Rhode Island Route 114

Infobox RI Route
type=
route=114
length_mi=45.6
length_km=73.4
formed=1923
dir1=South
dir2=North
from=
junction=
to=
previous_type=
previous_route=113
next_type=
next_route=114A

Route 114 is a numbered State Highway running 45.6 miles in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It connects the city of Newport to the city of Woonsocket. Route 114 was a major north-south artery for its entire length until the arrival of the Interstate Highway System. It is still a major commercial corridor on Aquidneck Island and in northern Rhode Island (mainly Central Falls, Cumberland and Woonsocket).

Route description

Route 114 begins at the Newport city line in the town of Middletown, at an intersection with Route 138. The road continues into Newport as Broadway. Route 114 heads north as West Main Road in Middletown and Portsmouth. Soon after Route 24 leaves Route 114 in Portsmouth, Route 114 turns onto Bristol Ferry Road then crosses Mount Hope Bay into the town of Bristol along the Mount Hope Bridge. In Bristol, it continues north along Ferry Road then shifts to Hope Street. The route then enters the town of Warren, running along Main Street through the town center, where it meets and is joined by Route 103. The two routes cross the Palmer and Barrington rivers into the town of Barrington. Routes 114 and 103 continue together along County Road, with Route 114 soon splitting to the north using Wampanoag Trail. Route 114 eventually reaches the city of East Providence, where the road curves west to meet Route 103 again at Pawtucket Avenue. Along the way, the East Shore Expressway begins at Wampanoag Trail to connect to I-195. Pawtucket Avenue continues north through downtown East Providence, crossing over I-195, where it is joined by US 1A.

Routes 1A and 114 continue through the northern part of East Providence towards the city of Pawtucket, with US 1A later splitting off to the north as Route 114 heads northwest into the city of Pawtucket. In Pawtucket, Route 114 splits into a one-way couplet with the northbound direction using Prospect Street and the southbound direction using School Street. After running through several Pawtucket city streets, including an interchange with I-95, Route 114 crosses the Blackstone River and continues north along Broad Street into the city of Central Falls.ref|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.ref|Cumberland 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, Rathbun Street, Privilege Street and Winter Street, ending at Route 122.ref|Woonsocket

History

Two sections of modern Route 114 were previosly 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.

Junction list

Notes

# To follow Route 114 northbound through Pawtucket, one must follow Prospect Street, continuing on School Street, then turning right onto Main Street, which merges into Wolcott Street. One then turns left onto Underwood Street, which becomes Cottage Street, then left onto Exchange Street, and left again onto Broadway. Follow Broadway south until it merges onto Main Street and crosses the Seekonk River. From there, turn right onto High Street and left onto Summer Street to merge onto Broad Street. [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=4101831637657357814,41.870390,-71.377860%3B3576450112927407871,41.879700,-71.378800%3B6094613127874751964,41.876526,-71.383331%3B12094310278506400993,41.878471,-71.384508%3B9252791304553480621,41.880770,-71.386480&saddr=Prospect+St%2FRI-114+N+%4041.870390,+-71.377860&daddr=41.875904,-71.381006+to:Exchange+St%2FRI-114+N%2FRI-15+W+%4041.879700,+-71.378800+to:Main+St+%4041.876526,+-71.383331+to:Summer+St+%4041.878471,+-71.384508+to:Broad+St%2FRI-114+%4041.880770,+-71.386480&mra=dpe&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=16&via=1,2,3,4&sll=41.875473,-71.380019&sspn=0.007541,0.014505&ie=UTF8&ll=41.875984,-71.382551&spn=0.015082,0.029011&z=15] 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. [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=5876004551601195448,41.880270,-71.386442%3B9693717014824877668,41.879870,-71.381515%3B18058516574813275636,41.870000,-71.379630&saddr=Broad+St%2FRI-114+%4041.880270,+-71.386442&daddr=Exchange+St%2FRI-114%2FRI-15+%4041.879870,+-71.381515+to:41.873396,-71.378431+to:RI-114+S%2FSchool+St+%4041.870000,+-71.379630&mra=dpe&mrcr=0&mrsp=2&sz=15&via=1,2&sll=41.875385,-71.38212&sspn=0.015083,0.029011&ie=UTF8&z=15] 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.)
#In the 1990s or early 2000s, Route 114 was re-aligned in Cumberland, Rhode Island so that it now uses Blackstone Street to get between Broad Avenue and High Street. Before the re-alignment, Route 114 used to use Dexter Street (Route 123) for that purpose. Signage still exists as of July 2005 at the intersection of Dexter and High streets as evidence of this old alignment. However, a reassurance marker was installed northbound on the old alignment just past Route 123 in 2005. Drivers in either direction on Route 114 will go as described above, but the old alignment is still having signs installed.
#For many years, Route 114 used Social Street (Route 126) in Woonsocket to get between Diamond Hill Road and Privilege Street. New signage installed in 2003 by RIDOT now takes Route 114 one block further west so that it now uses Rathbun Street to make that jog rather than Social Street. However, no sign was installed on Route 114 southbound to turn left at Rathbun, and the old sign at Social (Route 126) has not been removed. Thus southbound traffic is still directed to turn left onto Social without a traffic signal, and the new sign for southbound traffic pointing right onto Diamond Hill from Social is not seen by Route 114 traffic.

External links

* [http://www.bostonroads.com/crossings/mount-hope/ Steve Anderson's BostonRoads.com: Mount Hope Bridge (RI 114)]
* [http://www.bostonroads.com/roads/RI-114/ Steve Anderson's BostonRoads.com: East Shore Expressway (RI 114, unbuilt)]