Rhode Island/Highway classification
This page describes Rhode Island-specific determinations for implementing US highway classification values based on 2021 United States Highway Classification Guidance.
Important population centers
The following cities in and around Rhode Island are considered important population centers:
- Fall River, MA
- Hartford, CT
- Newport
- New London, CT
- Providence
- Wakefield
- Westerly
- Worcester, MA
Motorway
Motorways should be tagged using the criteria set in United_States/Highway_classification. The only motorways in Rhode Island are:
- All interstate highways
- RI-4 from Interstate 95 to its first at-grade crossing
- RI-138 between US-1 and Newport
- RI-146 between Providence and Worcester, with the exception of the section in northern Rhode Island with at-grade crossings
- The East Shore Expressway, from Interstate 195 to its first at-grade crossing
- RI-24
- RI-403 from RI-4 to its first at-grade crossing in Quonset
Trunk roads
The following routings are the principal routes between pairs of important population centers, and not serviced by highway=motorway
, and thus should be tagged highway=trunk
.
From | To | Trunk routing |
---|---|---|
Providence | Newport | US-1 / RI-138 |
Providence | Hartford, CT | US-6[1] |
Providence | Wakefield | US-1 |
Providence | Westerly | I-95 / RI-3 / RI-78 |
Providence | Worcester, MA | RI-146 / MA-146 / I-290 |
Newport | Fall River | RI-114 / RI-24 / MA-24 |
Wakefield | Westerly | US-1 |
Westerly | Hartford, CT | RI-78 / CT-2 |
Westerly | New London, CT | RI-78 / CT-2 / I-95 |
Lesser Road Classifications
highway=primary
is used for the following roads not otherwise tagged as a higher classification (i.e. motorway
or trunk
):
- FHWA-designated Principal Arterials
highway=secondary
is used for the following roads not otherwise tagged as a higher classification:
- All Rhode Island state routes
- FHWA-designated Minor Arterials
highway=tertiary
is used for the following roads not otherwise tagged as a higher classification:
- All FHWA-designator "collector" roads
- Local arterial roads which provide access to residential and/or industrial areas. As a rule of thumb, these roads are normally striped with a dividing center line, unless they are one-way. For roads which are striped for a portion of their length, mappers should use common sense in determining whether the road should be tagged
tertiary
. In the more rural southern and western areas of the state, it may be appropriate to tag unstriped through-roads astertiary
if they provide through-connectivity through otherwise sparsely settled areas.
highway=residential
is used for:
- Minor, unstriped roads which provide terminal access to residential areas and do not provide through connectivity to the larger road network.
highway=unclassified
is used for:
- Minor, unstriped roads which provide terminal access to non-residential areas, do not meet any of the criteria for
highway=service
, and do not provide through connectivity to the larger road network.
List of Exceptions
Jamestown
- Pell Bridge on/off ramps to Canonicus Ave and East Shore Road are tagged as
highway=motorway_link
rather thanhighway=tertiary
to reflect their character as expressway ramps. - Eldred Ave from East Shore Road to the RI-138 WB on-ramp is tagged
highway=secondary
rather thanhighway=tertiary
in order to indicate connectivity between East Shore Road and the expressway.
Newport
Pawtucket
- Power Road between Mineral Spring Ave and Weeden Street is tagged as
highway=secondary
to reflect its connectivity and importance through that section of town. - Central Ave between US 1A and the Massachusetts state line is tagged as
highway=secondary
to maintain cross-border consistency.
Statewide special cases
- US-1 is considered
highway=trunk
from RI-4's intersection with Oak Hill Road and RI-78 in Westerly. The grade-separated interchanges with RI-138 in North Kingstown and near Wakefield are not significant enough to qualify as a section ofhighway=motorway
. - The termination point for trunk routing in Newport is at One-mile Corner (the intersection of Broadway, Admiral Kalbfus Road, West Main Road, and Miantonomi Avenue)
- Newport and Hartford, CT are both important population centers, however, the route between them is not heavily traveled, and is usually a patchwork of local roads, for example, RI-102 / RI-3 / RI-165 / CT-165 / CT-138 / I-395 / CT-2. Additionally, this city pair is serviced by the trunk routing of I-95/I-295/US-6.
- ↑ A slightly faster routing is usually via US-6 / RI-101 / CT-101 / US-44 / CT-74 / I-84. However, in order to maintain connectivity and continuity, US-6 is designated trunk between Providence and Hartford to emphasize the importance of US-6 in this area and provide a continued trunk extension beyond the US-6/RI-10 expressway west of Providence.