Rhode Island Route 1A

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Route 1A is a numbered state highway in Rhode Island, running 34.4 miles in five sections.

[edit] Route

Route 1A takes the following route through the State:

Section 1:

• Westerly: 8.8 miles; U.S. Route 1 to U.S. Route 1
  • Main Street, Beach Street, Watch Hill Road and Shore Road

Section 2:

• Charlestown: 1.3 miles; U.S. Route 1 to U.S. Route 1
  • Old Post Road

Section 3:

• Charlestown: 2.2 miles; U.S. Route 1 to South Kingstown town line
  • Old Post Road
• South Kingstown: 0.9 miles; Charlestown town line to U.S. Route 1
  • Post Road

Section 4:

• South Kingstown: 2.2 miles; U.S. Route 1 to U.S. Route 1
  • Post Road

Section 5:

• South Kingstown: 3.8 miles; U.S. Route 1 to Narragansett town line
  • Post Road, Main Street and Kingstown Road
• Narragansett: 5.7 miles; South Kingstown town line to North Kingstown town line
  • Kingstown Road, Narragansett Avenue, Beach Street and Boston Neck Road
• North Kingstown: 9.5 miles; Narragansett town line to U.S. Route 1
  • Boston Neck Road, Brown Street and West Main Street

[edit] History

At various points in time, every segment of Route 1A except the one in Westerly served as part of U.S. Route 1 (historically the Lower Boston Post Road). The Route 1A designation came after the U.S. Route 1 designation was moved to a different alignment.

Before that, Route 1A existed on an alignment that's now roughly Route 3.

The 19.0-mile (30.6 km) piece from old U.S. Route 1 in downtown Wakefield to current US 1 near Wickford, now most of section 5 above, was once Route 1B. It was renumbered to Route 1A by 1934.

[edit] Notes

Many of the signs on Route 1A replace the 'R.I.' in the shield with the word 'SCENIC', and use green for the 'SCENIC' and often the '1A'.

Route 1A should not be confused with US 1A. In Rhode Island, Route 1A exists in segments between Westerly and North Kingstown. The segment north of North Kingstown, which begins in Warwick, is designated as US 1A. Not helping matters is the presence of incorrect signs on both routes, marking Route 1A as US 1A and US 1A as Route 1A.

In southern Rhode Island, much of US 1 consists of a divided highway with no direct access across; cross traffic must turn right and use a U-turn ramp in the median. Several of the sections of Route 1A end at US 1 in this manner; the northernmost one crosses US 1 like this. Both of these cases can be considered short concurrencies.