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:

1. All interstate highways
2. RI-4 from Interstate 95 to its first at-grade crossing
3. RI-138 between US-1 and Newport
4. RI-146 between Providence and Worcester, with the exception of the section in northern Rhode Island with at-grade crossings
5. The East Shore Expressway, from Interstate 195 to its first at-grade crossing
6. RI-24
7. 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
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 as tertiary 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 than highway=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 than highway=tertiary in order to indicate connectivity between East Shore Road and the expressway.

Newport

• Ocean Avenue is tagged as highway=secondary to reflect its local importance for tourism.

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 of highway=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.