Q. An attractive iron bridge crosses the Blackstone River dividing Albion (Lincoln) from Cumberland. The bridge connects School Street in Albion to Albion Road in Cumberland. In November of 2005, an automobile overturned at the start of the bridge on the Cumberland side. The broken guardrails have never been repaired. Furthermore, although the bridge was once painted a lovely forest green, it badly needs fresh paint. The bridge is now more rust than green. Who is responsible for the upkeep of the bridge, the highway department of the towns or DOT? On the Cumberland side, the signage is inadequate to alert drivers as they approach the bridge because: Cars approach the bridge while going downhill; drivers must make a sharp left turn to enter the bridge; the bridge itself is more narrow than the road; there is no lighting on the bridge; and there are no reflectors on the guard rails.

 A. The Albion Bridge was rehabilitated in1994-95 and is on the National Historic Register. It is maintained by RIDOT. The damaged guardrail is on the list of guardrails to be repaired or replaced as part of a statewide contract through our Highway and Bridge Maintenance Division. Due to budget and environmental constraints, bridge painting has been very limited over the last several years, and the bridge is not currently scheduled for repainting.

We have also asked the Highway and Bridge Maintenance Division to replace and/or add additional signs to alert motorists in advance of the sharp left turn ahead. While there is a downgrade leading to the bridge, it is not considered a safety concern as it is not an overly steep grade.

The geometry of the approaches to the Albion Bridge was not changed when the bridge was rehabilitated. Since the bridge is historic, every attempt was made to retain the character of the structure and the surrounding area. Our effort was directed at maintaining the character of this historic structure, so no lighting was installed on the bridge. There has never been any lighting on the Albion Bridge and installing it would have changed the appearance of the structure and its historic character.

Route 10 lanes

 Q. I travel Route 10 almost daily and while I am relieved that the construction is finally finished, I can’t understand why the road was not increased to three travel lanes in each direction. Anyone who travels this road routinely knows that at peak hours the exit ramps back up onto the highway. At some locations (Union Avenue for example) this backup of traffic can also cause the entrance ramps to become blocked because the exit and entrance ramps are so close together.

As I understand the history of this road, it was built in the 1950s and I am sure it was never intended to handle either the amount of traffic or the speeds that it has been forced to support. There is a large median (some grass and some paved) that could easily be made into another travel lane thereby allowing the right-most lane to become a better merge lane. While watching the construction, I assumed that this was part of the plan and was surprised when the road was finished that the median was still there. Is there a reason that this was not done as part of the project while all the equipment was there, or is this at least a possibility in the future?

 A. The construction you saw over the past couple of years was the replacement of the Route 10 Cranston Viaduct as well as the resurfacing of Route 10 between the Viaduct and Reservoir Avenue (Route 2). It is what we refer to as the Cranston Viaduct, the series of bridges over Cranston Street, the Amtrak rail line, and the Huntington Avenue onramp.

As you no doubt noticed, the wide median in the area of the viaduct was used for traffic control as each segment of the bridges was replaced. When the northbound bridges were being replaced, northbound traffic traveled in the median. The reverse took place when the southbound bridges were being replaced. Should the road ever be expanded to six lanes, the Viaduct has been made compatible.

Adding two lanes to the length of Route 10 would be very expensive. Most importantly, the road is limited to two lanes by most bridge abutments and piers it passes, so most of the bridges would have to be rebuilt. Such a project would be extremely costly, and is not likely to be considered for many years. Until the Route 6/Route 10 interchange is rebuilt, extra lanes would not be effective in passing more traffic. The Route 6/Route 10 interchange is now under study, but is several years from implementation and faces funding challenges.

In recent years, our Transportation Management Center, and the cameras we have erected along Route 10 and other highways have helped us to make the roads more efficient. For example, if a crash causes traffic to back up, we can spot it in our camera images and direct state police, rescue or towing assistance to the area, clearing the highway much more quickly than before and helping to keep the road clear for traffic.

Dana Alexander Nolfe, chief public affairs officer for the state Department of Transportation, has agreed to answer questions of general interest posed by Journal readers about state roads and other state transportation matters.

The DOT is responsible for the state’s transportation infrastructure, which includes highways, bridges, traffic signals and bikeways.

To ask a question that would also be of interest to other readers, send a letter to Ask RIDOT, Features Department, The Providence Journal, 75 Fountain St., Providence, RI 02902. You can also e-mail your question to projocars@projo.com. Please put “Question for the DOT” in the subject field.

Questions or complaints of a specific nature should be posed to the DOT directly and will not be answered in this column.