NORTH SMITHFIELD — The state has approved installing pedestrian controls, repainting two crosswalks, and declaring no-parking and reduced speed zones around the new North Smithfield Middle School at the intersection of Routes 5 and 104, a state transportation official said yesterday.

The construction of the new $30-million school for sixth, seventh and eighth grades prompted a re-examination of the traffic patterns at the intersection.

The crosswalk painting has begun, said Bob Rocchio, managing engineer with the Department of Transportation’s traffic engineering section. A no-parking zone will be declared on the western side of Providence Pike, opposite the school grounds. A school zone will also be declared around the school driveway, setting a 30 mph speed limit during school hours. The improvements were approved by the state Traffic Commission last month, Rocchio said.

Providence Pike is one of the main north-south routes through town and is a long, fairly straight run to Route 104, leading to faster moving traffic.

The traffic light at the intersection will be equipped with buttons for pedestrians who want to cross the street.

“Right now, they must wait,” Rocchio said. “There is no way for them to stop the traffic.”

Rocchio said the change that required the most thought was the no-parking zone on the side of the Providence Pike opposite the school. He said DOT analysts thought it would require longer lines of parking — and longer walks by visitors — along the school side of the street during events such as football games. It will be inconvenient, he said, but DOT’s conclusion was that allowing parking opposite the school would lead to people popping across the street from between parked cars, and the two-lane road would be made too narrow if cars were parked on both sides of the street.

Though the intersection is a crossroads of two major streets, Rocchio said it was not considered hazardous by the DOT.

jhill@projo.com