Rhode Island route designated in 1923, running from Newport to Grants Mills in Cumberland. Until the 1960s, Route 114 ended at the intersection of Pine Swamp Road and Diamond Hill Road in Cumberland. Present-day Route 114 from that point west to Route 122 in Woonsocket, Rhode Island was given the Route 142 and later the Route 11 designation. When Route 11 became Route 121 in the 1960s, Route 121's terminus was cut back to the same intersection where Route 114 originally ended, and the route west to Woonsocket became Route 114.

In 2000, part of Route 114 northbound south of downtown Pawtucket was re-routed. The old alignment left Prospect Street at Pond Street, went east along Pond Street to Summit Street, north on Summit Street (this turn onto Summit is still signed as of July 2005) and re-joined Route 114 southbound at the corner of Summit Street and Division Street.

Major intersections

East Shore Expressway

The East Shore Expressway is a spur of Route 114 in East Providence. It provides quick access between Route 114 south and I-195 west. The expressway, as it exists today, was completed on December 15, 1959, after two years of construction. Originally, the expressway was to have extended further south towards the Mount Hope Bridge over Mount Hope Bay, but those plans were cancelled sometime after 1959.

Rhode Island Route 114

History

Major intersections

East Shore Expressway

Exit list

See also

Notes

References

External links