U.S. Route 1 (US 1) is a major north–south

U.S. Route The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these h ...

through the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

, specifically within the

Providence metropolitan area The Providence metropolitan area (Providence MSA) is a region extending into eight counties in two states. Its urban area, core is in the states of Rhode Island and Massachusetts; its largest city is Providence, Rhode Island. With an estimated po ...

. Staying close to the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

and

Narragansett Bay Narragansett Bay is a bay and estuary on the north side of Rhode Island Sound covering , of which is in Rhode Island. The bay forms New England's largest estuary, which functions as an expansive natural harbor and includes a small archipelago. S ...

, it is a longer route than Interstate 95 (I-95), and many portions are a four-lane divided highway.

Route description

US 1 enters Rhode Island via a small bridge from

Pawcatuck, Connecticut Pawcatuck ( ) is a village and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Stonington which is located in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 5,624 at the 2010 census. It is located across the Pawcatuck River from ...

, to downtown Westerly. US 1 winds through downtown Westerly, passing two shopping plazas (the Granite Street Shopping Center and the Franklin Shopping Plaza) prior to a junction with Route 78, the two-lane highway designed to bypass downtown. A right onto Airport Road at this intersection provides access to

Westerly State Airport Westerly State Airport is a public use airport in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. It serves the town of Westerly and is located southeast of its central business district. It is primarily a general aviation airport, but there ...

, Watch Hill, and

Misquamicut Misquamicut State Beach () is a seaside public recreation area in the town of Westerly, Rhode Island. It occupies a portion of Misquamicut Beach, a barrier island that extends westward from Weekapaug to Watch Hill and separates Winnapaug Pond ...

. US 1 continues to Dunn's Corners, with Langworthy Road providing more beach access. The road then becomes a divided highway shortly after, with Route 1A merging into the highway from the Misquamicut area. US 1 then crosses into Charlestown near Shelter Harbor. After stoplight intersections with Ross Hill Road ( Route 216), West Beach Road (providing access to Quonochontaug), East Beach Road (providing access to Blue Shutters Town Beach and East Beach), and Wildflower Road, there are no more stoplights until the end of the freeway after the Wakefield-Peacedale exits. Access to exits on the opposite side of the road are provided through U-turn ramps. The southbound side has junction with Prosser Trail, a road leading to

Burlingame State Park Burlingame State Park is a public recreation area located in the town of Charlestown, Rhode Island. The state park's offer camping, hiking, and water activities on Watchaug Pond. The park's campground abuts the Burlingame Management Area and K ...

. Burlingame access is also located prior to the East Beach Road exit. An exit for Route 1A on the northbound side leads to Ningret Park and the police station. US 1 bends to the right. On the southbound side is Kings Factory Road. Another junction with Route 1A occurs on US 1 north. Route 1A merges onto US 1 from the south, briefly, before exiting and continuing north to Cross Mills. US 1 north then features a ramp, providing access to Cross Mills and Route 1A—leading to Charlestown Breachway State and Charlestown Town beaches—for those just merging in on a U-turn from US 1 south via a junction with Route 2/ Route 112 (South County Trail). Another set of U-turn ramps is located for access to Route 2 and Route 112. After northbound junctions with more beach access roads (Falcone Lane, Narrow Lane, which is split in half by the highway, the other half continuing on the southbound side that leads to South County Trail), US 1 continues into

South Kingstown South Kingstown is a town in, and the county seat of, Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 31,931 at the 2020 census. South Kingstown is the second largest town in Rhode Island by total geographic area, behind New ...

, where Green Hill Beach Road (Route 1A) meets US 1 on the northbound side and Post Road (also Route 1A) meets US 1 south. After a junction with Moonstone Beach Road (northbound side leads to the

Trustom Pond Trustom Pond is a closed lagoon in South Kingstown, Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. It is one of nine coastal lagoons (referred to as "salt ponds" by locals) in southern Rhode Island. It has a surface area of , and is the only ...

National Wildlife Refuge, southbound side leads to Perryville), Route 110 meets US 1 south. Prior to this on the southbound side, Route 1A meets US 1. Back to the northbound side, where Matunuck Beach Road is found, leading to the beachside community of Matunuck. Following this is Succotash Road, which leads to

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, Snug Harbor, and East Matunuck State Beach. Then comes Post Road, leading to the signed destination, Jerry Brown Farm Road. Another Post Road/Route 1A junction comes on US 1 north, before it meets the highway again after a brief exitless stint. US 1 south's junction with Post Road/Route 1A north leads to

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

and Peace Dale. The road becomes a freeway and has two exits for the Salt Pond/ South County Hospital area. A third exit leads to Route 108 and Narragansett's town beach,

Galilee Galilee (; ; ; ) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon consisting of two parts: the Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and the Lower Galilee (, ; , ). ''Galilee'' encompasses the area north of the Mount Carmel-Mount Gilboa ridge and ...

, and

Point Judith Point Judith is a village and a small cape, on the coast of Narragansett, Rhode Island, United States, on the western side of Narragansett Bay where it opens out onto Rhode Island Sound. It is the location for the year-round ferry service that ...

. A Wakefield exit marks the end of the freeway. Access to South County Commons comes soon. Route 138 meets from the west and stays on in the concurrency until the exits for access to the Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge and Jamestown and the

Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge The Claiborne Pell Bridge, commonly known as the Newport Bridge, is a suspension bridge operated by the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority that spans the East Passage of the Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island (northeastern United States) ...

and Newport. US 1 then meets Route 4, a thruway leading to

I-95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...

History

Except north of

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

, where US 1 was built as the Providence and Pawtucket Turnpike (now Main Street), the highway was never a turnpike road. Portions are the old

Boston Post Road The Boston Post Road was a system of mail-delivery routes between New York City and Boston, Massachusetts, that evolved into one of the first major highways in the United States. The three major alignments were the Lower Post Road (now U.S. Ro ...

, while other parts were built as bypasses, leaving the old road as US 1A. The turnpike south of Providence—the Providence and Pawcatuck and Hopkinton and Richmond turnpikes—followed the diagonal route that I-95 now takes.

Major intersections

References

{{state detail page browse, type=US, route=1, state=Rhode Island, statebefore=Connecticut, stateafter=Massachusetts 01 1 Rhode Island Transportation in Washington County, Rhode Island Transportation in Kent County, Rhode Island Transportation in Providence County, Rhode Island