See more coverage of the Washington Bridge closure.
PROVIDENCE — Traffic was moving in both directions on Interstate 195′s Washington Bridge Friday, but the temporary bypass lanes are not expected to eliminate the massive traffic jams that have beset the area since the discovery of major structural damage to the bridge and the closure of its westbound lanes.
The bypass lanes opened around 1 a.m. Friday, officials said at an afternoon briefing.
Governor Dan McKee told reporters that crews had worked round the clock to create the new lanes and deserved a show of appreciation.
“I’m going to give a thumbs up to the workers, or I’m going to give a tip of the hat. Or a little light beep on the horn would be in order here, because they worked 24 hours, seven days over this whole week,” he said.
McKee said US Small Business Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman had formally approved the state’s request for assistance for affected businesses, which have seen steep drop-offs in foot traffic and revenue since the bridge was closed to westbound traffic.
“This is a really big deal to access the capital” in the form of low-interest loans, McKee said.
Mark S. Hayward, the SBA’s district director for Rhode Island, said his agency plans to open a “business recovery center” at the Weaver Library in East Providence Monday to help businesses apply for loans and address other concerns.
About 175 small businesses in East Providence have indicated they’ve suffered “some negative economic impact,” Mayor Bob DaSilva said, adding that they’ll be eligible for the SBA loans.
“I am here to report the City of East Providence is open for business,” DaSilva said. “Today’s traffic condition in East Providence is remarkable, in light of what we have had to deal with over the last three days.”
DaSilva said he began driving around the city at 5 a.m. Friday to scan traffic conditions, which had been treacherous all week as detour traffic snarled the roads.
”There is not one traffic hiccup at all throughout the city,” he said. “We want you to continue supporting our small businesses. Come and visit our restaurants.”
State Transportation Director Peter Alviti Jr. said ferry service between Bristol and Providence will also begin soon, with ferries running every half hour from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Alviti said officials have the capacity to launch the ferry service Monday, but inclement weather will likely push the start time back.
“We’re keeping an eye on the weather and we will let you all know when we intend on actually beginning that service,” Alviti said.
He said traffic was moving much more smoothly Friday with the opening of the bypass lanes. Throughout the week, vehicles have been forced to take long detours to avoid the bridge, lengthening travel times, and turning some residential neighborhoods into parking lots.
Officials expect traffic volume to increase over the next week or two “to a point where the beneficial effect of this bypass will be there, but it will yield a time of travel that is more comparable to what it was before,” he said.
Alviti was asked at one point if the ferry service was necessary, now that the bypass lanes have allowed I-195 traffic to return to near normal levels.
“We want to offer various options of travel, multimodal travel to people in the state,” he replied.
The state does not have estimates for how many people it expects to use the ferry service, according to Alviti.
But he said the Department of Transportation will keep an eye on how many people come aboard and increase or decrease service depending on usage. Passengers will ride for free, Alviti said.
Most ramps will be reopened, but the “Gano Street off-ramp (Exit 1D) will remain closed as will the on-ramps to I-195 West from Veterans Memorial Parkway and Taunton Avenue,” officials said.
The state Department of Transportation posted estimated travel times for each detour route at www.ridot.net/WashingtonBridgeClosure.
The bypass lanes opened a day earlier than officials had predicted. The emergency closure has had an impact on health care and small businesses, and created traffic jams on city streets.
The state’s Department of Health is recommending that women in the East Bay who are in labor use ambulances if they need to get to hospitals west of the bridge.
McKee said his administration is aggressively pursuing federal assistance.
“We’re not going to leave any outside resources [for those affected] untouched that we’re qualified on,” McKee said. “We’re continually in conversation with our congressional delegation, continuously in conversation with President Biden’s cabinet. .”
John R. Ellement can be reached at john.ellement@globe.com. Follow him @JREbosglobe. Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at edward.fitzpatrick@globe.com. Follow him @FitzProv. Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com.