The cities of Providence and East Providence are separated by the Seekonk River. There are two routes across that river: the Washington Bridge on I-195 seen in today's photo, and the Henderson Bridge which crosses just north of this one. The East Bay Bike Path starts at India Point on the Providence side, crosses the Washington Bridge, and then continues along the former bed of the Providence-Warren-Bristol Railroad. The path terminates in Bristol and is the most heavily used bike path in the state. During the summer, over 200 cyclists use the Washington Bridge, many of whom do it as part of a popular "bike to work" commuter program.
Last week the Rhode Island DOT (Department of Transportation) announced the immediate closure of the bike path spanning the Washington Bridge. They are, according to the announcement, expanding the width of the bike path in a project that is expected to keep the crossing closed for two years. The news was ill received by local cyclists. The only crossing now is via the Henderson, and that stretch was listed by the DOT as suitable "for experienced cyclists only." There's a good reason for the listing. In order to access the Henderson, cyclists must cross extremely busy on and off ramps, at least one of which has extremely low visibility. The bike lane itself is an extremely narrow strip of raised sidewalk that can barely accommodate the width of a single biker. Cyclists historically avoided the Henderson because of the extreme risk of serious injury (or worse.) As you can see in today's photo, though, it's a done deal. The safer and more direct path across the Washington Bridge is now officially closed and will be for at least the next two years.
Post processing started with a simple pop filter in Topaz Adjust. I then applied a light blue gradient map to the sky in soft light blend mode at 80% opacity. That was done just to improve the contrast between the sky and clouds. Finally, I adjusted the levels slightly.
