PROVIDENCE — The governor and the director of the Rhode Island Department of Transportation announced Wednesday afternoon, Dec. 13, during an update on the status of the Washington Bridge crisis, that two westbound bypass lanes to be created on the structurally sound east side of the span will be open to traffic this weekend.

Gov. Dan McKee and Director Peter Alviti announced the news during the mid-day press conference. The latter noted significant progress has already been made in just the last 24 hours on the effort to open up a pair of westbound lanes on the east side of the bridge.

The director said after initially estimating it would take a week to two weeks to create the lanes, he now has a "high level of confidence" the effort can be done in time for the start of next week's busy work and holiday travel period.

He continued, saying what made it happen faster than usual is that the design and build process is running in "parallel ... collaboratively" with each other, while adding in the "maximum amount of resources" to the endeavor.

Alviti noted travel times for most motorists from Tuesday, the first full day of the crisis, to Wednesday, were "markedly improved"... that most were "cut down to half or less than half than they were yesterday."

He continued, "Our goal is to get them back to where were before this happened."

Alviti said the state, along with municipalities, put an extra emphasis on traffic control for the Wednesday commute, adding police details while also using RIDOT and local Department of Public Works equipment to create detours.

"We're working fast to get things resolved," he added.

As well, RIDOT is putting the final details into place with officials in Bristol to reopen ferry service between the town and Providence, much in the same manner as occurs during the active summer period. Alviti said the actual plan is close to being formally announced.

In addition, the target date for the reopening of the westbound side of the current bridge remains three months, but weather will also play a role.

However,  he stated, "As time goes on, every day and every wa,y trying to find ways of getting this rebuilt faster than the three-month period. I have every confidence in my project managers and the design-build team that if there's a way, they find ways and immediately implement them."

Department of Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green provided a brief summary of the impact the bridget closure had on school transportation, noting of the state's 300 bus routes, about 62 were affected initially and those 23 "severely." Most of the latter were with students attempting to reach special needs locations, career and tech programs, or private/charter buildings out of district.

During McKee's comments, the governor said among the other responses to the crisis, the state Emergency Management Administration will provide portable cameras to assist with traffic monitoring in both East Providence and Providence.

McKee continued, "An emergency like we're dealing with right now takes all hands on deck," comparing the situation to the annual response to snowstorms as well as the state's rollout of COVID-19 pandemic vaccinations.

He added, "We're trying to make sure this situation has as little impact on the State of Rhode Island as possible."

Also of note, RIDOT has created a page on its website specifically for updated information about the Washington Bridge project at https://www.dot.ri.gov/projects/WashingtonBridgeClosure/index.php.