Park Ave and EMR, Portsmouth, looking South.

By yesterday morning, East Main Road north of Turnpike Ae had been converted by RIDOT into a two-lane road with a turning lane, with stripes and signage. It's not until you take a spin on the new configuration that you realize just how crazy narrow those old lanes were (you could easily rub a tire on one of the curves, say, near the Methodist Church).

Saw at least three Portsmouth police cruisers out yesterday morning, keeping an eye open as drivers acquire the new traffic pattern. I didn't witness any issues on a couple of trips back and forth, but I had a report from an anonymous reader that they saw at least one person taking advantage of the center lane for passing, a situation which could obviously lead to problems.

Changes like this can be a bit disorienting, so feel free to remind friends and neighbors of the new pattern, if they haven't seen it already. And for those who haven't taken Drivers Ed in a while, a quick refresh on the regs might be in order...

A shared turn lane is the center lane of traffic set apart from the travel lanes by solid single yellow lines on the outside and broken yellow lines inside the shared turn lane. The lane also has arrows painted on the pavement and usually signs indicating restriction for use of the lane for turning only. Motorists wishing to turn shall not enter the lane unless they intend to turn within 100 feet (minimum).
— Page 33 of the RI Driver Manual

Any positive or negative feedback? Feel free to sound off in the comments.