The town also has approved a construction and maintenance agreement for maintenance of new trees and sidewalks.”

DOT Spokesman Charles St. Martin

The state recently broke ground on a new road construction project near Barrington Middle School.

A spokesman for the state Department of Transportation said the plan is to add a turning lane on Lincoln Avenue at the intersection with Middle Highway.

Charles St. Martin said the additional lane on Lincoln will be dedicated to traffic turning north onto Middle Highway. St. Martin said crews will also make improvements to sidewalks at the intersection.

“We also are upgrading the traffic signal equipment, which will have new pedestrian crossing features and ADA-complaint ramps,” St. Martin said. “The new signal will stop all directions of travel while a pedestrian crossing phase is activated.”

The intersection work in Barrington is part of a multi-town project — intersections in Warwick and Narragansett are also being improved. The project will cost taxpayers $3.2 million. St. Martin said the work will be 90 percent funded by the federal government and 10 percent from the state. 

So far, crews in Barrington have placed erosion control measures at the construction site. They will also install foundations and complete the necessary electrical work to prepare for the new traffic signals.

The first phase of the work in Barrington also included cutting down about a half-dozen large shade trees that lined the northern edge of the middle school property. 

St. Martin said the trees needed to be removed to allow for the installation of a stormwater treatment system. He said the system will improve drainage and provide “better treatment of stormwater which eventually enters tributaries flowing into nearby Echo Lake.”

St. Martin said the road work fell outside of the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management’s perimeter for wetlands, so no DEM permit was required. 

St. Martin said the state DOT has been in constant communication with town officials (Town Manager Phil Hervey, Town Planner Teresa Crean and DPW Director Alan Corvi) regarding the planned road construction. He said the local officials approve of the plan. 

“The town also has approved a construction and maintenance agreement for maintenance of new trees and sidewalks,” St. Martin said. 

The DOT has agreed to plant two new trees for every tree that was cut down at the site.

“The news trees are scheduled to be planted this fall,” St. Martin said. 

More work is scheduled to take place this summer: the contractor will pour new sidewalks, mill and then pave the intersection, and complete the pavement striping. Later, crews will install and program the new traffic signals.