Interstate 295 serves as a partial circumferential highway around Providence, Rhode Island, bypassing the city to the west and north. The southern terminus of Interstate 295 is located in Warwick. The complex interchange involves access between I-95, I-295, and Rhode Island Route 113, which is labeled Exit 1A. Immediately after this interchange, I-295 crosses the Pawtucket River, and passes the Warwick Mall, which lies on a property outlined by the interchange and the two highways. The mall is accessed via Exit 1B, which provides partial access to Rhode Island Route 2. Exit 3A-B provides access to Rhode Island Route 37 within the town of Cranston. Exit 6 for Rhode Island Route 14 is next, known locally as Plainfield Pike, which defines the border between Cranston and Johnston. Exit 7 provides access to a local industrial park. There is a complex interchange with U.S. 6 and U.S. 6A in Johnston, labeled Exit 9A-B-C, which involves near overlap between U.S. 6 and I-295. A diamond interchange with Rhode Island Route 5 is the last exit in Johnston, and the highway enters Smithfield and immediately has a cloverleaf interchange with U.S. 44. After another cloverleaf interchange with Rhode Island Route 7, the highway begins a gentle curve eastward towards Massachusetts. Within the town of Lincoln, I-295 meets Rhode Island Route 146, the Eddie Dowling Highway, part of the larger Worcester/Providence Pike. There are two interchanges in the town of Cumberland, being Rhode Island Route 122 and Rhode Island Route 114. Entering Massachusetts in the town of North Attleboro there is a cloverleaf interchange with U.S. Route 1 before reaching its northern terminus in Attleboro at Exit 2A-B with I-95.
History
In the mid-1950s, the state of Rhode Island introduced plans to build a beltway around Providence, then known as Relocated Route 5 for inclusion in the Interstate Highway System. A modified version of this plan was accepted, with another modification done in 1960 resulting in a planned alignment. Construction began in 1964 and the original route was completed by 1975. The original intention was to have Interstate 295 act as a full ring road around the greater Providence area with the alignment roughly following Route 37 across Narragansett Bay and continuing in a northern direction with a major interchange located at Interstate 195exit 2 in Swansea, Massachusetts before heading west towards Attleboro. Due to opposition from communities in the proposed alignment, cancellation occurred in 1982. The original alignment of Interstate 84 called for an east-west right of way from the Rhode Island and Connecticut state line to Johnston, Rhode Island through the Scituate Reservoir. The connection with Interstate 295 was planned as a full interchange with flyover ramps. Due to fears of runoff affecting the Scituate Reservoir, this alignment of Interstate 84 was cancelled. This interchange currently acts as multiplex for US 6 with a partial interchange with Route 10 further down US 6. The ramp that was originally going to be used to merge onto I-84 West from I-295 North has been converted to a turnaround ramp from I-295 North to I-295 South.
Exit list
In 2016, it was announced that both Rhode Island and Massachusetts interchanges were to receive new exit numbers based on route mileage in accordance with federal standards. Massachusetts was scheduled to start in 2016, though the project was idefinitely postponed in mid-2016. On November 18, 2019, MassDOT confirmed the project will begin in late summer 2020.Rhode Island exits were renumbered from November 27, 2017 to December 8, 2017.
