Meshanticut Interchange
| Meshanticut Interchange | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Cranston, Rhode Island | |
| Coordinates: | 41°44′19.3668″N 71°28′42.2184″W / 41.738713000°N 71.478394000°WCoordinates: 41°44′19.3668″N 71°28′42.2184″W / 41.738713000°N 71.478394000°W |
| Roads at junction: |
 Route 5 (Oaklawn Avenue) |
| Construction | |
| Type: | Interchange |
| Maintained by: | the Rhode Island Department of Transportation |
The Meshanticut Interchange is a highway interchange complex in Cranston, Rhode Island, USA. It was one of the first interchange complexes in Rhode Island, opening around the same time as the Olneyville Bypass, the RI 2/RI 117 interchange and relocated RI 3 (now I-95) (and long after the Point Street Viaduct, opened in 1940 and has not been changed since its opening in the early 1950s. The interchange is named after Meshanticut Brook, which flows through it.
RI 2 and RI 5 pass through the interchange, and RI 33 merges with RI 2 south of the crossing with RI 5. RI 3 was originally concurrent with RI 2 through it; RI 33 was originally RI 3A. RI 2 north of the interchange and RI 33 to the south are known as New London Avenue or New London Turnpike (part of the old Providence and Pawcatuck Turnpike); RI 2 is Bald Hill Road to the south, and RI 5 is Oaklawn Avenue.
The interchange has high-speed ramps connecting RI 2 on the south to RI 5 on the north; RI 5 was the western bypass of the Providence area before I-295 was built, and RI 2 was the main road south and southwest from Providence.
A section of the old Providence and Pawcatuck Turnpike connects RI 2 to the north with RI 5. Across RI 5, the road dead ends; before the interchange it continued onto RI 33. A section of old Bald Hill Road (RI 2) splits from RI 5 just south of this turnpike crossing, and connects to several shopping centers.