to excessive congestion on I-195 and nearby streets. RIDOT worked on the Iway's environmental impact statement (EIS) in the early 1990s, finding that the existing highway deteriorated bridges, substandard roadway alignments, sharp curves, and substandard shoulder widths. The department looked at three alternatives, including a no-build option in which the existing route would be reconstructed. RIDOT ultimately chose an alignment south of the Fox Point Hurricane Barrier, which would allow safety problems and congestion issues to be addressed, while also allowing for significant redevelopment of the Providence waterfront. The center span of the new Providence River Bridge was built offsite at the Quonset Business Park and floated up to Providence in August 2006. The span was placed on self-propelled modular transporters, rolled onto two large barges, and floated up the bay. The opening of the Iway was preceded by a public walk on the Iway on October 20, 2007. On November 4, 2007, the new Iway bridge opened to eastbound traffic from I-95 north to I-195 east. The new alignment of I-195 opened in stages over the next two years. The old I-195 eastbound roadway was completely closed at the end of 2008. On June 18, 2009, the new Iway bridge opened to westbound I-195 traffic to I-95 south. By October 2009, all westbound traffic on I-195 was using the new highway; the onramps to the old I-195 were closed completely, but some of the old alignment's ramps remained open. The last major ramp of the project opened in October 2011. Exit list Massachusetts interchanges were to be renumbered to mileage-based numbering in a project scheduled to begin in 2016, until the project was indefinitely postponed by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). On November 18, 2019, MassDOT announced the project would begin in late mid-2020. The exit numbers were changed starting on October 25, 2020, and the work was completed on November 6, 2020. Rhode Island interchanges were renumbered to a mileage-based system early in 2020 in a plan announced by RIDOT in September 2017 and scheduled to begin on January 28, 2020. Awards In June 2008, RIDOT nominated the Iway bridge float for the America's Transportation Award on the basis that the project "demonstrate[d] innovative management". The Iway bridge float was one of 10 finalists for the national award, receiving an Innovative Management award in the large project category. The Publicity Club of New England also gave RIDOT